Steep Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Steep Blu-ray Movie Review

Hit the slopes with this good documentary that translates well to Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 25, 2008

If there's no risk, there's no adventure.

Like any documentary, only viewers with an interest (and therefore some kind of background knowledge on the subject) will be fascinated by the material. Like the best documentaries, Steep manages to grab your attention and suck you in, in this instance into the world of extreme skiing, though as someone with no experience with the sport, it's wasn't quite good enough to hold my attention for the full ninety minutes. The film plays more as a historical document on the thirty or so year history of extreme skiing rather than being a showcase for the amazing feats accomplished by some of the most gifted athletes on the planet. As a historian, I loved hearing about the locales and stories behind both the discovery of and subsequent conquering of each slope. Nevertheless, knowing nothing about skiing other than that I love snow and one day want to attempt it, I often found myself lost in the more technical, minutia-driven aspects of the film. There are definitely some breathtakingly beautiful scenes in the film, and some awesome displays of skiing prowess, but Steep is definitely a film catered to the hardcore skiing aficionado.

One of the many beautiful yet foreboding steeps braved by skiers.

Steep chronicles the evolution of the sport of extreme skiing from its beginnings in 1971 to its current configuration. The film begins by looking at Bill Briggs, the first man to ski down Grand Teton Mountain in Jackson, Wyoming. In that era, skiing down an unforgiving, jagged, ruthless slope was unheard of. It represented nature at its best and worst, its most beautiful and its most deadly, and Briggs risked it all to become the first to conquer it, a man whose mark on the world of skiing is indelible. This was about skiing where there are no rules, away from resorts and crowds, away from regulations and safety concerns, and about communing with and beating nature. As the movie moves along, we see the evolution of the sport of extreme skiing all over the world, from Europe to Canada to the United States, featuring interviews with some of the top skiers ever to strap on skis and grasp a pole.

Steep is not only a look at the history of the sport, but also a look at how dangerous skiing on these difficult steeps can be, how one wrong turn could cause you to fall to your death, perhaps buried under an avalanche, never to be seen again. Steep is interesting stuff, but to someone who only knows skiing involves skis and snow, someone who has never strapped on the hardware and proceeded downhill, I could not appreciate just how powerful, incredible, and death-defying some of these feats are. This isn’t the X-games, and it’s not necessarily about the glory and fame. This is about man versus nature, about facing your fears and accomplishing something that only a handful of people in the world would even consider attempting, let alone defeating.

Steep Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony hits the slopes and brings us this Blu-ray edition of Steep in a 1080p, 1.78:1 framed image whose look is all over the map, from twenty-plus year-old, grainy, splotchy footage to newly minted, sometimes breathtaking high definition, crystal clear imagery. Grain nevertheless permeates the image as a whole, whether on the slopes or in the various interview locales. The modern skiing scenes definitely fare the best of all the footage. Even on distance shots, the snow that is displaced by the skiers looks marvelous. Even filmed from a distance and viewing on a mere 65" screen, I could see a bit of definition in the powder whereas on the older stock footage snow appears as undefined masses of white moving in the frame. There isn't much color in these shots, save for the occasional blue sky, gray or brown tinted mountainside that isn't covered in snow, or the occasional green tree that lines the slopes. Perhaps the best use of color is on the clothing the athletes wear. We don't see too many close-up shots, but color reproduction is nice, if not a bit dull and soft. There is some nice detail in the image, especially of rocks on the mountain side, but there are many, many soft scenes, including exterior shots of the town of Chamonix, France. The stock footage is what it is, and even though it looks "bad," I have no complaints. This is a documentary, and using the occasional vintage clip adds a bit of flair and contrast to what's available to us today in the medium. I was most disappointed by the interview footage. Contrast, definition, color reproduction, flesh tones, black levels, all the usual review banter is all over the place, making it clear that the interviews were filmed with different lighting schemes and artistic styles. Nevertheless, for a documentary, Steep looks good, and I would have loved to screened it on a much bigger screen as the impact of the footage would have been even more awe-inspiring than it was on my set.

Steep Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The only audio option available on this disc is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless mix that sounds fine, and I'm thrilled Sony went the distance and brought this movie to Blu-ray with a high definition mix. The music that accompanies the film is excellent, and that playing over the opening credits was especially pleasant and sets the mood well for the film. It has a terrific, room-filling presence, and it sounds crisp and well-defined, almost as if the orchestra was playing live in your living room. Every time the music played, I was hearkened back to a trip I took to Disney world a couple of years ago, seeing several productions on humongous screens. I'm not sure of the music is similar in sound to something I heard there, but it certainly sounds impressive and adds a nice flair to the proceedings. The rear speakers, on occasion, chime in with a bit of ambience, mostly a chilling wind that is much more defined and realistic than a similar sound heard in Michael Clayton. As a documentary, dialogue reproduction takes center stage, and it sounds splendid. The lossless audio really helps here, and made me feel the cold and chill of the air just by hearing it in conjunction with the snowy imagery on-screen. I was impressed by the audio track, but not blown away. That's alright, as documentary-style filmmaking isn't supposed to sound like the Omaha Beach landing in Saving Private Ryan. Kudos to Sony for bringing us the best, even when the source material doesn't necessarily scream out for it.

Steep Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Steep arrives on Blu-ray with a few inches worth of supplements. First up is a commentary track with diretor Mark Obenhaus and skiers Ingrid Backstrom and Andrew Mclean. The track is all over the place, discussing the background of the skiers, talking about the form and runs of the skiers seen on-screen, and some technical jargon about the equipment used by the athletes, a lot of which will go over your head if you aren't familiar with the nomenclature. If nothing else, this is a very lively track where the participants enjoy discussing the sport for ninety minutes and find plenty of things to discuss and laugh about.

Next up is a Q&A session (480p, 13:11) with the same trio who participated in the commentary track. This takes place at AFI Fest 2007. The questions are presented in text form, and the participants answer on a dark stage, presumable before or after a screening of the film. Shooting Steep (480p, 17:12) takes a look at the methods of filming the amazing footage showcased throughout the film. The different cameras employed, the rigs created for them, and some of the almost death-defying lengths the filmmakers went to to get the perfect shot are shown. Photo Montage: The Skiers of 'Steep' (480p, 4:19:37) is exactly as described by the title of the extra. There are really not four hours worth of pictures; only less than three minutes in reality, but the montage loops itself 100 times. Interview With Doug Coombs (480p, 6:43)showcases the famous skier discussing the sport and what he loves about it. Finally, 1080p trailers for Across the Universe, The Jane Austen Book Club, Saawariya, and House of Flying Daggers complete the supplements.

Steep Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Steep works well as a documentary, but the film's entertainment value for anyone not invested in the ups-and-downs of skiing may leave the experience disappointed. This is the kind of thing you'd expect to see if you visited a history of ski museum, and I would have loved to have seen it on a huge, IMAX screen. Still, it works very well in the home, but the impact is definitely diminished by seeing it on smaller screens. The material translates well to Blu-ray. Not everything about the image is shiny and glossy as there is a lot of stock and older footage intertwined into the film, but it works a as cohesive whole. The audio is just fine, and the supplements should entertain ski fanatics. I cannot recommend paying full price for this disc unless you know you'll love the subject material, but anyone looking for something a bit different than the avalanche of action flicks currently available on Blu-ray might want to check this one out as a rental.