In the February edition of SKI magazine, there is an article on the 9 best ski movies of all time. My first question was, why 9? Why not 10 or 11 or 2 or 4? WTF? The author Eric Butterman makes some good choices, and some really shitty ones. In my estimation he made several mistakes in his list. He chose Downhill Racer (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Ski Party (1965), Better Off Dead (1985), Hot Dog...the Movie (1984), Aspen Extreme (1993), Deep and Light (1949), The Performers (1972), and The Blizzard of AAHHH's (1988). I have seen five of the nine, and generally agree with the reviews of each of the five I have seen. Four I have not seen but would only like to see Deep and Light and The Performers. The other two don't sound that interesting. And really, only 8 of the 9 are true ski movies; The Spy Who Loved Me has a two minute sequence of some fine skiing as well as some truly shitty camera work (you definitely have to suspend any belief you have if you are a skier). What is odd is the article claims the opening ski sequence reaches perfection for Bond films and opening sequences in general. Are you on drugs Eric, or are you simply an idiot? How could you say of the three Bond films with skiing in them The Spy Who Loved Me is the best? In For Your Eyes Only Roger Moore is skiing in Cortina Italy and goes on a fantastic ten minute ski chase. Not only is the skiing in this Bond movie much longer, it is much better. And the bad guy skis after Bond and takes a huge 40 foot jump wearing old school cross country gear. Hard enough to do this on the alpine gear of the day but in savage slippers and weak little cross country skis? Badass. However, both of these Bond flicks pale in comparison to On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), George Lazenby goes to the winter wonderland of Lauterbrunnen and the Schilthorn for one hour and ten minutes with two (2) seperate ski chase scenes. In the first Lazenby is chased by Telly Savalas down the Schilthorn to the huge cliffs of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and skiing was great: lots of action, good skiing abilities, real places used in the film. This seven minute scene is the best ski scene of any Bond film. Then, after meeting an uber-hot Diana Rigg and being saved by her in one of the best winter car chase sequence, Lazenby and Rigg get it on in a barn and ski away in the morning. Unhappily, Savalas and his goons track them down and bring Lazenby and Rigg down with an avalanche (in truly silly fashion with noise). Regardless, this is one of the couple films I watch each winter season just before I go to Europe to get myself in the mood.
Another glaring omission by Eric is his leaving the classic Pink Panther (1963) starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. A large part of the film is set in Cortina, Italy and has several ski scenes in it. While the ski scenes are not great, merely good, what appeals to me about the film is it's upbeat, sixties-skiing-is-cool vibe. The posters and prints of Charlie Adams have the same vibe which I like about skiing (a little kitchy but cool nonetheless). Check out www.bungalowgraphics.com for some of his great prints. Anyway, I love the film overall and watch it every year along before going to Europe.
While the Pink Panther and On Her Majesty's Secret Service are not ski movies per se, Eric completely missed two classic ski movies: Last of the Ski Bums (1969) and White Ecstasy (1931). Both of these films are great ski movies and I have had the chance to watch both. Of the two, Last of the Ski Bums is better but has the same vibe as the Pink Panther, but extends all through the movie. It is a rolling romp through some of best ski areas before they were really discovered or known. I wish I had a copy for my computer so I could watch this classic before going to Europe.
So, those are my thoughts on the best ski films ever (subject to me changing my mind later.)
Oh, and another reason why On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a great ski film: one goon buys the farm when he falls into a road being cleared by a huge snowblower and the goon is "processed" by said snowblower. Classic.
