THE EDGE’s Bear Attack Scene Still Terrifies and Shocks to This Day
Jonathan Barkan
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For those of you who haven’t seen 1997’s The Edge, I want to share with you the eye-widening experience I had. You see, just a few days ago, I had never seen the film, although I distinctly remember passing by it at my local Hollywood Video oh so many years ago. I’d always been intrigued but never enough to actually pick up a copy and give it a watch. That changed a few days ago when I flipped over the DVD case and read through the incredible list of cast and crew.
We already know that the film is led by Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. Hell, they grace the cover! But what I didn’t know is that it also starred Harold Perrineau of Lost and 28 Weeks Later. Furthermore, it was directed by Lee Tamahori (Along Came a Spider, Once Were Warriors), was written by David Mamet (Hannibal, Glengarry Glen Ross), featured music by Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen, Alien, Poltergeist), and Predator‘s Donald McAlpine was the cinematographer. Each name that I read through the list dropped my jaw more and more. Here was a film that I’d known about since its release but never gave a chance simply out of indifference. But no more. I’ve now seen The Edge and I’m here to remind those of you who have seen it – and hopefully convince those of you who haven’t – that it’s still a fantastic movie that is well worth seeking out!
The premise of the film is very simple: Hopkins plays a billionaire who goes with his wife to the far reaches of Alaska for a photoshoot with Baldwin, a renowned fashion photographer. While seeking out someone that they feel could make their photos better, Hopkins, Baldwin, and Perrineau’s small plane crashes in the wilderness, where they soon find themselves being stalked by a vicious and very hungry Kodiak bear (played by Bart the Bear of Twelve Monkeys and White Fang fame).
During the film, there’s a harrowing scene where Perrineau’s character is the unfortunate victim of the bear. Were it any other film, such a scene would be gruesome but that’s really about it. We’ve seen animal attacks in films many times over and often it seems forced, fake, or restrained. But not here. Perrineau’s screams are horrifying. The roars of the bear are terrifying. The way it’s shot takes all the glamour and shine that permeates many Hollywood “killer animal” films and instead portrays it as the disturbing and vicious event that it needs to be seen as. Perrineau’s death is devastating and The Edge doesn’t try to make it anything else.
If you want to see the scene, you can do so below. However, watching it in the grand scheme of the entire movie will only make it have all the more impact. If you’re a fan of killer animal films, this is one you absolutely need to see.
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