Ski movies haven’t changed over the years. Every recent film, no matter the company, follows the same formula: rapid shots of pro skiers performing tricks off cliffs to a rocking soundtrack, followed by staged lifestyle footage with prominent displays of product provided by the movie’s sponsors. Unfortunately, the new ski film from Matchstick Productions, “The Way I See It,” follows the formula step-by-step. Fortunately, MSP does it better than anyone else.
“The Way I See It” follows a new, younger generation of amazing skiers as they travel the world looking for new mountains to ski. As always, MSP finds unique and creative ways to bring the audience along for the ride… literally. I’ve never seen so much POV shots in a ski movie before, but with new high definition helmet-cam technology, we get to experience what it’s like to ski huge Alaskan spines and drop through pillow lines while safely sitting on our folding chairs. The cinematography in this film is expertly shot, proving that MSP is still the best after all these years.
But great cinematography and jaw-dropping stunts aren’t enough to make a good film. Watching skiers do spins and flips off 100-foot gap jumps, followed by an excessive amount of timelapse shots, is fun and raises the ski stoke, but after about half-an-hour it gets really repetitive. Last year, I had hopes that ski movies were undergoing a transformation in storytelling. Films like “The Edge of Never,” “Signatures,” and “Swift. Silent. Deep.” provided documentary-style ski movies that were actually about something, and I thought they were making a comeback. It didn’t happen. “The Way I See It” is the standard, brainless fare. There are thrills, spills, and lots of laughs, but no underlying theme, no story, and no thread that brings these skiers’ adventures together. Instead, we get a compilation of footage edited with no real purpose other than for mindless entertainment.
But hey, it’s just a ski movie right? Right. And performances from the likes of Bobby Brown, Sean Pettit, Cody Townsend and Ingrid Backstrom (among others) serve to both raise the excitement for ski season, and make us all jealous that we’re not them at the same time. Although I can’t relate to guys throwing themselves over the largest gap-jump in the world, some segments did get my adrenaline pumping. Watching footage of deep-powder skiing in Northern Japan was downright hypnotic and made me want to buy a plane ticket to Hokkaido right then and there.
I also have to wonder if Sean Pettit isn’t the new Shane McConkey as he provides the comic relief, and lots of it. The guy is a clown as much as an awesome skier and he skillfully broke up the movie’s repetition with his antics and one-liners. But he also did something else for me… miss Shane McConkey.
Another segment that stuck out to me was Ingrid and Arne Backstrom’s ski trip to Lake Tahoe. Watching them ski together, brother and sister, was haunting with the knowledge that Arne would die skiing in Peru later in the year. Because of this, their happiness together was filled with a tinge of sadness, but then it ended without any memorial or acknowledgement of his death, which I thought was odd.
Finally, one feature that spoke to me the most highlighted a hut trip in British Columbia. Watching that brought out the best of what skiing means to me – spending time with friends, disconnecting from society, and enjoying life and nature in some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. The skiers even *gasp* skinned up the mountains instead of being dropped off by helicopters! Imagine that.
So if you’re only watching one ski movie this year, I would recommend “The Way I See It.” It’s pretty typical fare, but nobody makes ski movies better than the guys at MSP.
And that’s the way I saw it.
For more info and tour dates, check out Matchstick Productions online.
Completely agree