Extreme Ops

This film is bad filmmaking 101. A commercial director (Rufus Sewell, who has certainly done better work elsewhere) assembles a group of extreme athletes (including Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as a Gold Medal Skier??) and lugs them off to a secluded area of the Swis Alps to film them outracing an avalance for a DV Camera commercial!!! Of course the same hillside out intrepid filmmakers choose is the hidding place of some terrorist leader, who thinks the bumbling and arguing film crew are actualy CIA Agents trying to nab him! Of course the first hour or so is taken up by inane banter among the athletes, including a raver chick (a dead ringer for early Angelina Jolie) who thinks Sampras gold Medal skier isnt hip enough to be in their crowd... Eventualy, after the obligatory Hot Tub bonding scene, we get to some action when the bad guys chase out heroes down the slopes in a helicopter! Of course the ending is so rediculous that you'll just laugh at the ineptitude of the screenwriters. This is a terrible movie from start to finish. GRADE: F

This movie looked great. I really wanted to see it. But it was a disappointment. Why? This movie has no plot at all.. There's a group of people making a commercial and a terrorist (or whatever). And that terrorist wants to kill that group. Well, at least 15 minutes before the end. The movie is based on stunts, stunts and again stunts. I was so sick of the snow and skiing. I wanted to see an ACTION movie, not a typical show about extreme sport.

Unless you are really into skiing and watching people ski and snowboard for a good part of an hour and a half and watching people run around in white cold fluffy stuff, just go to bed.

It's not a very entertaining movie and the dialog is lame.

There's snow and lots of it...and a few nice shots - actually quite a few, but that's the highlight.

Take away the gangster scenes and basically what you have is a documentary about skiing and snowboarding.

The Olympics skier is told she can't ski...yet she's on a dangerous mountain melting the snow - even though she takes a flip...she's doing some pretty awesome moves.

I couldn't resist with that one line summary above. Actually this film wasn't a total stinker. It had some good points, a lot of low points as well, but still some good stuff to be seen.

I thought the story was actually a rather interesting idea. It could have definitely been a great movie, with the right director. I did like some of Christian Duguay's work ("The Art of War" and "Screamers"), I'm not really sure what happened here. I want to blame the writing and the editor...but I'm sure that the director is also to blame here. Speaking of editing, there was some HORRIBLE editing in this film. There were a few scenes where I couldn't help but ask myself "What the heck was that?!?!"

The characters in the film were all pretty good ideas, just not executed correctly. The two characters that were supposed to be super adrenaline junkies were good ideas, but weren't done justice. I'm not saying the acting was horrible or anything like that, I'm just saying that some of the things they were doing didn't look "cool", just plain stupid!!! There were a few stunts that they did that were really cool though, so it wasn't a total bust. I did like the snowboarding off the back of the train, that was kind of cool.

The action in the film was actually really good at times. But, it was very often short-lived. I was shocked how short "the chase" in the film was between the terrorists and the good guys. At the end of the film, I was thinking "That's it???" ...And as for the actual final moments of the film...well, let's just say it could have been better.

Most of the actors did a fine job. Rufus Sewell did a fine job as always. Ever since I saw him in "Dark City" I've really liked his acting and tried to follow his work. Devon Sawa did a surprisingly good job, I usually don't like his acting, but did a pretty good job in the film. Bridget Wilson did a great job with her role and looks absolutely fantastic throughout the film. She is reason enough to watch the film. Jana Pallaske is a new face to me, she did an ok job with her role. I didn't think she was spectacular, but she did pretty good job given the material (and is quite the looker as well...her lips remind me of Angelina Jolie).

All in all, I can't in good conscience recommend you go see this film in the theater unless you just want to see some cool snowboarding/skiing footage. I strongly urge you not to pay a full price ticket, see this one at a matinee if you absolutely must. Otherwise, wait till video. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

A fun senseless romp that was way more entertaining than the self aggrandizing "Die Another Day." This movie has no pretensions. It's formulaic B-movie material, but it knows it. The casting is good, the acting is spirited, and the special effects are clever. It even manages to make fun of itself. Are avalanche scenes real, or digital? I see from the ratings that women like it more than men. I think that's because there's no gratuitous sex or violence, and the females leads are strong and entertaining. Also notable is that it pokes some fun at reality TV shows with the obligatory hot tub scene, and plot references to shows like "Fear Factor," and "Big Brother."