Director
Kemp Hurly
Kevin Harrison
Cast
Shawn Farmer….Himself
Terje Haakonsen….Himself
Nick Perata….Himself
Hannah Teter….Herself
Shaun White….Himself
The Movie
Have you ever gone to the Black Diamond at your local slope, looked down and said “No way”? If so, this movie will scare you to death. 5 of the world’s most renowned snowboarders take to the mountaintops in Alaska and shred like no one has ever shredded before.
The movie itself is a documentary on both the trip of the 5 and the history of snowboarding. The interesting part of that is watching all the advancement that has taken place in snowboarding over the years. Seeing guys holding onto ropes attached to the front of their board for support and then seeing one of the riders cause an avalanche while shredding down an Alaskan mountain gives you just a peek at how snowboarding has advanced over the years.
What is also interesting, at least to me, is watching the biographies of the riders. Seeing how these people live lives you can only dream of because they can ride a snowboard is murder on your soul, but fun nonetheless. Watching Shaun White, at 18, be a grand marshal at a NASCAR race (which I was at, by the way.) just makes you want to hit the slopes and try it yourself.
The only downfall of the movie is its length. At 110 minutes, it gets pretty long and drawn out. With most stunts, you have that initial crazy reaction and then want more. After the 10th time you might start to get bored. It doesn’t kill the movie though and for anyone who snowboards it will only further glue them to their seats.
Score: 7/10
The Video
Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 – Looks great and the shots of the Alaskan mountains are fantastic. If you have a friend with a big screen TV, run to his house with this.
The Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 – Sounds good to me
The Extras
AK And Beyond – This is basically a feature that could have made the movie at certain points. It’s a behind the scenes look at what is essentially a behind the scenes movie. It does take you through the process of getting the film made, so that’s a plus.
Top Of The World: Wescam Featurette – The Wescam is the camera attached to the helicopter in the movie. It is cool, gets some great shots, and this is a feature about it. It shows the attachment of it and how it was used. Neat little feature.
A Thousand Words – A whole slew of pictures from the set.
Big Mountain Riding – Nick Perata takes you on a bit of a safety lesson for the mountains. Interesting to see how they try to stay safe and how it seems to be impossible at certain points.
Extended Snowboarding Action – More mountain stunts!
Deleted Scenes – Nothing too special. Two deleted scenes that weren’t worth it.
Score: 6/10
