The Art of Flight

I felt like I owed it to the makers of this film to voice my opinion. This is the new pinnacle of action sports films.

First these guys aren't playing around, the action is outstanding and the music score is absolutely second to none. The addition of incredible use of surround and the obvious use of the highest quality cams on the market makes this the best Blu-ray sports film out-period.

I saw one person complaining that it was more like a snowboarding music video, this is how it should be, it's my opinion that they shouldn't have changed a thing. Having spent a fair share of my life playing with amateur filming extreme sports and watching films of others. This film absolutely blows me away... Unbelievable.

The addition of the amazing locales and picturesque screens of locations that viewers can hardly imagine makes this movie almost surreal...

Thanks Curt Morgan, Travis Rice and associates I'm not sure you can beat this but I really hope that you try...

Video & Audio Quality

A bit geeky but here goes. Blu-Ray video was averaging around 20 Mbps (peaking 35 Mbps) and audio was averaging around 5.5 Mbps (peaking 7.5 Mbps). To give some comparison a typical Hollywood DVD has video and audio totalling around 4.5 Mbps – yes you read that right, just the audio alone on this Blu-Ray has a higher bit rate than the video and audio of a DVD combined. I invested pretty heavily in good home setup and this Blu-Ray took advantage, the 1080p AVC video and Dolby TrueHD audio are stunning. The iTunes version is 2.7 GB (highly compressed) the Blu-Ray works out at 16 GB approx. As a result you are getting 6X more detail here. 10/10

Film Content

With the money pumped into this production it was clear it wouldn't be an amateur hour affair. Things kick off in Alaska for some pretty mental runs before moving south to the Andes in Chile with some pretty intimidating rocky terrain, moving further south to Patagonia before moving up north again for a second winter in BC.

There is a lot of filler between the action videos. This filler is typically narration mixed with some arty, almost pretentious, video work. Those that don't appreciate this might want less narrative and more action, I found the balance good. On the subject of video, if there are two signature video shots from this film it would be wide-angle slow-motion pointing into the sun – great action, and time lapse of the moving night sky – great filler. 8/10

Music

The main trailer has an amazing tune which is collaboration between M83 and Brain Farm Cinema, sadly it's not used in the film! There is some other electronic, including some tracks off M83's forthcoming album. Some post-rock from Sigur Ros and even a little light rock. Perhaps my expectations were too high after the trailer but it didn't fit as well as I'd hoped. Certainly not bad though. 7/10

Rating

I am clearly no film critic, but in terms of production values this is the best snowboarding film I have seen. The action is great too, it's 1hr 20 of great snowboarding and impressive cinematography. It's not everything I had hoped for, but so close. My favourite snowboarding film to date. 8/10.

"The Art of Flight" is "The Odyssey" of snowboard movies. It's epic camera work makes even Warren Miller look like an amateur. Red Bull helps pull out all the stops, to produce the most wild documentation of the world of snowboarding out there.

Travis Rice, John Jackson, and Mark "Lando" Landvik take the world of snowboarding to a new level in the opening scene alone, which sets the tone, and gives you a small taste of what's in store for the rest of the film.

The crew even gives you a small inside look into their lives during the planning phases and cloudy down days that prevent filming.

There's not not too much more that can be said about the film beyond "Epic" aside from watch the film. It's the only way to fully understand.

Great sound track. Ground breaking film.

The Art of Flight.

Get into a helicopter, get dropped off at the top of the mountain, skate down.

This movie once again makes it seem so easy, yet so impressive at the same time. With a good mixture between big mountain downhill and some of the most impressive jumps you will ever see, "The Art of Flight" is not an educational snowboarding movie. It's a piece that shows you several athletes constantly looking to push the limits.

Whether it is skating down while avalanches are being kicked off left and right, whether they are closely avoiding crashing into rocks on a slope that's not even as wide as a car or whether they land jumps that you thought impossible, this movie will leave you in awe most of the time. Adding to that is the spectacular cinematography in beautiful places like Chile, Patagonia and Alaska. This is hands down the best looking snowboarding piece ever made.

That said, "The Art of Flight" could use a little more direction at points and some of the scenes seemed rather pointless. Other movies build up to a grand finale, this one merely shows you a bunch of guys on the hunt for snow - which does not make it any less of a great movie, but leaves you with a feeling that more could have been achieved. There is very little being said about the personal lives of the athletes as well.

If you're simply looking for big mountain and big air, this is not to be missed. If spectacular images of mountain scenery are your thing, this movie will make you happy. If you're looking for an entertaining movie about snowboarding, you should still go and see this. You might be disappointed though if you're expecting a big story behind it all.

The Art of Flight is more than what it seems.

This is an engaging, immaculately filmed, brilliant film that shows what happens when us as humans push our boundaries.

From the breathtaking cinematography, from amazing camera angles and intense vivid slow motion action in the most remote locations in the world. It's really unreal some of the stuff in Art of Flight, it takes nature and snowboarding and combines them into something magical.

Ad mist all the flashy stuff, the film is much deeper - it shows humanity and the struggle for greatness. To keep pushing yourself to the limit, and what to live for. The strive and passion these guys have for taking down the most dangerous sections of mountains to ever be snowboarded upon is just amazing.

If your into sports at all, or movies about pushing your limits of what the human mind and body can do. Or just looking for something gorgeously appealing in high def to sit back and enjoy, look no further than the Art of Flight.