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Steep
Sony Pictures Classics


8.0

based on 17 reviews
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based on 5 votes
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MPAA RATING: PG for extreme sports action and brief language

Starring Bill Briggs, Stefano De Benedetti, Eric Pehota, Glen Plake, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Chris Davenport, and Ingrid Backstrom

Steep is a feature documentary about bold adventure, exquisite athleticism, and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis. It is the story of big-mountain skiing, a sport that barely existed 35 years ago. It started in the 1970s in the mountains above Chamonix, France, where skiers began to attempt ski descents so extreme that they appeared almost suicidal. Men such as Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallençant were inspired by the challenge of skiing where no one thought to ski before. Now, two generations later, some of the world's greatest skiers pursue a sport where the prize is not winning, but simply experiencing the exhilaration of skiing and exploring big, wild, remote mountains. (Sony Pictures Classics)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Mark Obenhaus
DIRECTED BY:	Mark Obenhaus
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 18, 2008 Theatrical: December 21, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	92 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Tribune Scott Schueller

Steep is one of those rare endeavors able to touch on the human condition without neglecting the film’s true star: big-mountain skiing.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Filled with breathtaking shots of crazed nutballs on skis plummeting down pitched peaks at high speed, Steep is a visually exhilarating sports documentary that is also more than a little exasperating.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Enthusiasts and neophytes alike should be able to join together in gasping at the sight of people plunging down vertical walls of ice, taking their lives into their own hands for a brief, lion-lifed adrenaline charge.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

A surprisingly fatalistic, way-above-average ski documentary that lays out a 35-year history of the "extreme" end of the sport.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Although this is director Mark Obenhaus' first ski movie, it is every bit as exciting as the popular Warren Miller pictures, and boasts an unobstrusive soundtrack in place of the heavy metal racket that fuels most sports documentaries.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

An undeniably impressive visual spectacle that follows the sport of extreme skiing.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Nonetheless, there's something life affirming in all of this. Even as most of us recoil with self-preservation at their feats, we also secretly applaud them pushing the envelope of mortality.

Los Angeles Times Scott Schueller

Certain to appeal to the extreme sport enthusiast, but it also deserves a mass audience for its incredible imagery and window into a lifestyle most can't fathom. It's nearly impossible to walk away without a new motivation to find something that can make you feel the way these skiers do.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Obenhaus' documentary on extreme, "big mountain" skiing feels, despite its jaw-dropping camerawork and patently fearless subjects, like a relic from 1998.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The skiers' explanations, on the order of "no risk, no adventure," won't wash with people born without the daredevil gene and watching them fly down these vertical blankets of snow, often out of control, is a little like watching a train wreck

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

If you like your skiing extreme but your documentaries safe, then carve a sharp turn over to Steep.

San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand

Steep begins to feel a mite in need of tighter editing. In truth, the film will appeal primarily to skiers, while others may get a bit, well, snow-blind.

Variety John Anderson

Like its sister films in the surfing-movie genre, the extreme-skiing movie Steep is less a documentary than a sales pitch -- not for a product or a place, but for a sport, one its practitioners feel requires pugnacious self-promotion.

Village Voice Aaron Hillis

Blandly beautiful, inarticulate extreme-skiing documentary.

The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber

Spectacular photography bolsters this shallow ski movie.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

A tedious movie about excitement.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

What they say is superficial. They never really explain why they risk their lives. In the end, Steep plays like a TV infomercial - and who wants to hand over $11 to watch one?

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sharon B. gave it a10:
This movie is astounding not only for the shear beauty of the mountains but for the incredible nerve of the skiers. Incredible moments in the world of skiing whether you are a ski buff or not. This is extreme skiing like I have never seen before. Definitely worth an hour and a half of your time.

Jay H. gave it a2:
This is more of an infomercial for a sport rather than a documentary. They make extreme skiing a major world event, rather than what it is, a bunch of misguided kids doing a stupid and dangerous sport. I am supposed to be impressed. I'm not. To compare the release of "The Blizzard of AAHHH's", an early ski documentary to the assassination of John F. Kennedy importance is as ludicrous as the film itself.

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Steep Sony Pictures Classics

Steep
Sony Pictures Classics