Rating: Summary: Interesting Concept, Poor Execution. Review: This is one of the first DVDs I have watched as a benefit of working back in my old job.I am sure that there is an audience out there for this movie but I am not a part of it. There certainly is an attraction for the idea of this movie which combines a high degree of action and high jinx. Alas, minor considerations such as a half-decent plot and script matter even then. Other reviewers have summarized the plot (sic) well enough and I have nothing to add to those comments. However, this movie does show some promise and could easily be remade as a major event. The popularity of XXX showed what such movies can achieve and I hope that this will be taken on board. The concept is a good one with a certain truth contained in a one-liner about the challenges facing skiers who go down the same hill as hundreds of others in a quest to shave off a millionth of a second of someone's record. There is certainly a market out there which extends beyond the adolescent and young adults who are clearly the targets of this flick. There is an unmet need for a good action movie with the thrills that are promised here but with more substance and gravitas that found here and with a sexual interest that is more than a fixation upon large boobs. Certainly a fun and entertaining movie but one which does not stand too much close inspection. As Roxy Music once titled an album, 'Remake Remodel'.
Rating: Summary: Predictable Review: This movie had the worst most predictable plot in the world. It's your typical " Run from the insane russian terrorists " plot you've seen over and over again. The dialogue is also pretty stupid with one-liners like " Sup B****es " and " Wicked Cool, man ". However, the stunt sequences were pretty awesome. And whats the deal with the dvd features? There's hardly any features on it!
Rating: Summary: snowboarding mixed with bullets and action dont mix Review: this movie started out good but then got all mushy with the action and the gunfire. good snowboarding stunts, and the cast is great, Sawa looks a little scruffy looking. like I said, with the snowboarding and action, dont mix well and it gets muddled when the badguys come along
Rating: Summary: Some Good Stunts Killed by Bad Editing and Silly Plot Review: Though I give only two stars to this film, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. I don't care if the plot is too silly. That's OK. I don't care a British guy plays an American. Many do that in this business. But I hate when there are good materials, and when they are ruined like in this film. I mean, its stunts. The characters -- Devon Sawa ("Final Destination"), Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell, Joe Absolom, Jana Paranske -- are hired to make a promotion video for Japanese client. (Inexplicably, only Ms. Wilson-Sampras is American among the main cast. Devon Sawa is Canadian.) They are going to travel to the Alps, all camping out in the construction site of a resort hotel up on a lonely mountain. But when this rag-tag team encounter a group of terroists (don't ask me why), they are forced to use their skills for extreme sports to survive the deadly fight against them. The story is silly, but not bad. "Cliffhanger" was silly -- you know, Sly must have been dead within five minutes with that clothes -- but not a bad actioner after all, giving a series of great stunts. And "Extreme Ops" offers some great stunts, and actors are certainly doing their jobs. See, for example, Devon Sawa hanging from the tail of the train, strapped to it by ropes. You can see people doing skateboarding on a moving train, behind a moving train, and so on. But the drirector Christian Dugay arrange them in a meaningless way, editing so badly that you just don't know what is going on particularly in the first scenes about the canoe riding. To make matters worse, as the film reaches its climax, you will see the cheesy CGIs, a crazy soldier with bad acting, and some ridiculous tactics that the characters use to protect them from the killers, all of which tell that the film is running out of tricks, and this feeling kills the excitement this kind of film should offer. Not so bad as some people say, but "Extreme Ops" tells us why "XXX" is a great fun -- charisma of Vin Diesel, sexy Asia Argento, and great stunts aptly shown on the screen, all of which lack here. Trivia: "Yana" is played by Liliana Komorowska, wife of director Christian Dugay, and she can be seen many of his films like "Screamers."
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