28 Secondes pour un hold-up

I remember watching this when I was in my early twenties, and it became a firm favourite of mine. The plot is simple and revolves around a heist up in the mountains in Italy. However the get away is unique and spectacularly executed and revolves around a lot of skiing. As skiing was a great passion of mine then, the VHS tape the film was recorded on was constantly being watched. Sadly, after being watched so many times my tape is 'dead' and unwatchable. Jean Claude Killy is absolutely fabulous in this film, and the videography of his skiing is excellent. Like many films there are a few twists and an unexpected ending! Don't be put off, this film is truly excellent, it may be old but it is extremely watchable.

Definitely a must watch for skiing fans anywhere. Anyone who is reading this who has some influence; please please please can we have this released on DVD or Blu ray so skiing fans all over the world can benefit and enjoy this wonderful film.

What it reads is something that's not out of the ordinary, but this modest heist caper makes excellent use of the snowy Italian Alps and the story's oddly atypical structure does throw out a surprise or two at the back-end which is somewhat very questionable in the scheme of things. The feature actually opens with a cracking skiing sequence with no music or dialogue, but only natural noises while a stop watch is ticking away. You can see why Jean-Claude Killy was asked to star and it had nothing to do with his limited acting chops. Watching this former Olympian go to work was hypnotic. You could see that the story was made to work around that ability and having their escape to hide the stolen cash through the snow was a unique touch. Breath-taking scenery is marvellously shot with sharp camera positioning and there's a real sense of atmosphere created by director George Englund. Early on there are some pointless distractions and the script has its cheesy moments, but there's a nice flow, taut direction and the performances are acceptable.

Pacing is rather calculative and slow-tempo, but it doesn't miss a beat with it having the players' scope out the plan of action with a certain amount of detail and thought despite the simplicity, although when executed it runs so smoothly there's nothing remotely thrilling other than watching Killy's masterful skiing. Watch as we get slow-motion interwoven with a moody music score. Where I found the tension to mildly unfold was when an insurance inspector (played with wily conviction by Vittorio De Sica) makes himself known getting under the skin of those involved in the heist. Even that "Snow Job" is an interesting curio that might be far from spectacular but still held a certain swagger.

"Okay I'm willing to play".

Christian Biton (Jean-Claude Killy) is a skiing instructor in the Italian ski resort. His girlfriend Monica Scotti is high maintenance. He decides to rob the resort as its cash piles up at the end of the season.

Jean-Claude Killy is a legendary skier. On the other hand, his acting skills are not legendary. The best aspect of this movie is probably the snow action. That adds up to about fifteen minutes. The rest is a muddle of weak acting and a rambling story. The heist is rather less than compelling. The most exciting is him skiing but that's not a movie.

You have to be a big time lover of skiing to get into this film. It also helps if you're old enough to remember when Jean Claude Killy was one of the most famous athletes and people in the world, even to those who didn't ski. The 1968 triple Olympic gold medallist in mens alpine skiing who hailed from France is the star of this virtually forgotten movie. A plot to heist about a quarter of a million dollars and make the get away on skis is the plot. Killy gets to demonstrate his skiing ability, which is vastly superior to his acting ability. If you're a skier you'll enjoy. If you're not you may find this film unbearable.