Customer Reviews

Aspen Extreme

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Dexter Rutecki lived a life that was short and funny and sad and hard and good. Most of the time it was good. It was good the day he died. The snow was deep and pure white. The sun high and cold. He was my best friend."

This film, while some will cry "Predictable", is entirely watchable and utterly enjoyable, almost to the point of sin. Granted, it's not "Chicago", "Phantom of the Opera" (2004 version), "Dances with Wolves", or "Titanic". However, it is certainly not cutting room floor crap either, and WAY better than "Hot Dog" because it doesn't rely on nudity to sell the story. Come to think of it, that's probably why the film wasn't a smash at the box office. YES! That's it! I'm sure of it! No nudity, that remains this film's fatal fault for the vast majority of America.

As for me, this film deals with far more human issues than simply throwing the odd breast on the screen to drawn in crowds. No, this film deals with two friends desire to attain success together (and not in that way).

This is an overall good film if one can manage to see the issues at hand. A man's climb to the top, the value of friendship, and the horror when your world comes crashing down. Then, yes, there is death, remorse, and dealing with all of those feelings in a way that leaves you among the living.

Predictable, yes, but if it wasn't it would either be "too real life" or "depressing". So what if it's predictable. That is why we see films. We watch to either be happy, or sad, or vindicated. Predictability is a good thing. If it wasn't, you'd take your date to what was supposed to be a "chick flick" and need a ride home at the end.

Bravo for predictability and Bravo for Aspen Extreme. It's a fine film and a guilty pleasure sure to be watched countless times over.

I watched this movie thinking it would be some shallow t&a movie- but one with great ski sequences (which I why i thought it worth a look). How wrong I was!

Aspen Extreme is one of the rare films about male friendship that gets its right.

It portrays, as few films do, how a close male friend can simultaneously be your emotional anchor and greatest competitor. Dexter and TJ ( the main characters) have that complexity and paul gross and peter berg are great actors- you actually believe they are lifelong friends who need each other, even while they know they may be going in different directions as they get older.

The ski sequences are excellent and teri polo shows why she should have become a major star a decade ago (if there was any justice in the world)

the only negative- fiona hughes was too one dimensional and not on par with the three leads- you never once get the feeling this person is a successful businesswoman!

the plot twist towards the end is a little shocking- but moving and effective.

First off, I love this movie. Sure, it's a bit ridiculous, but I like the characters, and the skiing footage is great. I'd probably give the movie itself 4 stars, but the DVD production deserves 2 stars, at best.

Issue 1: The video transfer is not very good. I did a side-by-side comparison with my VHS version, and the DVD image isn't much of an improvement. The colors are a little brighter, but the image isn't any sharper, and there is even dust evident on the DVD transfer. But what's worse is the letterboxing. I prefer to see all my movies in the original aspect ratio, so I was excited to finally see a widescreen version of Aspen Extreme. However, I was incredibly disappointed to discover that the 1.85-to-1 aspect ratio was achieved by cropping the top and bottom of the VHS image, rather than restoring the sides of the frame.

Issue 2: There is no Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. As you would expect from a not-so-popular catalog title, it didn't receive any special sound treatment. All you get is the Dolby 2.0 surround.

Issue 3: And finally, as you would expect, this title received no extra treatment in the special features department. Granted, with the ...price tag, you probably weren't expecting much, but if you didn't already know, this is the movie only. There's not even a theatrical trailer.

In short, if you already have the VHS version of this movie, don't bother to buy the DVD version. It's not offering you anything you don't already have.

If you love to ski or snowboard (especially if you love the 80's) you must see this film. It pretty much (along with Hot Dog!) defines the 80's ski scene. Great stunts, good story line and awesome clothes and soundtrack make this the perfect film to enjoy watching after a long day on the slopes (drink in hand of course!).

Ok, so it might not be that award winning movie that touches millions (or makes millions) - but I'm a skier and I love this film! I would have loved to have done what these guys did - I'm sure many of us skiers would agree. I love the music almost most of all. Some important questions though:

1. Will this ever come out on DVD? 2. Does anyone know where a person can get the full score of this film? I have almost all the soundtrack music.

I watch this film every fall before ski season to get me pumped up for the upcoming season... then I watch it in the middle of summer and dream of snow and winter. I only wish I could pick up and move to Aspen (or the like).

Many of us have wanted to walk away from lifes everyday routine and that is what these two from Detroit decide to do. The friendship that is strong enough for the trip is tested in the high(extreme) society of the well to do in Aspen, Colo. It is a good story with relationships going up and down. The scenery is what people who love the mountains crave. I bought it and view it in ski season, the heat of summer, or when a relationship is troubled.

The plot was survivable, the characters somewhat believable, and the skiing was incredible! There may not be any better skiing scenes on film, than the "chase" scene, and the final "powder 8" scene. Any skier would have to agree! If I were rating this just on skiing, it would definitely be 5 stars, but since it tried to have a plot, I can only give it 3! Scott Schmidt was amazing, just like in all his Warren Miller flicks!

This will be a short review - chances are, if you're reading this, you're already a fan of the movie and looking to see how the blu ray release turned out. I won't review the movie itself other than to say I liked it quite a bit - enough to buy the DVD a few years ago only to be extremely disappointed in the picture and audio quality (likewise with the other Mill Creek disc I purchased, "Indian Summer"). Thankfully, those issues have all been fixed and the blu-ray is a fine release - mind you, this isn't a reference quality disc and there are no extras what-so-ever (the menu consists of 'Play' and 'Scenes'). But the picture is finally presented in 'anamorphic' widescreen - which was all I was really hoping for to begin with. In fact, the picture is more vibrant than I expected - I'm fairly certain there wasn't any sort of restoration done, but it looks pretty darn good nonetheless. The other nice surprise is the DTS-HD Master soundtrack - again, not reference, but it sounds quite nice - and many times better than the DVD. Bottom line: for the price, this is an easy purchase for fans of the movie looking to upgrade from the awful DVD. If you haven't seen it, give it a shot - for a 90's film about a couple of down-n-out guys looking to live out their dreams of hitting the big slopes, it's probably deeper than you're expecting. Enjoy!

This movie has become one of my favorites.The story comes together beautifully.I also liked watching the extreme skiing.This movie was not promoted well.This was unfortunate as the actors did a great job.J.R.Christine(Judy)-Michigan

I purchased "Aspen Extreme" solely as a vintage ski movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a good movie by any standards, and it met my ski expectations.
The movie has well developed characters, a true story line, excellent production values, and good acting. This movie would be in the upper half of theatrical releases in any year.
I was never bored by the off-slope footage, which is a huge accomplishment for a movie that does have good ski footage.
I recommend this movie to skiers and general movie buffs interested in a light romance. This is way, way better than the recent releases that are on sale at your local video store.