Bullet Points: Escape from Alaska
I guess I should not be surprised that Thomas Ian Griffith, a direct to video star and writer, would eventually cross paths with prolific direct to video producers, Richard Pepin and Joseph Merhi .
The result of these direct to video forces coming together was 1999’s Escape from Alaska, a unique entry in the PM Entertainment library…
- Welcome to Juneau: The opening sequence of the film features some snow mobile action. The two guys on the snow mobiles turn out to be Neal Meekin (Thomas Ian Griffith, Crackerjack) and Neal’s best friend in the whole world, Jack (C. Thomas Howell, The Sweeper). Jack and his wife, Lia (Caroleen Feeney), are visiting Neal but seeing Neal is only a fringe benefit, the couple is really there to do some work on their dream of starting the Arctic Gates Wildlife Reserve. Another plus of visiting Neal, is that Neal owns an aviation company and can fly the animal loving couple to where the arctic fox roam in his helicopter. Neal drops off Jack and Lia so they can do their wildlife thing and gives them an ETA on when he’ll be back to pick them up.
- Disaster Strikes: While Jack and Lia are tagging arctic foxes, Neal is visiting his buds at the oil refinery and trying to recruit some of them for a hockey game including his old buddy Jack (R. Lee Ermey, Chain of Command)… but all is not well at the oil refinery. Some faulty valves are causing a spike in the pressure, the refinery needs to be evacuated immediately… Neal and Jack barely make it out alive before the refinery explodes and . The massive explosion trigger a series of avalanches… it is at that moment Neal’s thoughts turn to his friends Jack and Lia… the friends he should have picked up a half hour ago! Up in the mountains, Jack tries to outrun the avalanche and Lia tries to out ski it… they both fail and are buried by the avalanche.
- Rescue Mission: Neal hops in his helicopter and goes to the pick up site… the pick up site he should have been at a half hour ago! Neal radios in for a rescue team and the crew quickly find Jack, who did not survive. Neal promises his fallen friend that he will not leave the mountain until he finds Lia, even though the rescue team has written her off and decide to move on to where they feel they can save more lives. Neal lives up to the promise he made dead Jack and manages to find Lia, who is still alive but in rough shape as you might assume. Jack gets her to the hospital in time… but when the day comes for her to check out, she leaves without saying a word to Neal… could it be because of his tardiness on that fateful day?!?!
- Two Years Later: Neal didn’t just lose his best friend to the avalanche, his business was also destroyed. Now he finds himself working for Rosga Petroleum, the oil company that indirectly killed his friend Jack. But if that’s not uncomfortable enough… Lia is coming back to town, or should I say Dr. Lia Freeman of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA for those in the know). Lia has been sent to inspect Rosga’s new pipeline and determine if the pipleline can go online or not. Sending Lia seems like a bad decision on a lot of levels, but one bad decision deserves another and Neal’s boss, Mr. Kemp (John Ashton, Midnight Run) assigns Neal to be Lia’s “guardian angel” a job that includes flying her around so she can do visual inspections of the pipeline and take soil samples.
- Come Together: The relationship between Neal and Lia evolves quickly… at first neither of them want anything to do with one another, then as they spend more time together they finally air their grievances and the healing process begins. But things really ramp up as Lia finds some damning evidence as to why they pipeline should not go online and the two become targets from someone at Rosga Petroleum who damn sure wants the pipeline to go online, Juneau be damned. And just like that… SPOILER ALERT… the two are lovers by the end of the movie.
Escape from Alaska was PM Entertainment’s contribution to the 90’s disaster movie craze, but without the big blockbuster budget. But it wasn’t the low budget special effects that distracted me while watching Escape from Alaska… it was the lack of logic.
As I mentioned before, why would Lia be the one assigned to go to the site of her husband’s horrific death?!? And why did she agree to go? Plus at one point… after a ton of bad crap has happened to them, Neal decides he’s going to hop in a Rosga Petroleum helicopter that has been grounded due to engine trouble… WHY!?!
With a little more polish, Escape from Alaska could have been a better film. Instead it was a below average offering and certainly not among the best PM Entertainment or Thomas Ian Griffith have to offer.
I have something to offer you, some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Escape from Alaska has the fitting alternate title, Avalanche.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Thomas Ian Griffith play hockey in a workplace break room with a bunch of guys in shirts and ties using brooms for sticks and a crushed pop can (or soda can depending on your region) as the puck, then Escape from Alaska is the movie for you.
- Missed Opportunity: At one point, barrels of toxic waste are found near the pipeline… they end up being a red herring… but I really wish as a nod to Thomas Ian Griffith’s past, the barrels were stamped with Dynatox Industries.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Thomas Ian Griffith get chased by an angry polar bear, then Escape from Alaska is the movie for you.
- Unfamiliar Territory: A PM Entertainment movie not taking place in Southern California or Las Vegas felt a little strange… but to give Escape from Alaska that authentic PM feel, we do get plenty of helicopters and even a flipped truck.
