Aspen Extreme

If you're a skier or a fan of the mountain, then this old school ski movie is a classic you don't wanna miss. Hardly a blockbuster but a great watch, the film is very much the skiing lifestyle of two young guys who chase their passion of skiing. It's got a good skiing scenes and an enjoyable storyline. It's about the ski instructor playboy, T.J. Burke and his uglier but but funny best friend, Dexter Rutecki. They ski in the rich and prestigious Aspen, beginning as ski bums before certain events see the movie develop a more concrete storyline. In short, this film will not be to everyone's taste but if you ski and enjoy the mountain life, watch it, you won't be disappointed!

Like many skiers in Colorado, as a ritual I pull out this DVD every season to get stoked for another year.

The transformative story about a Midwesterner moving to a ski resort and finding himself is compelling and often repeated in reality here in Colorado. Although the acting and details are not all together believable, the story line is strong enough to keep one's interest between ski scenes.

As a retired ski patroller however, the crevasse scene is hard to swallow. I have never seen a water filled crevasse in the middle of winter like the one T. J. fell into while skiing in the back country. Especially near 14,000 feet. But hey, Hollywood is at sea level and it adds to the drama. Despite this naive gaff, the movie has great ski scenes featuring Doug Coombs one of the great extreme skiers. The mountain scenery is also breath taking and was clearly filmed in Aspen.

The avalanche scenes on the other hand look all to real.

We got cable finally when I was ten or eleven and I must have watched this movie with my little sister twenty times. I recall first seeing Teri Polo in this film, and look how she turned out. Also, Peter Berg, an accomplished film director now. His Dexter Rutecki, though probably a poorly written part, was always resonant with me.

Then there was the rival instructor with the accent. Wasn't he in Spandau Ballet? Ah, memories. It gets certain moods right, like being in a Mountain town at the end of ski season. There's great footage of skiing and the story is probably crappy now, but it was enthralling enough for me when I was 11.

This was a great movie. I've always thought it was. Like a lot of people have mentioned it's a great skier's movie. I'll watch it a couple of times over the summer along with all of the other ski movies that I either have, i.e. Hot Dog, Warren Miller, etc... It makes one want to get up and change jobs and lifestyle and keeps my powder fever under control until winter arrives again.

I don't agree with some users comments on the soundtrack though. I think the songs on the soundtrack fit the movie very well. In fact I wish the soundtrack was available because I like the songs in this movie, especially, 'Start the Car' by Jude Cole, 'The Driver' by Terry Reid, and 'Best inside you' by David Baerwald.

It is a sad movie with a similar plot as Top Gun in some respects, but I think the strong friendship of TJ and Dexter separates this movie from the testosterone driven Top Gun(which I think is also a great movie). Not to mention this is one of the few ski movies of the 80s/90s that was not a comedy.

A "must have" for every skier with a vcr. Other fans have already given many positive comments so I will just say that after ten years it's still standing proudly in the shelf close to the TV-set among other classics like The fisher king and The Matrix. And on a regular basis I also put this one on and enjoy..... Of course I know what happens next, but so what? But how long do a videotape last ? I'm just hopefully waiting for the "Directors Cut" - "Special double edition" DVD. Including 2 hours of extra ski-footing, Interwievs with stunt-doubles (who actually are ski stars) and a lot of new scenes, not seen before, and ....and......Well I'm just dreaming. And waiting for the winter and the powder...