Where's Vin Diesel when you need him?
In "Extreme Ops", a pair of snowboarders who have teamed up with a downhill gold medalist to shoot a commercial in the Austrian Alps find themselves having to outmaneuver nasty terrorists in addition to the obligatory avalanche.
It's the kind of stuff that could use a larger-than-life lead, but, given the budget constraints of this German-British co-production, big-ticket talent has had to take a back seat to cost-effective backdrops.
They're in vivid, wind-swept supply here and, in the capable hands of former cinematographer Christian Duguay (the Emmy-nominated director of "Joan of Arc"), the able international cast looks convincingly frostbitten.
But because of a cumbersome script that takes forever to click into gear, too much of the picture ends up getting left out in the cold.
The result, which wasn't screened in advance for critics to file opening-day reviews, won't be drawing a large Thanksgiving weekend crowd, but neither is it a turkey, despite all the extra stuffing.
Determined to please an important Japanese client, a smarmy ad executive (England's Rupert Graves with a very convincing American accent) and a British commercial director (Rufus Sewell) overcome their concept vs. cost differences and agree to make a high-stakes commercial for a new digital video camera involving three expert skiers and a fast-moving avalanche.
With a pair of gonzo snowboarders (Jana Pallaske and Joe Absolom) and a comely gold medalist (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) in tow, the production sets up camp in an unfinished resort perched on a 12,000-foot mountaintop straddling the border of the former Yugoslavia.
It just so happens that a highly dangerous Serbian war criminal (Klaus Lowitsch) has been taking refuge in the very same spot after having faked his death in a plane crash, and when the crew's cameraman (Devon Sawa) inadvertently shoots footage of the bad guy, all hell breaks loose.
Unfortunately, the script, credited to first-time screenwriter Michael Zaidan, requires the game cast to trudge through an awful lot of exposition before getting to the heart-pounding bits; by the time those more involving action sequences finally arrive, the effectively chilled viewer is too "XXX"hausted to muster up much enthusiasm.
EXTREME OPS
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures, MDP Worldwide and Diamant Cohen Prods. present an Apollomedia/Extreme Prods. production in association with the Carousel Picture Co.
Credits:
Director: Christian Duguay
Screenwriter: Michael Zaidan
Story: Timothy Scott Bogart, Mark Mullin
Producers: Moshe Diamant, Mark Mullin
Executive producers: Romain Schroeder, Rudy Cohen, Mark Damon, David Saunders
Director of photography: Hannes Hubach
Production designer: Philip Harrison
Editors: Clive Barrett, Sylvain Lebel
Costume designer: Maria Schicker
Music: Normand Corbeil, Stanislas Syrewicz
Cast:
Will: Devon Sawa
Chloe: Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
Jeffrey: Rupert Graves
Ian: Rufus Sewell
Mark: Heino Ferch
Silo: Joe Absolom
Kittie: Jana Pallaske
Yana: Liliana Komorowska
Pavle: Klaus Lowitsch
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
In "Extreme Ops", a pair of snowboarders who have teamed up with a downhill gold medalist to shoot a commercial in the Austrian Alps find themselves having to outmaneuver nasty terrorists in addition to the obligatory avalanche.
It's the kind of stuff that could use a larger-than-life lead, but, given the budget constraints of this German-British co-production, big-ticket talent has had to take a back seat to cost-effective backdrops.
They're in vivid, wind-swept supply here and, in the capable hands of former cinematographer Christian Duguay (the Emmy-nominated director of "Joan of Arc"), the able international cast looks convincingly frostbitten.
But because of a cumbersome script that takes forever to click into gear, too much of the picture ends up getting left out in the cold.
The result, which wasn't screened in advance for critics to file opening-day reviews, won't be drawing a large Thanksgiving weekend crowd, but neither is it a turkey, despite all the extra stuffing.
Determined to please an important Japanese client, a smarmy ad executive (England's Rupert Graves with a very convincing American accent) and a British commercial director (Rufus Sewell) overcome their concept vs. cost differences and agree to make a high-stakes commercial for a new digital video camera involving three expert skiers and a fast-moving avalanche.
With a pair of gonzo snowboarders (Jana Pallaske and Joe Absolom) and a comely gold medalist (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) in tow, the production sets up camp in an unfinished resort perched on a 12,000-foot mountaintop straddling the border of the former Yugoslavia.
It just so happens that a highly dangerous Serbian war criminal (Klaus Lowitsch) has been taking refuge in the very same spot after having faked his death in a plane crash, and when the crew's cameraman (Devon Sawa) inadvertently shoots footage of the bad guy, all hell breaks loose.
Unfortunately, the script, credited to first-time screenwriter Michael Zaidan, requires the game cast to trudge through an awful lot of exposition before getting to the heart-pounding bits; by the time those more involving action sequences finally arrive, the effectively chilled viewer is too "XXX"hausted to muster up much enthusiasm.
EXTREME OPS
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures, MDP Worldwide and Diamant Cohen Prods. present an Apollomedia/Extreme Prods. production in association with the Carousel Picture Co.
Credits:
Director: Christian Duguay
Screenwriter: Michael Zaidan
Story: Timothy Scott Bogart, Mark Mullin
Producers: Moshe Diamant, Mark Mullin
Executive producers: Romain Schroeder, Rudy Cohen, Mark Damon, David Saunders
Director of photography: Hannes Hubach
Production designer: Philip Harrison
Editors: Clive Barrett, Sylvain Lebel
Costume designer: Maria Schicker
Music: Normand Corbeil, Stanislas Syrewicz
Cast:
Will: Devon Sawa
Chloe: Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
Jeffrey: Rupert Graves
Ian: Rufus Sewell
Mark: Heino Ferch
Silo: Joe Absolom
Kittie: Jana Pallaske
Yana: Liliana Komorowska
Pavle: Klaus Lowitsch
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 12/2/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Dog Soldiers" is a well-made -- though mindless -- horror-mayhem film, pitting a group of British soldiers out on a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands against a bloodthirsty band of werewolves. The action is essentially by the numbers, but there is a welcome lack of pretension about the film, which very simply sets out to entertain and ends up delivering in good measure.
In previous werewolf movies, much is made about the transition process and the fact that the evil comes out only on full moons. Not so here. The awaited transformation scene involves bulging eyes, a quick fall behind a table and then up again as a slobbering monster. Kevin McKidd, who starred in "Trainspotting", walks away with acting honors, playing the only soldier with a few brain cells, while Sean Pertwee as his sergeant is also first-rate. Neophyte director Neil Marshall shows his background in editing by constructing a well-made romp that never slows down.
The squad of soldiers on a training mission in the Highlands comes across a decimated special forces team. It seems they were stalking the werewolves, but the tables have been turned, and now the squaddies are the prey. With the help of a local girl, they hide in a remote farmhouse. Members of the squad get bitten, slashed and generally slaughtered though the night, while the girl -- no surprise here -- turns out to be a reluctant werewolf herself.
The script is littered with movie in-jokes. One character is named Bruce Campbell, after the star of "Evil Dead". Elsewhere there is an oblique reference to Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point". The most telling link comes when one character parallels the soldiers' situation to the soldiers battling the Zulu hordes in the film "Zulu". In some ways, "Dog Soldiers" is a retelling of "Zulu". The soldiers could be fighting off Zulu warriors, aliens or werewolves -- it doesn't really matter. The action is what matters -- and the film delivers that well.
DOG SOLDIERS
Kismet Entertainment Group and the Noel Gay Motion Picture Co. present in association with Victor Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Neil Marshall
Producers: Christopher Figg, Tom Reeve, David E. Allen
Executive producers: Harmon Kaslow, Romain Schroeder, Vic Bateman
Director of photography: Sam McCurdy
Production designer: Simon Bowles
Music: Mark Thomas
Costume designer: Uli Simon
Cast:
Wells: Sean Pertwee
Cooper: Kevin McKidd
Megan: Emma Cleasby
Ryan: Liam Cunningham
Bruce: Thomas Lockyer
Spoon: Darren Morfitt
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In previous werewolf movies, much is made about the transition process and the fact that the evil comes out only on full moons. Not so here. The awaited transformation scene involves bulging eyes, a quick fall behind a table and then up again as a slobbering monster. Kevin McKidd, who starred in "Trainspotting", walks away with acting honors, playing the only soldier with a few brain cells, while Sean Pertwee as his sergeant is also first-rate. Neophyte director Neil Marshall shows his background in editing by constructing a well-made romp that never slows down.
The squad of soldiers on a training mission in the Highlands comes across a decimated special forces team. It seems they were stalking the werewolves, but the tables have been turned, and now the squaddies are the prey. With the help of a local girl, they hide in a remote farmhouse. Members of the squad get bitten, slashed and generally slaughtered though the night, while the girl -- no surprise here -- turns out to be a reluctant werewolf herself.
The script is littered with movie in-jokes. One character is named Bruce Campbell, after the star of "Evil Dead". Elsewhere there is an oblique reference to Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point". The most telling link comes when one character parallels the soldiers' situation to the soldiers battling the Zulu hordes in the film "Zulu". In some ways, "Dog Soldiers" is a retelling of "Zulu". The soldiers could be fighting off Zulu warriors, aliens or werewolves -- it doesn't really matter. The action is what matters -- and the film delivers that well.
DOG SOLDIERS
Kismet Entertainment Group and the Noel Gay Motion Picture Co. present in association with Victor Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Neil Marshall
Producers: Christopher Figg, Tom Reeve, David E. Allen
Executive producers: Harmon Kaslow, Romain Schroeder, Vic Bateman
Director of photography: Sam McCurdy
Production designer: Simon Bowles
Music: Mark Thomas
Costume designer: Uli Simon
Cast:
Wells: Sean Pertwee
Cooper: Kevin McKidd
Megan: Emma Cleasby
Ryan: Liam Cunningham
Bruce: Thomas Lockyer
Spoon: Darren Morfitt
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 6/25/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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