->''"Once more into the fray. ''
->'' Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.''
->'' Live and die on this day.''
->'' Live and die on this day."''

''The Grey'' is a survival thriller starring LiamNeeson and directed by Joe Carnahan (''SmokinAces'', ''Film/TheATeam'', ''{{Film/Narc}}''). The film centers around a group of UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}n oil workers who get caught in a plane crash on the way to Anchorage, and have to both survive the wilderness and fend off attacks by dangerous man-eating wolves.

The film was released in January 2012, and while some animal rights groups boycotted the film for its "questionable" portrayal of wolves, it was well received critically with critics praising its surprising substance, suspense, and Neeson's particularly powerful performance.

!!This film contains examples of the following tropes:

* ActionSurvivor: Pretty much everyone is way out of their element, deep in the Alaskan wilderness, and their only goal is to survive the sub-zero temperatures and wolf attacks.
* UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}: In all its frigid glory. Except that the film itself was shot in Alberta and northern British Columbia.
* ArcWords: "Live and die on this day..."; "Don't be afraid."
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[NeverTrustATrailer The film's trailers, at least,]] do a very poor job of giving the impression that the writers understand real wolves[[hottip:*:Perhaps explaining the protests by animal rights advocates.]], 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 RealLife.
* BearsAreBadNews: Averted in a deleted scene.
* BigBadassWolf: The Alpha is huge, black, and has an impressive, mane-like ruff around his neck.
* [[spoiler: BolivianArmyEnding: The film ends with Ottway surrounded by wolves and getting ready for the big showdown with the alpha wolf, a knife in one hand and broken liquor bottles taped to the other. TheStinger reveals the wolf lying on the ground, mortally wounded (in a callback to a wolf breathing heavily similarly earlier in the film), and Ottway's head - only seen from the back - resting on the wolf. Whether or not Ottway survives is up for debate.]]
* CaliforniaDoubling: The film was shot in British Columbia, which often doubles for Alaska.
* ChallengingTheChief: We can hear one of the wolves challenge The Alpha and mere minutes later the same happens with the human pack. [[spoiler:Both Alphas win.]]
* ClusterFBomb
* [[spoiler: DeadAllAlong: Ottway's wife.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:This is part of the reason Diaz decides to stay behind, along with his bad leg. He doesn't feel there's any reason anymore. Finally after Hendrick is killed, Ottway pretty much crosses it and accepts that he's going to die.]]
* [[spoiler: DownerEnding: All of the survivors, including Ottway, eventually end up dying either to the elements or to the wolves. Ottway at least takes the Alpha wolf with him.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: Ottway contemplates this in the opening scene.
* DwindlingParty
* EarlyBirdCameo: All of the main survivors appear in the bar at the beginning of the film, including Diaz who (very much in-character) starts a minor brawl.
* [[spoiler: EverybodyDies: Except for Ottway. Maybe. TheStinger isn't exactly clear on this point]].
* EverythingsWorseWithWolves: The plot of the film. Highly aggressive and fiercely territorial, these wolves have never encountered humans before.
* GiveMeASign: After [[spoiler:the death of Hendrick, the only other survivor]], Ottway screams at the heavens demanding help from God. [[spoiler:It never comes.]]
** Actually, Ottway's cry for help is answered when [[spoiler: He's only required to fight the Alpha wolf instead of the whole pack of wolves to survive.]]
** [[spoiler: He did keep seeing his wife throughout the movie, telling him he shouldn't be afraid. Maybe they were memories, maybe they were visions.]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] -- wolves have reflective eyes to improve night vision.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Twice.
** The first instance is when [[spoiler: Talget is dragged off by the wolves and a tree blocks us from seeing him get ripped apart]]
** The second instance is when [[spoiler: Diaz is left behind. We hear sticks breaking, and the growling getting closer before it cuts away]]
* GreatWhiteHunter: Ottway is described as such by [[EthnicScrappy Diaz]].
* ImprovisedWeapon: A few. Early in the film, the others fend a wolf off Ottway with various detritus from the crash. Later, Ottway fashions one-use spears from a stick, some tape, and a single shotgun shell. Finally, as shown in the trailer, Ottway uses a few empty bottles of airline-sized liquor taped between his fingers as a knuckleduster.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler: Diaz tells Ottway and Hendrick that he can't continue any further after suffering a knee injury. He makes peace with them and himself before they move on.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Diaz. He gets better.
* JumpScare: A couple, mostly involving -- you guessed it -- the wolves.
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll: Not one person who got on that plane survives, with the exception ([[TheStinger maybe]]) of Ottway]].
* LastStand: [[spoiler: If Ottway wasn't going to survive, he was at least going to go down fighting.]]
* MilesGloriosus: Diaz considers himself a {{badass}} who isn't afraid of anything, and mocks Ottway for admitting that he's scared. He's quickly shown how foolish his bravado is.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: ''"It's their fuckin' den!"'']]
* NeverTrustATrailer: The marketing traded very heavily on Liam Neeson's [[ActorAllusion fame]] from ''Taken.'' The movie itself is decidedly ''not'' "Bryan Mills punches wolves to death for two hours."
* NothingIsScarier: While we do have plenty of scenes with the wolves onscreen, there are other times where we only hear them.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome[=/=]NeverTrustATrailer: [[spoiler:The promised fight between Ottway and the alpha wolf is never shown on screen. We get a brief shot after the credits of the aftermath, but it's too close up to really tell the outcome.]]
* OneSteveLimit: Both Ottway and Diaz are called John. They share a laugh after realizing this.
* PeacefulInDeath: Ottway does his best to make the first man's death this way -- instead of telling him he's going to be fine, he says straight out, "You're going to die. That's what's happening." Then he encourages him to think about whom he loves, and let her take him.
* PrimalFear: The entire film runs on this and never lets up.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: "Fuck faith! Earn it!"
* RedHerring: The [[spoiler: GPS tracking watch.]]
** The [[spoiler: sawed off tree the survivors find before reaching the cliff. If there was civilization anywhere close to that point, the survivors never find it.]]
* TheReveal: What exactly Ottway meant when he said [[spoiler: that his wife "left him."]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Inverted, perhaps even given a RussianReversal. The shaggy wolves get the humans]]
* ShoutOut: Talget's cap, a black cap with the yellow letters "WY" are the same colors of the Weyland-Yutani logo from ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''. RidleyScott, director of ''Alien'', produced this film.
* TheStinger: [[spoiler:Ottway and the alpha wolf lying in a heap after their fight, barely alive. Due to the closeness of the camera, you can only see the wolf's side breathing heavily, and the back of Ottway's head resting upon it. Whether or not either of the two will survive is up for debate, though think about the following two points:]]
** [[spoiler: The heavy breathing of the wolf is a deliberate callback to the beginning of the film, where a mortally wounded wolf is breathing similarly before Ottway ends its misery.]]
** [[spoiler: Ottway's head is ON TOP of the wolf, implying that Ottway collapsed after the wolf did, and may in fact only be resting, catching his breath after the (no doubt) demanding fight.]]
* SuperPersistentPredator: Or rather, predator'''s''', hunting in a pack.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The shot of [[spoiler: Ottway creating the makeshift bottle knuckles and beginning to fight the Alpha]] doesn't come up until the very end.
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