| Year | Title | Comments |
FICTION FILMS |
| 1912 | Conquest of the Pole |
France; George Melies
| online |
| 1929 | The Lost Zeppelin |
early talkie about trip to
South Pole |
 |
| 1930 | Arctic Antics |
Disney Cartoon | |
| 1931 | Dirigble |
directed by Frank Capra, pre-King Kong Fay Wray, loosely based on the crash of the Italia |
|
| 1933 | S.O.S. Iceberg |
Germany/USA; with Leni Rieffenstahl | |
| 1935 | She |
Underground kingdom in Russian arctic ruled by ruthless ice queen
|  |
| 1937 | La Femme du bout du monde |
France; ship seeking radium ore on lost Antarctic Island finds an inn
run by woman and her insane husband | |
| 1941 | Mutiny in the Arctic |
US; with stock footage from SOS Iceberg | |
| 1942 | The Arctic Giant |
Superman Cartoon | |
| 1944 | Return of the Ape Man |
Bela Lugosi;
mad scientists revive the frozen body of a prehistoric caveman found in the
Arctic | 
|
| 1951 | Thing from Another World |
Aliens at North Pole |
 |
| 1951 | Tales of Tomorrow: Blunder |
TV; advanced nuclear reactor in Arctic |
 |
| 1953 | The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms |
nukes in
Arctic thaw out carnivorous dinosaur, which heads south and destroys Manhattan
| 
|
| 1953 | Back to God's Country |
Rock Hudson defends himself against two
villains in Alaskan wilderness | |
| 1953 | Islands in the Sky |
John Wayne crash lands in Labrador |
 |
| 1954 | Hell Below Zero |
Murder on a whaling
ship in Antarctica | |
| 1955 | Science Fiction Theater |
TV, S1 ep 22:
Trouble befalls an Air Force flight crew and their passengers en route to
the Arctic.
| |
| 1957 | Land Unknown |
prehistoric world in deep
Antarctic crater |
|
| 1957 | Deadly Mantis |
Arctic iceberg breaks up and
releases giant praying mantis |
 |
| 1958 | Terror in the Midnight Sun |
Sweden;
Monsters/aliens in Lapland |
|
| 1958 | The Blob |
it gets dumped in the Arctic
at the end |
|
| 1959 | The Atomic Submarine |
Ships mysteriously disappear on the Arctic Sea; a specially-equipped submarine is sent to investigate |
 |
| 1961 | Reptilicus |
Denmark; frozen prehistoric creature
found in tundra of Lapland |
 |
| 1962 |
The Day the Earth Caught Fire |
Americans test a nuclear weapon at the Earth's South Pole
just as Soviets explode a device at the North Pole
| |
| 1962 | Yosei Gorasu |
Japan;
Powerful jet engines installed across Antarctica, to push Earth out of the way
of a giant killer planet. Original version had a giant walrus attack
the Antarctic base.
|  |
| 1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea |
TV series;
some episodes have Antarctic sea monsters, Antarctic tropical oases, etc
| |
| 1964 | Quick Before it Melts |
Reporter and
photographer and Russian in Antarctica, `light romantic comedy' (awful) |
|
| 1966 | The Navy vs the Night Monsters |
Mamie van
Doren, unusual trees in Antarctica which turn into
killer acid-secreting monsters |
|
| 1966 | Gammera the Invincible |
Nuclear blast unleashes giant fire-breathing flying
turtle from hibernation below the arctic ice. Many sequels. |
|
| 1968 | Ice Station Zebra |
Rock Hudson, Oscar
nominated North Pole cold war tale |
|
| 1969 | The Red Tent |
Italy/USSR; about 1928 airship
expedition to Arctic, Sean Connery as R Amundsen |
|
| 1971 | Mr Forbush and the Penguins |
US title
`Cry of the Penguins', starring John Hurt and Hayley Mills |
 |
| 1973 | Scott of the Antarctic |
Monty Python vol 21 |
YouTube |
| 1974 | The Final Program |
Scientists head for abandoned underground Nazi fortress in the
Arctic to run a program designed to create perfect, self-replicating human
beings |  |
| 1974 | The White Dawn |
in 1896, 3 whalers are
stranded in Arctic and teach their bad habits to the Inuit |
 |
| 1974 | The Island at the Top of the World |
Disney, secret Viking tribe in Arctic | |
| 1974 | Night Stalker: Primal Scream |
TV, arctic drillers find murderous ape-man |
|
| 1975 | Distant Early Warning |
TV movie; Aliens at Arctic research station |
|
| 1976 | Dr Who: The Seeds of Doom |
TV, ep. 85; alien pods found in Antarctica turn humans into giant carnivorous plants
| |
| 1977 | Cosmos: War of the Planets |
Italy,
UFO appears above Antarctic Sea
| |
| 1977 | Nanook Taxi |
Inuit comedian
hires on to drive a taxi.
| |
| 1977 | The People That Time Forgot |
Antarctic expedition finds primitive warriors and prehistoric creatures
| |
| 1978 | Superman |
young Superman finds his crystal
palace at the North Pole
| |
| 1979 | Bear Island |
accidents and murders in a group of people on a barren Arctic island.
| |
| 1980 | Virus (Fukkatsu no hi) |
Japan/USA; Antarctic residents only survivors of
biological apocalypse (why not the Inuit?). Depressing!
|  |
| 1981 | The Intruder Within |
TV, oil riggers
in Antarctica find murderous prehistoric creature |
|
| 1982 | World War III |
TV movie, Rock Hudson, Soviets try to
take control of Alaskan pipeline |
 |
| 1982 | The Thing |
Aliens at remote Antarctic base. a Classic!
|
|
| 1982 | Flight of the Eagle |
Swedish, with Max von Sydow. Engineer S. A. Andrée sets out to become
the first man on the north pole in 1897 |
|
| 1983 | Antarctica |
Japan: "Nankyoku Monogatari"; dogs left at Antarctic base |
 |
| 1984 | Iceman |
Prehistoric man found in Arctic
Glacier |
|
| 1984 | Brass Monkeys |
Australian TV series; female
doctor joins Australian Antarctic base (13 ep.) | |
| 1987 | Count Duckula |
British, adventures of
cartoon vegetarian vampire duck, some episodes in Arctic (1.6, 2.9)
| |
| 1993 | Captive in the Land |
Sam Waterson and Russian
survive plane crash in Arctic |
|
| 1993 | Salmonberries |
k.d. lang as an androgynous Eskimo
| ? |
| 1993 | The Forbidden Quest |
Netherlands; trip to Antarctica, with some 1910 footage
| |
| 1993 | Ordeal in the Arctic |
TV movie; plane crash
| |
| 1993 | Map of the Human Heart |
Australia; Inuit to WWII Dresden and back to North,
excellent Arctic weepie |
|
| 1993 | X-Files: Ice |
TV; X-files does `The Thing'. (season 1, ep 8).
Stick with the movies |
|
| 1994 | Iron Will |
Disney Arctic |
|
| 1995 | Zero Kelvin |
Norway; European aspiring writer and psycho
trappers in Greenland | |
| 1995 | Super Atragon |
Japan, anime;
UN team sent to investigate microwaves being generated at the South Pole
|
|
| 1995 | Neon Genesis Evangelion |
Japan, anime; TV series 95-96, 2 movies, 11 vols of Manga.
Antarctica hit with mysterious explosion in 2000, 15 yrs later its ice
has evaporated, sea levels rose 60m, half of humanity died, etc |
|
| 1997 | Insomnia |
Norway/Sweden, filmed in Nyksund and Tromso, Norway |
|
| 1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow |
Denmark/Germany/Sweden; mysterious death of Inuit boy. Arctic, meteorites, etc!
|
|
| 1998 | Stargate |
TV series, various episodes about
Antarctic Stargate, aliens, etc. Eg Solitudes (S1), Frozen (S6), Lost City (S7)
|
|
| 1998 | X Files movie |
Aliens in Antarctica |
|
| 1998 | Heart of Light |
Greenland/Denmark; `The first feature film shot totally in Greenland'
| |
| 1999 | Sometimes They Come Back for More |
TV movie; terror at CIA outpost in Antarctica |
|
| 2001 | Trinity |
UK;
in a remote arctic research station, government agents discover mysterious
genetic scientist |
|
| 2001 | Boa |
100 foot snake terrorizes the staff and prisoners at
the world's highest-security prison, in Antarctica. Princeton paleo-biologist to the rescue. |
|
| 2001 | No Such Thing |
Foul-mouthed, fire-breathing
misanthropic monster from Iceland brought to
New York. Starts slow but the monster is great! |
|
| 2002 | The Fast Runner |
Canada; Inuit epic
(Atanarjuat, first film ever released totally in the Inuktitut language)
| |
| 2002 | The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear |
Denmark/France; animated, fabulous |
|
| 2002 | The Ice Crawlers |
monsters at Antarctic oil drilling facility |
|
| 2002 | Relic Hunter: Under the Ice |
ancient Indian mummy found at Arctic base | |
| 2002 | Yukikaze |
Japan, anime. Aliens invaded
Earth through dimensional portal over Antarctica |
|
| 2003 | The Snow Walker |
Canada; white pilot and Inuit woman survive plane crash |
|
| 2003 | Alien Hunter |
Aliens at South Pole |
|
| 2003 | Star Trek Enterprise |
TV, ep 49, arctic research team on Earth discovers debris from
an alien vessel |
|
| 2003 | Deep Shock |
giant killer eels spawning under North Pole
| |
| 2003 | Angels in America |
HBO TV film version of Tony Kushner play, one character dreams of Antarctica, (frozen hearts) etc |
 |
| 2004 | Stargate Atlantis |
TV series spinoff,
secret base, abandoned by the original builders of the Stargates, is
found buried in Antarctica |
|
| 2004 | Debiruman (Devilman) |
Japan, accidental release of a demonic species from
Antarctica, whose numbers spread via an infection |
|
| 2004 | Deep Evil |
TV, alien microbe in Siberia and Alaska |
|
| 2004 | Uncle Scooby and Antarctica |
TV, (on Vol 10, Monstrous Tales);
gang flies to the South Pole to look for amphibious menace
| |
| 2004 | Frankenstein |
with a Polar ending... | |
| 2004 | Retrograde |
Dolph Lundgren time travels back 200 years to the Nathaniel Palmer
icebreaker in Antarctica,
to prevent meteoritic off-world bacteria from killing off humanity
|
|
| 2004 | True North |
artist Isaac Julien; short film inspired by Matt Henson story | |
| 2005 | Antarctic Journal |
Korea: "Namgeuk-ilgi"; filmed in New Zealand | |
| 2005 | 9 Songs |
British glaciologist in Antarctica recalls rock concerts
& explicit sex with his girlfriend. R Ebert `as an idea the
film is facinating, but as an experience it grows tedious, the concerts lack
closeups, the sex lacks content, and Antarctica could use a few penguins'.
| |
| 2005 | Madagascar |
brief funny scene when the penguins reach Antarctica,
youtube |
|
| 2005 | Alien vs Predator |
in Antarctica. As bad as it
sounds |
|
| 2005 | The Wild Blue Yonder |
Alien planet visuals
include footage of divers under Antarctic ice cap |
|
| 2006 |
Eight Below |
Disney version of 'Nankyoku Monogatari' |
|
| 2006 | Happy Feet |
Dancing Penguins, humans are the
`aliens'
|
|
| 2006 | Dr Who: Terror of the Arctic |
PODCAST,
8 part audio drama.
The Doctor and Christine find themselves with the crews of the lost 1847-1848
Franklin Arctic Expedition.
And aliens, of course. |
|
| 2006 | Time Warp Trio: South Pole or Bust |
kids TV show, 3 boys time-warp to RF Scott's expedition
| |
| 2007 | 30 Days of Night |
Vampires (speaking Klingon?) terrorize Barrow, Alaska. All
those long nights and NO ONE ever watched BUFFY???
| |
| 2007 | The Last Winter |
director Larry Fessenden;
Arctic thriller; "The Thing meets An Inconvenient Truth"
|
|
| 2007 |
The Golden Compass |
Arctic
|
|
| 2008 | At the Mountains of Madness |
MP3: Dark Adventure Radio Theatre,
website
|
|
| 2008 | Antarctica |
Israeli, group of young gay friends, one wants to to go Antarctica
to free her frozen heart, etc. |
|
| 2009 | Watchmen |
based on 1986-87 graphic novel; VERY COOL Antarctica CGI
(including a Dome)
|
|
| 2009 | Whiteout |
Based on Oni Press graphic novel. Story moved from McMurdo to new South Pole base,
UN agent changed from female to male, and overall just not a very good film.
Good `long-eye' by Tom Skerritt. |
|
| 2009 | i
Castle |
TV series, episode `Fool Me Once'. Con-artist pretending
to be a Polar Explorer is murdered. |
|
| 2010 | The Thing |
prequel to the 1982 film; in production, directed by
Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
|
|
| 2010 | Cold Skin |
based on the novel by Albert Sanchez Pinol, film project in pre-production
|
|
| 2010 | At the Mountains of Madness |
Film project in development, directed by
Guillermo del Toro |
|