Fun
More Snow Movies
Dear Kay,
It’s time to update our overview of the best snow movies.
Watching a snowy movie is like eating spicy food when it’s hot. It warms us up—a relief to know that however cold and miserable and snowed in we are, we’re not having as rough a time of it as those poor sods in that snowy movie.
MDK readers suggest the following:
The Thing from Another World (the 1951 version) or the newer John Carpenter version, The Thing. Antarctic snow plus monster.
Jeremiah Johnson. Robert Redford snow plus the dark scary wilderness.
Downhill Racer. Robert Redford snow plus ski racing.
Murder on the Orient Express. The 1974 one. Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, the whole gang!
Never Cry Wolf, based on the Farley Mowat book. Snow with wolves.
Our Shortlist
Here is our time-tested list of excellent snow movies—a batch for every possible taste. Links are to Amazon, where these can all be rented. Netflix streaming noted when available.
Dr. Zhivago. Epic doomed Russian revolution romantic snow. Filmed in the ’60s snow. Available on Netflix.
The Shining. Stanley Kubrick superscary snow. (On Netflix streaming, too.)
Fargo. Creepy Coen Brothers snow.
March of the Penguins. Morgan Freeman-narrated snow.
Encounters at the End of the World. Documentary snow. Werner Herzog goes to Antarctica to meet the people who are willing to live on the edge. (On Netflix streaming, too.)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Suspenseful Daniel Craig Swedish snow.
Finally, the best snow movie of all time:
Groundhog Day. Bill Murray living the same day over and over, trying to win over Andie MacDowell.
Would love to hear more snow movie ideas—this is a deep, snowy category.
Love,
Ann
We’ve been watching two snowy series on Amazon. Perhaps not the best snowy series but they have kept us entertained. Hinterland, filmed Iceland in English. Trapped filmed in Iceland in Icelandic. Both are police dramas. Season 1 of Hinterland includes Stanley Tucci!
Are you maybe thinking of Fortitude?
Hinterland is set and filmed in Wales (which can be so barren it looks like Iceland). Fab show though.
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.
Oh, I saw that years ago and forgot about it. It’s great! Is there somewhere it can be streamed do you know? That said, Dr Zhivago has always been my goto blizzard movie.
“Snowdogs” with Cuba Gooding Jr – funny and family friendly.
REDS: cold, dark and deprived in only the way the Bolsheviks could do it. American journalists covering the Russian Revolution starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. (And of course, added bonus – Jack Nicholson’s in it too!)
How about “Revenant”? Oh my god, the most desperately harrowing snow movie ever!
A good feeling series (1-8) on Amazon Prime (no snow tho) to knit to is the “McLeod Daughters”! I couldn’t stop watching or knitting along everyday never having to flip thru the menu trying to find something to watch while knitting! I’ve shared with a few friends and they’re watching the series too!
I love Jeremiah Johnson, lots snow. Girl with the dragon tattoo was a good one, too. I absolutely hated Groundhog day and the Shining is horror in my opinion . You’ve Got Mail is,a good snow movie.
McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Warren Beattie and Julie Christy. Directed by Robert Altman. So much snow. Such great acting.
My first thought as well.
Me, too!
Here are my two recent favorites from Netflix:
“The Frozen Dead” – French.
“The Lava Field” – Icelandic
Snow, murder, and police drama!
Pathfinder (1087) Saami people in 1000 AD snow. Scary villain. Happy ending.
Baby Boom. The scene with the snow on the staircase leading to the epic Well scene.
I am a Doctor Zhivago fan since I was a kid. Love this movie
Penquins Spy in the Huddle is on Netflix. The lovely David Tennant Narrates.
Rams, the Icelandic movie about two brothers that raise sheep! Lots of snow, should be available on Netflix.
Sheep and snow? Sounds like a knitter’s February dream!
Eight Below – survival of a team of sled dogs in Antarctica, from Disney. Based on a true story; the survival of a team of sled dogs that had to be left behind when the people evacuated. More snow than you can imagine!
I always appreciate your “lists”, ladies and have acquired some good song lists for Spotify – thank you! I must say that I much prefer the first version (Swedish) of “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist as the main characters (entire series avail. on Netflix). Thanks for the suggestions!
Agree! I loved the Swedish version. I had read the book first, and this met my expectations.
Just occurred to me that perhaps my “preferring” is b/c it came out first and I saw it.
“Let the Right One In”
A Swedish vampire movie. (Winter, snow and dark!) I watched it years ago, but it has stuck with me. Despite the vampire, it’s not a standard horror movie. (I’m **definitely** not a horror movie fan.) I found it because Roger Ebert absolutely loved it. He was right.
Love it! Great choice!
OMG. How could I have forgotten this one. Best film I’ve seen in years. I’m not someone to seek out vampire movies either, but this one will knock the cobwebs out of your brain.
Wind River. Jon Betnthal before he became the Punisher. And Jeremy Renner. Brutal, men loosing self control snow.
agree completely – Renner was intense. the snow was everywhere.
Yes on Renner, he was quite believable as a law enforcement guy with terrific tracking skills. I have watched Wind River twice in January. That is how much I like that movie, in spite of the terrible murders.
Smilla’s Sense of Snow: Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris. Murder mystery, industrial malfeasance, etc.
Yes! Although I did love the book more.
Fargo is my go to mo ie went I want to watch something snowy and frigid. One of my all time favorites and it never gets old.
So many great movies to watch/listen to while knitting. As I was starting a new project yesterday, I looked out to see the snow beginning. Feeling grateful that I am five weeks post-op.,doing well and I have tons of yarn to make me happy. A great time to be alive
I always save my snow movies for heatwaves. My auntie used to come visit us every summer and she and my mother would always find a showing of Dr. Zhivago somewhere -and if not, they would make jokes about it. So when its in the nineties you will find me glued to my laptop, watching nature shows about the arctic on Netflix. The ones with British narrators are maybe the best.
Some years ago there was a classic bad show available, Ice Road Truckers, that I binged when I had no air conditioning during a heatwave. Nothing like watching big rigs spin out and roads across Canada get closed due to snow to make you forget the sweat beading up on your forehead. It’s not so pleasant to stick to your chair but at least I was in no danger of a sudden violent death.
OMG I can’t believe someone else loved ICE ROAD TRUCKERS . I was addicted to that show. There must be something in our knitters DNA because no one else really understands us!!!!!!
The Revenant is an amazing example of what the human body can withstand and survive. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy in 1820’s frontier snow. Everest (2015) is brutal 1996 Mt. Everest snow filled with a great cast. DH recommended Death Hunt, with Charles Bronson in a 1931 Canadian snow manhunt. None of these are relaxing viewing, but you definitely appreciate being inside your warm house with a hot whiskey.
Not a movie, but I have to add Game of Thrones for the scenes in the North. Lots of furs and frozen beards. It doesn’t seem to ever be warm there.
I recommend The Best Intentions. The movie has subtitles, so maybe it’s not suited for complicated knitting. It’s directed by Bergman, so it’s not particularly uplifting. But so, so good.
The Day After Tomorrow is a great snowy climate change-related movie. Snow all over Manhattan, etc.
How about The Snow Walker… well worth watching
Airport. A blizzard disrupts a Chicago airport. A crippled airliner must land, but another plane is stuck in the snow and blocking the runway. George Kennedy must move the stuck plane before Burt Lancaster orders the snow plows to push it out of the way. The all-star cast also includes Jacqueline Bisset, Helen Hayes, Lloyd Nolan, and Dean Martin (playing sober, for once!).
This is the first one I thought of too. I actually went to a theater for this just to see the lopapeysas but loved it—not of the “feel good” persuasion though. Also, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Smila’s Sense of Snow, Kurasawa’s version of The Idiot (an ice-skating scene sticks in my mind), any film where Napoleon invades Russia, and for something completely different, Ski Party, a Frankie Avalon movie with nothing to recommend it but a surprising appearance by James Brown and the Flames as a ski patrol. Best book set in a hot springs spa in Northern Japan is Snow Country by Kawabata.
Oops. This is a reply to the post about Rams, not Airport.
Y’all can go on ahead without me on this one! I am looking at snow – and much worse, ice – every waking minute. I’ll save snow theatre for August entertainment 😉
One winter sleeper is Snow Cake with Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie- Anne Moss.
Cool Runnings. Wishful snow!
“Cardinal” (detectives in Canada), on Hulu and “The Frozen Dead” (detectives in Europe) on Netflix.
Balto, a children’s movie. Hot Dog, a raunchy ski comedy.
Let’s not forget the best worst snow movie, of all time.
“Icebreaker”, starring Sean Astin, Bruce Campbell, and Stacy Keach.
Snow, Evil Terrorist with a Nuclear Weapon, and the Goonie has to save his girl!
What’s not to love?
There’s Wallander, a detective series set in Sweden, starring Kenneth Branagh and a PBS detective series called Shetland which is set in the the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Both make me shiver……with delight.
The Day After Tomorrow – Dennis Quaid, Sela Ward. Lots of snow!
Try out Smilla’s Sense of Snow. It has the extra bonus of fabulous knits !!!!!
Thank you everyone for your “snow movie” recommendations. I also have an app on my iPhone called :Zen of Snow” I am furious that Long Island, NY has not had a serious snow storm this winter. I was savsing myself up for it . UGH Nobody but a fellow knitting addict knows the pain :)))). I’m recommending a series that you will have a hard time knitting to but it was so wonderful in case you don’t have your needles with you or can sit for a while without them ( I know it’s hard:) The series is MY BRILLIANT FRIEND on HBO 8 parts based on the book series (which we all know we don’t actually read but use audible books) It is in subtitles but it is a WOW. Still hoping for a blizzard, though
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Certainly not politically correct for these times, but the singing and dancing are amazing.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Golden Compass for fantasy.
I love Dr Zhivago! And if I need a good cry, for some reason this soundtrack gets the waterworks flowing for me. Also, I submit for your consideration “Snowpiercer” from 2013.
Survivors of Earth’s second Ice Age live out their days on a luxury train that ploughs through snow and ice. The train’s poorest residents, who live in the squalid caboose, plan to improve their lot by taking over the engine room. Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton, among others. Good stuff!
The Heroes of Telemark. Plenty of snow, ski-ing and scandinavian knitwear. Also Nazis but they are no match for Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.
smilla’s sense of snow