Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Outpost 11'

Written by Scott Edwards

One of my greatest fears is isolation and I am not afraid to admit that. The fear of being alone is one that I never thought that I would have growing up, because for the most part I was a loner. Growing into who I am today, I am a little ashamed of who I was in my youth and all of the things that I missed out on. Looking back, my life could have taken a much different direction than it did and while I am the best me that I ever can be and do not have any regrets, seeing where I could have been is the thing that may hurt me the most.
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High in the Arctic hills, Outpost 11 is away from the world at war. Manning his post, mainly just listening for enemy transmissions, Albert is shocked to see that the emergency light is flashing before his eyes. Trying to alert his next in command, Graham, of the situation, Albert is accosted for not living up to what the uniform stands for. But trying to check out what could be causing the light to go off, Graham believes that it is some faulty wiring and has his underling go back to work, even though he knows the boy will have a difficult time in doing so.

Getting back to his post from a long day of hunting, Mason has brought the fruits of his labor, an artic hare that did not explode in his face. Seeing that Graham has been taking advantage of the youth in the post, Mason stays much more down to earth about the duties that they have, and since they are so far away from the fighting, there is really no need for such formality. Having a talk with Graham about his treatment of Albert, the two try to get on the same level, but Graham being an old school military man who has only known war, it will be next to impossible to shut his training off. As a few more days go by and the emergency light continues to flicker, the group is trying to get along, but there is something in the air that is affecting them in the worst way possible.

Finally getting a call from headquarters, Albert gets the code and passes it on to Graham who has the only key to the safe to decipher it. As the message reads ‘All is Lost’, Graham is not willing to accept that and makes up a message of his own to pass on to Mason. Telling the group to hold their positions until further notice, the group has no idea what is happening in their efforts to win the war. Tattling on Graham to his commander, Albert lets it be known that he forged the message to Mason and while the men do not truly understand what is happening in the world, it becomes clear that they need to do something to find out what the actual message means. Cracking open the safe and watching a tape of what to do next, the realization comes across that the war is lost and while Mason wants to get more information, Graham has his own battle plan of what needs to happen next. The struggle for power in the Arctic is underway and only one man can have it, but his mind might not be right as spiders have made their way into the outpost.

Interesting movie to say the least, I thought there was just going to be a ton of spiders running around all over the base, and while there were a few, the movie was more about what was happening in the men’s minds. Having to battle their own fears, Albert really got the worst of it, being tormented by Graham and not having a way to avoid it. I liked how Mason was trying to make the best out of his situation in the outpost and not being a military man before the war started, he just wanted to go home, but after finding out that the war was lost, he wanted more information about what was happening, so he and his men would have the most up to date information as humanly possible. With a massive mustache, fears being brought into the light, a power struggle, a gas changing people, fears being preyed upon and an unseen war that does not end the way they wanted and oh yeah, spiders, this is a clever movie that will keep you guessing what is real and what is only in their minds.  

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