Hollywood has always been quick to react to new trends if it believes it can make money from them, and at the beginning of the current decade the movie studios responded to the increasing high profile of so-called 'extreme sports' by using them as the basis of a short-lived wave of action movies. Of course, the film executives failed to take into account that those interested in extreme sports are far more likely to be taking part in them, attending such events, or watching TV/internet coverage of them, instead of going to see movies in which actors pretend to take part in them. So while xXx (starring Vin Diesel) was successful enough to secure a sequel, Extreme Ops failed to make an impression at the box office, and the notion of extreme sport action movies died out as quickly as it had begun.
Extreme Ops (which was filmed under the title The Extremists, but swiftly retitled before release due to the events of 9/11) is an international co-production with an appropriately international cast of American, British and central European actors. The storyline has a film crew, together with a pair of snowboarders and a female gold medal-winning downhill skier, travelling to an unnamed European ski resort off-season, to shoot footage for an advertising campaign. Unfortunately, a wanted Serbian war criminal is using the isolated resort as a temporary hideout, and the film crew eventually find themselves fleeing down the mountainside with the Serbian and his men in determined pursuit.
However, that particular plot development doesn't occur until two-thirds of the way through the movie, so for the first hour we merely see the film crew, snowboarders and the skier hanging about in the empty resort, occasionally filming on the slopes, and bonding over bottles of beer while relaxing in a hot tub.
It sounds deadly dull, and considering that the characterisations in the script are tissue-thin, it should be. But due to the efforts of the talented cast, these irresponsible risk-takers (the snowboarders and most of the film crew are die-hard adrenalin junkies) come across as surprisingly likable. As a result, despite being routine in practically every aspect, Extreme Ops is a remarkably engaging movie.
Extreme Ops (which was filmed under the title The Extremists, but swiftly retitled before release due to the events of 9/11) is an international co-production with an appropriately international cast of American, British and central European actors. The storyline has a film crew, together with a pair of snowboarders and a female gold medal-winning downhill skier, travelling to an unnamed European ski resort off-season, to shoot footage for an advertising campaign. Unfortunately, a wanted Serbian war criminal is using the isolated resort as a temporary hideout, and the film crew eventually find themselves fleeing down the mountainside with the Serbian and his men in determined pursuit.
However, that particular plot development doesn't occur until two-thirds of the way through the movie, so for the first hour we merely see the film crew, snowboarders and the skier hanging about in the empty resort, occasionally filming on the slopes, and bonding over bottles of beer while relaxing in a hot tub.
It sounds deadly dull, and considering that the characterisations in the script are tissue-thin, it should be. But due to the efforts of the talented cast, these irresponsible risk-takers (the snowboarders and most of the film crew are die-hard adrenalin junkies) come across as surprisingly likable. As a result, despite being routine in practically every aspect, Extreme Ops is a remarkably engaging movie.