The Art of Flight (2011)

Wonderful Movie

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good concept, poorly executed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film series "The Art of Flight " was considered to be a groundbreaking step in the skiing and snowboarding film industry. Never before seen camera technology and camera angles were used in the film series. The film received plenty of both positive and negative reviews on movie reviews websites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. There didn't seem to be any "in between-ers" who liked some parts and disliked others. The people that said they didn't like it had one argument to back it up and that was that it was only because of the big time sponsors that Curt Morgan, the director was able to make such a good film. The people that have no knowledge of the world of skiing and snowboarding appeared to be the ones who bashed Curt Morgan for the Flight documentary series. What most people don't know is that Curt Morgan has been making skiing and snowboarding and even Bmx and skateboarding films for over a decade. And that only a couple of years ago Red Bull picked him up and began to provide him with a bigger budget to make films. To say that he is unskilled and relies on the "hollywood style budget" is false and inaccurate. Besides "The Art of Flight", Director and producer Curt Morgan has made over a dozen other low-budget films ranging from skateboarding movies to free-form slope skiing and extreme skiing films. What I like most about the movie and Curt Morgan's style of filming is that he strays away from the typical format for a documentary. Cutscenes of riders throwing up tricks litter the entire film added in as eye candy in between interviews with the skiers. Personally I think that it was a great documentary film. It didn't focus on just the skiing part it went into detail and showed the dangers that the riders faced in riding and descending mountains that had never been rode on ever before. The danger of avalanches and ice caves were real, and at one point an avalanche almost killed 2 riders as they were coming down the mountain. His "raw" style of filming and the way he doesn't edit out mistakes and keeps the camera rolling shows his innovative and abnormal filming techniques. I've always been a fan of Curt Morgan films and personally have all of his movies at home that I watch frequently. Just goes to show how skilled he is that even after seeing it several times before I still sit on the edge of my seat every time I watch it.

Without a doubt, everything said about the cinematography is true- beautiful, incredible pictures abound. The snowboarding has you gasping and maybe even feeling sick in your stomach in the good way! But unfortunately for us, the characters speak and spill out every cliché on the planet "it's not the destination, it's the journey", "respect the mountain. When you don't respect the mountain that's when bad things happen" (paraphrase).That would be all fine except that the 'storyline' sees us following these guys to remote places and generally finding too little snow. (Maybe because they're flying everywhere in helicopters, blowing up propane tanks, shooting and destroying trees and setting fires. Ever heard of climate change?) I thought snowboarders would be a little more 'down to earth' and want to protect what they spend their life on.Twice in the film the guys look at discouraging weather/conditions reports but say "but you can't just trust the data. You've gotta get out there and see for yourself." But then they're shocked when they find exactly what the data predicted and have to call their trips short.The snowboarding action is beautiful...but little else to recommend it. Luckily there's a lot of action.

Just to warm up: This is definitely the most expensive, beautiful and technically perfect snowboard film I have ever seen (and yes, I have seen many).The good things first: Already the Intro Logo animations make clear: there is a LOT of money in this film. And fortunately it went into the hands of someone like Travis Rice, one of the riders who push snowboarding to the limit and beyond. This time it's not one, not two, but up to three helicopters and other filming aides that help making an impressive portrayal of the sceneries and of course, the riding. And make no mistake - this is snowboarding at its very best AND core. It is a delight to watch these people do what they do best and the cinematography underlines the challenge of the actions presented. In fact we see things never seen before in the world of snowboarding (even in sports). The picture is super HD, the slow-mo's are extreme to the max, the post production is massive, the music works and the motion graphics & special effects fit in just perfectly. Now to the inevitable: Please note, I'm reviewing a film here (not a person or the athletic abilities of someone). When "The Art Of Flight" is finished and the lights in the theater are turned on you feel a little empty. Yes, what has just been shown is definitely top notch state of the art, but as a film TAOF doesn't work - at all. In fact there isn't much of a "film" to review here but rather a long snowboard music video flick with no content except for the riding and the extensive use of the RED camera with super slow motion. It's nice to see snow-particles in HD falling at a very very very slow speed but after the 50th time it gets kinda boring and appears like "hey, look how great and expensive our camera is". The story, OK, now we get to the core - there is no story, no conclusion, no real insight (ok, the injury part is interesting but not mind opening) and no character development. It's a couple of riders who have the opportunity to travel to very remote places to snowboard and that's about it. And I really had to laugh at the Marc McMorris shot towards the end because he only appears for a few seconds - to perform the latest state of the art trick, his 1440 Triple Cork. At that point it almost seems like TAOF wants to show off by saying "Hey, and look, we got the latest trick as well".The Art Of Flight is technically impressing, no doubt. But when it's over it's over because the makers failed to produce a real film and chose to make an overlong snowboard music video.

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.