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Strong and Moving!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

(Note: Given the subject matter of the film, this review will contain copious uses of the word "extreme." It really can't be helped.)This is a film I have been seeking out for some time.I saw previews of it back in 2002 on several VHS tapes and DVD's I owned. And whenever the trailer would pop-up, a big, goofy smile would creep across my face and I'd let out an laugh. Because it looked bad. Really bad. Yet it also looked like it might have a hint of brilliance. Not in an intended way, mind you... but rather unintentional brilliance. It looked like it had the potential to be one of those "so bad, it's good" classics. One of those movies that's just so poorly put together, you can't help but enjoy it.Yet the film was also enigmatic when it came to trying to find it. For several years, I'd make an effort to seek it out. Whenever I was at our local Circuit City, Hollywood Video, Target... I'd inevitably take a quick peak to see if they had it. And I could never find it. And not only that- nobody I talked to had heard about it. Nor could they understand how amusingly bad it looked when I would try to describe it.So you can imagine my surprise when now, years after I eventually forgot about the film, I happened upon a random copy by chance at the home of someone I know.Remembering how interested I was in checking it out, I borrowed the copy and finally gave it a watch.... ... ...it wasn't worth the wait.Not only is it not a good film on its own, "Extreme Ops" isn't even good in an unintentional "so bad, it's good" kind-of way as I'd hoped. It's just a poorly put-together mish-mash of actors giving bad performances, portraying bland characters with occasional spurts of some of the most boring action I've ever seen.We follow a group of extreme sports fanatics and their director as they take a trip to the Alps to shoot "extreme" stunts and have "chill sessions" in between. However, they are unaware that a Serbian warlord is coincidentally in the same area, and he decides the kill off the extreme sports fanatics in an attempt to make sure nobody witnessed he or his plans. And so our heroes must attempt stay alive and thwart his schemes the only way they know how- displays of their extreme sporting talents.The performances are of literally no consequence. Save from a decent- enough performance by the underrated and criminally under-recognized Rufus Sewell, and the absolutely adorable Jana Pallaske making for a fun, spunky rocker/punk chick that I found endlessly likable. Everyone else completely blends into the background, being stock- beyond- belief.Directorial duties are handled by Christian Duguay, probably best known as the director of the first two "Scanners" sequels. And I can't help but feel Duguay was lost in making this film. (I'm guessing because of a lack of experience with "extreme" action) Performances and handling of the material often feels forced, coming off more as an out-of-touch director's attempts to be "extreme" than actually being extreme. It feels like a film made by someone who doesn't understand the material.I also have to comment that I found the camera-work to be quite poor in terms of composition and movement. Perhaps it was an issue with the copy I viewed, but I felt the framing of many shots (particularly during the climax) was very "low." (As in things would often go off the top of the frame a little bit.) And it was distracting. It felt like the actors were always about to bump their head on the top of the frame to me, and I found myself instinctively ducking my head slightly while looking up during my viewing as though I was trying to look up and see more of the picture.A major part of the failing of this film is that it doesn't do anything truly interesting with the characters or storyline. Nor does it do anything truly interesting with the stunt-work. I understand the idea of a film based around extreme-sports fanatics from a studio standpoint- extreme sports were popular at the time and had the potential to support a lot of good action- but this film doesn't do anything with the idea. The plot is among the thinnest you'll find, the characters very stock, and the displays of action are often boring and honestly are about as thrilling as anything you'd see on a cable- sports channel for free. It doesn't work for a feature-film, and there's no real draw for the audience to invest their time or money in seeing this film. Heck, the same year this was released, the original Vin Diesel vehicle "xXx" came out, and while not a great film, it more properly and interestingly utilized the concept of focusing the film around extreme sports. (In that film's case, by being a tribute and subversion of spy genre movies like the Bond series.) It just shows how lazy and haphazard this film was, when around the same time, other films more fully explored a similar concept.That being said, this isn't a total loss. As stated above, Sewell and Pallaske do well in their roles. And I did find a few scenes effective. Particularly a well-done effects sequence where characters have to out-race an avalanche. While it wasn't particularly showy, the scene did give an accurate depiction of what an avalanche looks like, especially for its relatively meager budget. (Although some laughable green-screen shots nearly ruin it.)I'm going to have to give "Extreme Ops" a poor 3 out of 10. It has its moments, but it feels too much like a lazy cash-in on trends of the time, particularly "extreme" sports, and is quite shoddily assembled. Definitely one to avoid.

if i could rate this movie twice it would be 1 and 10 so i chose the middle number of 5. you have to watch this movie knowing its going to be bad. when I bought the DVD so many years ago, when the movie was over i said to myself its a waist of money but i will watch more. it is over the top they mixed die hard with cliffhanger and got something terribly awesome. i would recommend it if you don't have to pay for it like on net flicks or something. this is like movies like poultrygiest and drive thru they are so bad they are good. it is very entertaining and has quite a bit of action.this movie is like the mindless action movies of the 80's just made 20 years to late

Will (Devon Sawa) is a Hollywood producer who excels at making commercials with some extreme sports fanatics on centre stage. When an opportunity arises to do a big-league advertisement, he decides to film it against an actual avalanche. He hires Jeffrey (Rupert Graves) as the director and heads for the Austrian Alps near the Yugoslavian border to film the spot.His team consists of Ian (Rufus Sewell), Chloe (Bridgette Wilson) and Kittie (Jana Pallaske), three extreme sports connoisseurs who love staring the storm right in the eye. To film such a daring and precarious commercial they need an equally adventurous cinematographer, who turns out to be Mark (Heino Ferch). Together, these six individuals land up in an under construction resort. They start filming, unaware that the place is also the secret hideout of Slobodan Pavle (Klaus Lvwitsch), a Serbian war criminal who is believed to have died in a plane crash. Mark erroneously catches Pavle on tape who believes the six are actually CIA operatives. Pavle orders their execution lest they should blow the whistle on his whereabouts and his latest plans to wreak havoc. Thus begins a battle of survival as the protagonists use every trick and ploy they know to survive and bring down the evil Pavle.From the story and the trailers, Extreme ops may sound like a flick for a selected audience. Although the movie does not have much of a plot or situations that are aesthetically appealing, the numerous incredible and ingenious action sequences ensure that one stays glued to the couch. The film can be enjoyed only if one watches it without any expectations!—

Too many people get too technical when giving reviews on this site. I watch movies for the entertainment value, nothing more nothing less. This action packed gem, with amazing stunts was great fun from the first frame to the last. Sure it's corny, and very far-fetched, but what action packed film isn't. If you want a film with OK looking stars, a baddie on the loose in the Austraian Alps, and adrenalin pumping action, then this movie is for you, you also don't have to be a rocket scientist to follow the plot. I thought it was a lot of FUN....well worth the tub of popcorn. It put me in mind of other non stop action films with similar structure, Indiana Jones movies, all have mains tars, a baddie or two, great scenery and fabulous locations, same here. Should be enjoyed by the whole family......