The Camera Steals the Soul: Outdoor Sports in Cinema
Our Thought Kitchen meetings usually take place at the bar/creperie Le Happy, a little joint around the corner from the office that’s the perfect venue for our informal pitch meetings. It’s usually after a couple beers (or hot toddies) that the best subject matter is born. Such was the case this winter when we began an ongoing discussion about the worst cinematic interpretations of outdoor sports.
What started as a casual conversation about few ‘80s date movies blew up into an email rally 20 replies long. From Keanu Reeves’ bro-brah Johnny Utah in Point Break to Stallone’s piton-firing gun in Cliffhanger, no phony stone was left unturned. A month or so later, we had a hefty list of the bad, the good, and the guilty pleasure flicks Hollywood has made about the sports we love.
The list grew so long that we had to break the post into categories based on the sport genre being butchered. Since it’s still ski season for some of us, we thought we might as well start there.
SKIING/SNOWBOARDING
THE BAD (click for clips):
Ski Patrol
Downhill Willie
Frostbite
Ski School 1 & 2
Snowboard Academy
Winter Break
Aspen Extreme
THE DECENT/FUNNY:
Downhill Racer
Hot Dog
Out Cold
Better Off Dead
THE GUILTY PLEASURES:
Ski Party
Fire & Ice
Stay tuned for the next installment: totally bogus surf films…
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Outdoor Sport, Who We Are. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Wow. Great post!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the third installment may be ‘The Camera SEALS the Soul’ and include biking films. Who knows, things just could get a little RADical.
It’s great to see these classics compiled somewhere.
Thanks,
Brett
April 19th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Rick, you missed one called Red Snow. Filmed on Hood with local riders. I did a little searching and this was all i could find.
This alpine mystery-adventure is set in the spectacular Hurricane Ridge Ski Resort in the Cascade Mountains and follows the exploits of a new snowboard instructor who discovers that his predecessor was murdered and that he is next on the list. He is then framed for two more murders and must enlist the aid of his fellow snowboarders to prove his innocence. The film features exceptional stunt work and exciting footage of high-speed chases upon the slopes.
via- allmovie.com
April 21st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hey Rick, its Morgan, I’ve a picture for your consideration to the surf films. email me and I’ll send it over.
morganw@nemodesign.com
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
‘Better Off Dead’ is all time. Nerdy underdog protagonist, cute french exchange student inexplicably attracted to him. Japanese kids playing a Greek chorus, perpetually commentating in the voice of Howard Cossell. And that newspaper kid! “Two dollars….!”
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
who wouldn’t want to be part of that pillow fight
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Scrapple, anyone? I still have VHS…….somewhere