Deep Winter (2008) User Reviews

I do not know why this movie gets so much flak...

[MasterGoa · 6/10 · 4 March 2009]

OK, this movie is not bad.

There is nothing wrong with it.

Yes the back story about the sister is exaggerated.

Yes the acting is a bit pushed at times.

However, the cinematography is awesome, the story is good but not great and the setting interesting about a mountain that cannot be tamed.

I found it interesting, with an excellent soundtrack.

It is a ski lover's popcorn flick and I do not think it pretends to be anything else.

Snoboarder's too with get their share! MG

Breathtaking ski stunts in Alaska make up for a so-so plot

[inkblot11 · 6/10 · 2 October 2012]

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.

Picturesque skiing

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 3 July 2017]

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.

Amateurish At best

[rstone-27 · 3/10 · 30 December 2008]

I had high hopes for this movie. The cinematography is great. This had an opportunity to be a great film.

Poor scripting, bad dialogue and second hand acting really put this one in the crapper. I think the best part of this movie is on the editing floor.

The feel of the movie is very slow, the romance depicted is so boring no one in their right mind would put up with that.

One saving grace is the sound track -- awesome music, very little good action shots.

I will give credit where credit is due -- Very good photography and some awesome skiing.

Very Amateurish for a movie.

3 / 10

One of the worst movie ever made

[osloman7 · 1/10 · 29 December 2008]

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..

Action ski movie and main character's inner turmoil over relationships and his future on the ski team

[camilly · 8 January 2009]

This movie is AWESOME!! I didn't expect it to have have a good plot, but it did! The skiing was mind blowing. I have no idea how they got some of these shots, it's incredible. The hot guy Emmett from "Twilight" is even in it! Michael Madsen is a total classic. He adds a lot of depth to the movie. The soundtrack is great too! The Citizen Cope song was made for "Deep Winter". I can't imagine anyone NOT being totally blown away by this movie. I show my friends and they can't believe what they are seeing. They show all of their friends and so on and so on. But EVERYONE says how amazing it is. I'm totally psyched to see the whole movie. When can I get my hands on it? I want it and I want it NOW!!!!!

Sleep-inducing skiing drama

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 17 June 2016]

This was a dreadful film. From the title I was expecting a disaster movie, but what I got was some dull drama about a pair of competitive skiers who decide to tackle one of the most dangerous slopes in the world. Aside from the Alaskan locales, this has very few elements of interest, and at least half the running time seems to be padded out with stock shots of repetitive skiing footage.

If the director and writers were trying to put across the magic and excitement of the sport then they didn't do a very good job because this is sleep-inducing. A few old and tired faces prop up the cast, including a here-and-there Michael Madsen, a lazy Robert Carradine, and an unusually charismatic Luke Goss. Eric Lively is a block of wood as the lead, and the only one worse than him is his co-star Kellan Lutz, later to star in the likes of THE EXPENDABLES 3 and THE LEGEND OF HERCULES.

Piece of crap

[PeterRoeder · 3/10 · 4 April 2009]

I just saw this piece of crap on TV. I would recommend you watch Touching the Void instead. This movie has nothing to do with what it promises. There's no suspense. No danger. Nothing. It's just a fake straight-to-DVD waste of time. I cant even believe that I am commenting on it on IMDb, or that it got 4.3 points. It's really one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time. Yesterday I saw the brilliant master-piece Hellraiser (1987). Now, there's a movie! This "movie", shall we say, is not even a movie at all. It didn't have any plot or anything. It really made me sick to watch all that stupid crap. Michael Madsen is quite good in the movie actually, and Alaska is a great place, but there is really nothing to work with because the sport-element in the movie is so poor and non-existent.

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[blackshooter-63065 · 1/10 · 27 April 2020]

...Lots of talk, Very boring Story, boring characters, I'd rather go to sleep than watch that!!! 1/10 *

Bad ass little action flick.

[obey67 · 7/10 · 8 January 2009]

I totally dug this movie! It has great action and cool actors, the skiing is off the hizzle and the picture looks incredible. It is about time somebody made a decent story on the slopes without selling out to some typical Hollywood story. I felt like the pages of Powder Magazine came to life, literally. Hey it ain't Shakespeare, but there is a compelling buddy picture story, sort of man against nature vibe that takes you into the world of expert skiing and the majesty of the Alaskan Rockies. Emerging star Kellan Lutz commands as the snowboarder and Madsen rules as a grizzled pilot. I loved the soundtrack, too! This is the kind of movie that I can watch over and over on cable whenever it is on. Impressive effort, technically sound.

Good Movie

[pepilouis · 5/10 · 15 April 2013]

For those of you who thought the music was outstanding as I did, here's the website with the list of songs.

By the way, I'm really disappointed in IMDb for not adding this information to their database.

The movie was just okay, but the music was really terrific.

Also, the music supervisors should have cited the artist.

I especially like the song: "Home" Performed by Marc Broussard Courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises

You can view his video on youtube; he's an Amazing Artist!

Soundtrack For 'Deep Winter' Movie

http://deepwintermovie.com/soundtrack.html

what's not to enjoy!

[checkyourblip · 10/10 · 28 January 2009]

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.

Somewhat intrigued about how skiing videos were used to be made

[jordondave-28085 · 6/10 · 17 July 2023]

(2008) Deep Winter ADVENTURE

Acting is bad, and the plot is too cliche to be taken seriously as well as absolutely offers nothing professional skiers do not know themselves besides being very predictable, but if anyone were to be ignorant as much as I am about the dynamics of filming skiing videos this film succeeds at doing just that. Co-written and directed by Mikey Hilb directing a movie that has simplistic plot about a professional skier, Tyler Crowe (Eric Lively) who gets himself kicked off his ski team, he then visits a girl, Elisa Rider (Peyton List) working at a bar who the star Tyle is close to her brother and a professional snowboarder, Mark Rider (Kellan Lutz) who also knows about the star getting himself kicked off his skiing team, brings along and introduces to him a film crew who makes ski videos for a living and offers him a contract to showcase him to do some serious skiing on some of Alaska's most treacherous mountains. Michael Madson also stars as the helicopter pilot, Dean whose job is to drop skiers/ snowboarders to the mountains. The process of making skiing videos is what should be focused here than on anything else, otherwise it's pointless for this to be watched at all.

Uninteristing and Silly

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 5/10 · 31 January 2012]

In "Deep Winter" Eric Lively and Kellan Lutz play two friends who join forces on a adventure of a lifetime: to be part of a documentary showing their risky performances while skiing on a dangerous mountain on Alaska. Followed by the filmmaker (Luke Goss) and a well trained guide (Michael Madsen) they're heading to something that can change their lives and not in a good way. And a film like this couldn't exist without some cracks on this beautiful friendship after Lively's character start to date Lutz's sister (played by Peyton List).

Lifeless and quite insignificant, there isn't much to be said about this flick since it's a movie that doesn't have much to say or show. Sure, there's some breathtaking skiing sequences and the two hotties as main stars but that's it; the rest of the movie isn't all that interesting and we only have endless skiing scenes and some other moments involving Madsen's character saying there's a storm coming which makes even more impossible the already impossible stunt, and the filmmaker always concerned about losing money and wasting time waiting for the weather to change so he can film his documentary. It repeat itself so much that it gets completely dull.

Almost enjoyable. Almost. 5/10

to tame a mountain

[kairingler · 6/10 · 8 July 2013]

I don't get it,, once again the majority of film goers and reviewers miss the entire point of this movie,, this didn't have a Hollywood budget. I don't think the directors intended on this to be a Cinematic Masterpiece or win an Academy Award. so now that we are on the same page, let me begin by saying, the scenery in the movie was awesome,, the premise, where you have a mountain that is yet to be tamed,, yeah you have some fool hardy kids try to do stuff that would get them killed and stuff , but you only live once,, kinda reminds me of the winter X games don't it. I watched it just to see Michael Madsen,, he wasn't bad in the picture nor impressive. just middle of the road. I liked the skiing and snowboarding scenes. all of the angles and speed that is common to the sport. I thought this was a decent action movie, with some suspense in it also,

A breath of fresh air!

[Cheeky001 · 8/10 · 3 January 2009]

So nice to watch something so well done, breath taking scenery, a great cast and a story line that has not been flogged to death.

Some awesome snowboarding and a great sound track.

Great story of mate-ship and although the cast is not well known as such, I feel they have done a great job.

I am not a movie critic, but do believe that it is good to see some movies that are a little more original, I know there have been other skiing movies, but it is nice to see something other that the blood and guts actions and the same old comedies

Definitely worth the watch.

Serious cinematography!! Decent flick, great 3d movie as well!! Underrated

[joiningjt · 9/10 · 10 February 2021]

Is this an oscar contender...no , it's a madsen, lutz's movie it's not suppose to be. Its suppose to be an action adventure film and it's about skiing. It does its job, features phenomenal cinematography, ok story, decent acting and more importantly it was very ENTERTAINING!! I'm glad I purchased the 3d bluray. Ignore the arm chair monday critics it's a excellent action adventure skiing film.