Avalanche

I'm not a fan of the disaster genre, they're always the same.

• Introduction of characters
• Expert warns people of imminent disaster
• Powers that be ignore expert
• Disaster happens
• Then either a lot of running and talking about what is happening until it ends or some pseudo science to fix it

This is no different and what's strange is just how little of the film the disaster takes up.

Starring Robert Forster, Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow this is more like a soap opera where an avalanche just so happens to take place.

Swinging 70's, polystyrene snow and merciless deaths this has it's merits but certainly pales in comparison to the better films within this sub genre.

The Good:

Cast do a decent job

The Bad:

Predictible

Soap opera like

SFX are poor even for its time

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Unless your name ends in Campbell don't be a Bruce, you are no worthy

Death by polstyrene looks as painful as it sounds

I am a bit embarrassed to admit I was in this movie. A bit, but, hey I had fun filming & was paid pretty well. Actually I was several scenes. I was a student at Fort Lewis majoring in Theater. Our troupe was invited to audition to be paid extras. It was spring break & I was earning money for my upcoming wedding. Not bad pay for a college student.

The snow and cold was real. It snowed the whole time we did any outdoor scenes. A fun mess when you add shredded plastic, Styrofoam boulders, and huge wind fans.

I lived in the area for quite a while & I too find this movie funny. I love the scene when Rock Hudson walks over to a window and states when he saw that mountain he knew he had to live there. That mountain is nowhere near Durango. As for the avalanche, well lets just say it is very hard for an avalanche to travel up mountain. But this one did to start at Tammeron and end up wiping out Purgatory mountain (now known as Durango mountain). Very funny stuff if you are from the area.

In the original credits Fort Lewis College Theater Department was listed but I see we are not here. As I was the only member to stick around during th break to work on the movie I must say I am disappointed but not surprised.

One of the premieres were held in Durango. I was not as pleased with the final product as I was when we filmed. We never saw the whole script so the movie was very different from what we were told. But all in all a good time and a not as bad as it could have been film. Wish I could say I went on to better movies but I went on to be a full time mommy and wife.

If you ever lived in the area it is a fun watch. You will see bloopers in things others will never notice.

Hey, someone had to die of a little snow in the 70s..it was bound to happen. If whatever hack made this hadn't bothered, Irwin Allen would have..but to give credit where credit is due, Allen would have cast this better. Even if the movie stunk to high heaven (hello, 'The Swarm'), at least there were enough stars to keep you from falling asleep.

Also to give credit where it is due, there is some really beautiful cinematography, especially in outdoor shots of Mia Farrow swimming and another scene of a skier trying to outdistance an avalanche is shot very well.

However, once the cast starts talking, the groans can begin. Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow seem like they wouldn't even converse at a cocktail party; they are from different cinematic solar systems and should not have been paired here at all, even if they are a divorced couple. Robert Forster is semi-interesting as an predictable love interest for Mia and an ecologist who can predict the entire movie in his first scenes if only the screenplay had allowed him.

Impatient action fans - tune in one hour after it started to see the extras get killed. Before that is alot of drama, and after that is the rescue, and that's all, folks.

This movie is so bad that I had to run out and buy my own copy before it vanishes from the planet. Everyone should enjoy the pain that is avalanche. But, amongst the painful plot and characters, you are treated to some very memorable scenes that make this film worth owning. Name another movie that has unstable snow and acid milk. Instead of being sad when characters meet their doom, you cheer with glee as their burning car falls into a deep ravine.

Checking in rather late, though not at the tail end, in the 1970's disaster movie cycle, this Roger Corman cheapie is only entertaining in fits and starts. Hudson (looking ragged and drunk at times) has just built a huge winter paradise in the mountains of Colorado. His ex-wife (Farrow) comes to the opening, for old times sake, while employee Forster foresees danger in the snow caps. Hudson's mother (Nolan, in a white fright wig) wines and dines with abandon. There are also trite and annoying plot threads about a studly skier, a TV show host (Primus) and his unfaithful wife and a nervous ice skater. Aside from having less than stunning production values, the film's main problem is that it takes an hour for the title event to occur and then races through all the resultant carnage with choppy editing and distorted timing. The viewer must endure a shabby, clichéd script and some bad acting while waiting for the Styrofoam chunks and plastic snow to may their way down the hill. Hudson is bad. He barks and yells inappropriately when he isn't wooden. Farrow looks idiotic much of the time and is completely mismatched with Hudson. (She learned nothing from this experience as she was soon to film the disastrous "Hurricane", another career killer. Thankfully, for her, Woody Allen was just around the corner!) Forster actually outshines the others with his charm and conviction in a thankless part. Nolan shamelessly hams up her role in a desperate attempt to add life to the often dull proceedings. She is funny, but not always in the way intended. Primus had worked for Corman before, so he should have known what he was in for. On the plus side, there are a few hooty lines of dialogue and some unintentionally hilarious, overwrought, emotional scenes among the lesser players. Also, a few of the ice and snow effects and destruction scenes are solid (most, however, are shoddy.) One hilarious scene has a skater spinning obliviously while snow encompasses her. In another, folks digging a hole out of an enclosed lodge keep knocking against the rubber "snow" so that it springs back! Then there's the rescue workers who, after witnessing an electrocution, allow the victim to fall onto the ground instead of into their net, which is right under him! There's also an ambulance door that apparently flies open simply by leaning against it. One distinction: This has to be the only 1970's disaster film that has nudity. Hudson (in a bid to reinforce his heterosexual image?) has a secretary that walks around his chalet naked! If the film had spent a half hour getting to know the people and an hour rescuing them (instead of the opposite), it might have been more entertaining. The way it stands, viewers wind up not really liking the characters and can barely keep up with the rescues!