The Ötztal Alps, more than 5300 years ago. A Neolithic clan leader must avenge the massacre of his people and theft of his holy shrine.
Ötzi, l’homme des glaces, Człowiek z lodu, 冰人, Йоци от Алпите, Ötzi, el hombre de hielo, Otzi, muž z ledu, Otzi - L'ultimo cacciatore, 5300 évvel ezelőtt, Ледяной человек, 아이스맨, Ötzi, l’home del gel
Switzerland12 Locarno Film Festival 
UK15 
USA 
South Korea19 
Germany12 
Spain 
Austria12 
FranceU UK15 France France Austria France Germany South Korea Spain Switzerland UK USA 
You've heard of modern westerns, now try Chalcolithic westerns.
7/10
Film reviews in 22 sentences (or less)
Today: Iceman
„The German The Northman.“
(The Two Cineasts)
Hi everybody, Iceman is a violent prehistoric revenge thriller with a naturalistic touch and focus just like The Revenant, that reconstructs the possible life and death of Europe’s best-preserved and most famous mummy: the so called "Ötzi" (because he was found in the Ötztal Alps). The final days of a man found preserved in ice 5000 years later, is completely fictional, even though there are scientific investigations and we can pretty easily presume what man the "Iceman" was, what he ate and wore and how he died, yet his true story remains a mystery and leaves plenty of room for dramatic speculations. Randau stages…
Wow.
Over 5,300 years ago lived a man who comes to be known as Ötzi, the man found in the Ötztal Alps on the border of what is now known as Italy & Austria in the year 1991. Iceman shows us a creative retelling of Ötzi’s final days using what we know about him from his clothing & injuries.
I remember learning about this ancient man, long ago. How he died was what always fascinated me. I’ll spare the details, because if you don’t already know, it’s best not to. Watch this incredible film. It really blew me away, it’s like The Revenant (2015) or Alpha (2018). The cinematography is stunning, the picturesque views are a dream & the grounded, gritty, personal story is gripping throughout. I love this film, Iceman is severely underrated. This is the kino I adore, this is the shit I can’t get enough of.
Iceman is exactly the kind of unusual ambitious genre film that I love to discover. And make no mistake, despite the bold approach and based-on-true-events inspiration, this is a genre film reminiscent of Apocalypto (albeit with a much smaller budget and scope). Iceman is a Neolithic chase thriller/revenge movie, melding the visual storytelling and prehistoric drama of Alpha with the savage brutality and naturalistic tone of The Revenant.
Iceman extrapolates the fate of famous mummy Otzi into a grim vision of prehistoric life, as a horrific raid ignites a vengeful pursuit across the Ötztal Alps, circa 3,000 BCE. The movie is acted in an extinct language without subtitles, letting body language, emotions, and direction provide context. That unconventional storytelling decision…
I hate when I'm on a hunt and my village burns down and then there’s a baby next to me like oh great now I gotta be responsible for this baby
A hunter returns home to find his wife and children brutally slaughtered and sets out to track down the trio of scavengers responsible! Interesting historical actioner from Germany imagines a fictional backstory of events that might have led to the death of the famed 'Otzi', the 5,000 year old 'Iceman' found buried in the Alps back in the 90s! I went into this expecting something more akin to 'Quest for Fire', a big personal favourite, or 'Clan of the Cave Bear' but of course 'Iceman' is set during a much more recent historical period, possibly the bronze age but don't quote me on that! It reminded me a little of the obscure 80s Norwegian film 'Pathfinder', also about a lone…
If you like films were a guy walks for 100 minutes with very little else happening, you should love this film but I personally did not enjoy Iceman. It left me feeling bored throughout the majority of it’s runtime due to it having a main character that I just simply do not care for. The film features themes on revenge. It does not do it terribly but there are still hundreds and hundreds of other films that do the exact same message much better while also being an entertaining experience.
I do have to give credit when credit is due as the camerawork in the film is masterful. There are stunning landscape shots and an extremely impressive long take at the beginning of the film when the village is raided. By far the most thrilling and entertaining scene in this rather dull and forgettable film.
Un bon film, émouvant et plutôt bien réalisé avec des passages toutefois pas réalistes. Globalement c'est bon et il gagne +0,5 juste pour le plot de la boîte mdr.
This was really fun! This movie imagines the last days of Ötzi, the 5,300 year old natural mummy found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991. Aside from the timeframe, this is basically a neo-western revenge thriller, which suits the subject matter perfectly, considering we know that Ötzi was killed by another person. The cast is excellent across the board, including the brief appearance of Franco Nero! (Who expected to see Neolithic Django!?) The movie also looks incredible! Plenty of breathtaking Alpine vistas.
“The characters in the following film speak an early version of the Rhaetic language.
Translation is not required to comprehend the story.”
And like that, I was sold.
So, tell me if this setup seems at all familiar: a man who loves his family has them violently torn away from him, so he goes on a rampage to extract vengeance. It’s the setup to any number of post-Taken action flicks. This is much the same.
Except it’s set 5,000 years ago.
When I read that, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this movie. An action movie set in the Neolithic ages? I don’t know about you, but per that description, I couldn’t think of a movie more awesome.…
A bleak and dry slice of ancient life. Murder was rampant and survival paramount. I appreciate the great sets and the use of real landscapes but it's a dull film overall. Very slow and while realistic, there's not enough innovation or directorial precision here to make me really fall in love.
I've been wanting to watch this for a while. The film uses an extinct language and intentionally decides not to use subtitles. I'm still not sure on how I feel about that decision despite there not being alot of dialogue anyway.
The cinematography was definitely my main standout. The film has some great shots of the breathtaking scenery; the locations used are outstanding. The short one shot at the start of the film was really good too. The costumes had some great designs and added some immersion.
The first and last 20 mins were really entertaining however the entire middle of the film had some major pacing issues. Most scenes dragged on way too long although there were some moments that were OK. The editing could have also been alot better.
Overall the film definitely has some positives but also has it's clear negatives. Despite the clear negatives I still think it is worth at least one watch.
