HE'S 40,000 YEARS OLD. Deep within an Arctic glacier they found him, preserved by a miracle of nature, brought back to life by a miracle of science. Now medical science wants to exploit him in the name of research. One man wants to stop them...in the name of humanity. But he'll need more than a miracle to survive...he'll need a friend.

An amazing unforgettable journey of humanity

We first see Asian cave dweller John Lone as he wanders around what seems to be his natural habitat of some 10,000 years ago. Soon we learn that Lone is in a controlled environment in a scientific lab--and that his frozen body was recently discovered during an expedition to the North Pole (hence the nickname "Iceman"). Scientists Lindsay Crouse and Timothy Hutton hope to learn to communicate with Lone, and in so doing discover life was truly like for our neanderthal ancestors. The other, less altruistic scientists want to dissect Lone and analyze his innards. With Hutton's help, Lone escapes, but soon both men realize that there's really no place for "the Iceman" in modern society. Though the settings are convincingly arctic, Iceman was filmed in Manitoba.

Critic Richard Scheib said, "The film was part of a brief revival of the old caveman vs dinosaurs genre, along with Quest for Fire and Clan of the Cave Bear, in which earlier action-fantasy films were redressed with a much stricter regard to anthropological realism. Iceman, using modern science, became one of the more refreshingly intelligent films. The film is knowingly well-informed on anthropology and biochemistry and never resorts to cheap cliche or hackneyed elements."[5] Harlan Ellison called the film "magnificent", citing excellent acting (particularly on the part of John Lone) and directing that contribute to genuine emotional appeal. [6]
According to Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, the film is "spellbinding storytelling". "It begins with such a simple premise and creates such a genuinely intriguing situation that we're not just entertained, we're drawn into the argument [between using Charlie as a scientific specimen or a man]".[7]

Release Date: April 13, 1984


Distrib: Universal


Boxoffice: $7,343,032 2014: $18,248,300