6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.0 | |
Overall | 1.0 |
For snooty rich kid Reid, skiing's about top-class technique. For ski bum Dave, it's about beer, babes in boots and badass stunts. Always at each other's throats, the rival instructors' legendary feud finally erupts in a competition offering control of Whistler Mountain as the prize.
Starring: Dean Cameron, Tom Bresnahan, Patrick Labyorteaux, Mark Thomas Miller, Spencer RochfortSport | 100% |
Comedy | 61% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 1.0 |
If you’re a middle aged man between the ages of, say, 37 to 44, and still possessed of a relatively good memory, chances are you may have had a prurient interest in Ski School when it was released way back in January of 1991. Back then, you would have been a hormonal teenager and perhaps prone to cheering when just a few seconds into this pretty tired and lame “comedy,” the first of several attractive young women simply peels off her blouse and offers a rather generous view of her bosom. Not content with “mere” full frontal nudity, Ski School also indulges in a couple of pseudo-soft core porn scenes depicting sex between a motley crew of skiers and incredibly nubile women who, in best male fantasy fashion, are only too happy to hop into bed with any nerd who happens to be walking by. Relentlessly unfunny while also equally relentlessly noisy and frenetic, Ski School may challenge even the rose colored memories of now middle aged guys who may want to check out one of their illicit pleasures from their younger days.
Ski School is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This low budget comedy probably never looked great (I must confess I never caught Ski School during its theatrical exhibition), and that tendency continues with this acceptable if uninspiring high definition presentation. Elements have probably above average amounts of age related wear and tear, with quite a bit of dirt, flecks and white specks showing up. Grain is somewhat uneven at times (not necessarily due to the use of stock footage), though overall resolves fairly naturally. Colors have faded a bit, lending a ruddy aspect to flesh tones, though some of the brightest primaries still pop with baseline levels of vividness. Detail and fine detail are modest at best, though some close-ups can reveal decent elements like the pill on ski sweaters and the like. Still, this is generally a pretty soft looking presentation, one that perhaps was sourced from an older master. In true Olive fashion, this offers a transfer with no signs of any restoration but no overt signs of excessive digital intrusion.
Ski School features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 which springs most forcefully to life during party scenes (which are ubiquitous) where loud music is typically playing. Dialogue is cleanly and clearly presented and there are no issues with damage or prioritization.
Flat, predictable and (worst of all) not very funny, Ski School can't quite shake the feeling that it's revisiting a number of hoary clichés that were handled more effectively in films like Animal House. (In fairness, I should state the film, kind of like Animal House, evidently supplied jobs for my friends here in Portland who work in the film industry, as some of the location work was done up at Mt. Hood. The credits list a Mike Lookinland, one assumes of Brady Bunch fame, as a camera operator, which perhaps ties in to Dean Cameron's attitude about acting as a career choice.) The cast is appealing enough, but the film is too obviously skewed toward teenaged males, a demographic which is typically more than happy to overlook things like plot mechanics and character development if there are enough naked babes dotting the premises. Fans of the film will probably be reasonably well pleased with the technical merits here, though the video is unadorned and pretty ragged looking at times.
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