Deep Winter (2009)

Really Surprised!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

Tyler Crowe (Eric Lively) is a competitive downhill skier. His best friend is snowboarder Mark Rider (Kellan Lutz). Tyler starts dating Mark's sister Elisa Rider (Peyton List). The guys go to make an adventure helicopter skiing video on a dangerous Alaskan mountain side. Dean (Michael Madsen) is the local pilot and guide.There is some good mountain skiing montages. Otherwise, there is nothing compelling. The plot is lackluster. The drama has no bite. There is no tension. The acting is functional at best. A skiing video would be better than trying to jerry-rig a movie plot around it.

Tyler (Eric Lively) is a hotshot skier with much talent but not enough self-control. His defiance of rules and instruction gets him tossed off the American ski team by his coach (Robert Carradine). Heading back to his Rocky Mountain home, he catches up with old friends, including Mark (Kellan Lutz) and his attractive younger sister, Elisa (Peyton List). Not having a good plan for his future, Tyler and Mark, also a skier, are asked to ski in a put-on-a-show video in Alaska! The concept is that a helicopter will take the duo up to a mountain in the 49th state, drop them off and have a camera rolling. It is one risky business, for small avalanches occur regularly. Only the most skilled athletes and fearless souls need apply. The two men go. There they meet a former Alaskan skier, Dean (Michael Madsen) who will be giving them advice and holding the recorder. Initially, things go well and some spectacular footage is shot. But, with both Mark and Tyler liking to compete "on the edge", will they return home safely? This movie has some of the most terrific scenery and skiing cinematography that most viewers will ever see. Imagine, skiing down a huge mountain in Alaska! Just looking at it makes one a bit dizzy! On the other hand, while the cast is talented and good looking, the plot is mediocre. It also has some drug related elements that might make some film fans uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the movie's unique setting and eye-popping ski stunts make the flick very worthwhile, winter or summer.

I read this review on DVD Verdict then rented the movie and loved it.You know, I wasn't expecting anything more than a cookie-cutter snowboard jock-movie starring annoying characters, but Deep Winter surprised me. It's an entertaining spectacle, sporting some jaw-dropping downhill footage, a serviceable human drama, and likable players to tie it all together.Deep Winter is sort of a meta-snowboard movie, quite possible the first of a genre. The story is about these guys making a ski and snowboard movie, but it's obvious from the crazy downhill shenanigans that human beings are actually strapping themselves to thin pieces of sculpted plastic and voluntarily sliding down a big-ass mountain. Really, I can't say enough about how awesome the skiing and snowboarding is in this movie. If I had to guess, the angles are sheer 90 degree drops of doom and somehow the nutjobs the filmmakers suckered into rocketing down the slopes negotiate this wintry peril with ease. Just fantastic.Buttressing all of this is the movie itself and it's decent. You'll be able to chart out the trajectory of the plot no problem: the twists, the relationships, the looming fatalities, the Final Momentous Choice our hero makes, all of it. You've seen this melodrama in countless other works. The clichés are tempered with some solid acting and a likable Alpha Male awesome skier guy who bangs his best friend's sister, sure, but that's a necessity in movies like this, so you can't fault him for that. Even Michael Madsen brings his game, likely relieved he's not hoisting around a fake sword and incomprehensible accent from a Uwe Boll movie or playing a gangster for the billionth time.Again, the centerpiece of Deep Winter is the ski action footage, so I wouldn't hold it against you if you skipped through some of the extended sentimentality to get to the good stuff.The film looks good in its 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen treatment, though the picture quality isn't as vibrant as it could be. In fact, Deep Winter is best-suited for a high-definition treatment. Audio is pushed by a 5.1 track, and it's rich, pounding bass and blasting out the nifty soundtrack. The total lack of extras is a major missed opportunity.

I joined IMDb just to say how bad this movie is. There is no plot, the acting is awful, and even the skiing is bad!!!It all starts after the main guy falls during a competition. Then he goes back home... Finds a old friend - she is obviously his best friends sister and of course he has sex with her. The brother gets really mad... However they still leave together to Alaska to make a movie. They leave to ski down one of the worst mountains ever.. The brother dies, the sister cries (but don t worry they get back together after the main character finishes what his best friend died doing, going down that big nasty mountain full of avalanches)Do not watch is my advice..