The Grey/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Artistic License: Biology: The film's trailers, at least, do a very poor job of giving the impression that the writers understand real wolves[1], which are known to be skittish around fire and humans, whether or not they've encountered them before. It's handled better in the actual film, where it's revealed that the survivors were treading very close to the wolves' den -- the cause of most violent wolf encounters in Real Life.
  • Fridge Brilliance:
    • We never see the much hyped "Liam Neeson vs. a wolf" showdown at the end of the film, and only get a glimpse of its aftermath after the credits. However, it's possible that the filmmakers intentionally didn't show it, because nothing they could film could possibly live up to the hype. Thus, the viewer is left to imagine how awesome it was, and come up with their own versions of it.
    • It's the middle of winter and there's no fire or other means to stay warm. Hypothermia would have set in within minutes after Ottway crawled out of the river... and it quite possibly did. Ottway took off his heavy jacket after getting out of the river, and in later scenes he's not wearing his hat or gloves either. One of the symptoms of severe hypothermia is a false sense of warmth, in which many sufferers take off various layers of clothing (called paradoxical undressing). This is responsible for a large amount of hypothermia-related deaths.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: While it is a bit predictable, finding out that Ottway's wife has been Dead All Along is still deeply saddening, especially after really connecting to Ottway by that point. Then, you realize what Liam Neeson has been through in real life.
  • Hate Dumb: Wolfaboos are gathering like flies to boycott the movie.
  • Hell Is That Noise: Hendrick's underwater screams as he drowns.
    • The wolf calls in general but especially the Alpha's.
  • Holy Shit Quotient: Just how much worse will things get for Ottway and his companions? The ante gets upped every. Single. Time.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome / Scenery Porn: They filmed in a real wilderness in Canada and it looks beautiful. The wolves are also not CGI, but (mostly[2]) animatronics and puppetry, and they still look really good... and TERRIFYING.
    • Hell, the film features Sound Effects Of Awesome as well. In the theaters you will feel the power and intensity of the plane crash and your bodies will quake from the sounds of the wolves. . .
  1. Perhaps explaining the protests by animal rights advocates.
  2. They were digitally enhanced in many shots.