First Descent (2005)

I watched this film not for snowboarding but for seeing the Alaska mountain. That is sole reason. There is no other reason. All those interviews by snowboarder are the typical thing of the past that did not interested me. Same old lifestyle of gun-ho people. I don't consider these snowboarder as adventure people. They are lazy folk from White middle class nothing to do with their life just playing gamble for their live.I actually did not saw most of interview people. I skipped most interviewing scenes. Their talk is same old talk. The interviewing are quite boring. But I gave two stars on this film for showing Alaska mountain scenes.

I gave this movie an excellent rating not because I'm just some snowboard loving freak ( though I might just be ) but I think that they deserve it, if you've seen the movie ( heres the spoiler )terje goes down a freaking huge mountain, and this isn't Hollywood stuff, these are real people doing real stuff that could easily kill them, especially that mountain he went down... that thing was HUGE. And there wasn't really any dull moment, I enjoyed the whole movie, and I hope it did a lot better in other places than it did in central Illinois because it was only me and 2 of my friends seeing it on opening night... it was fun just hanging out with them and talking about it as loud as we wanted, but that movies needs to been seen. were all now Seriously planning a road trip to Alaska this summer... all I can say is, watch the movie, what them go down those mountains, putting their lives on the line the whole time, realize that it isn't fake at all, and try to tell my they deserve anything less than at least a 9

From skate board to snowboard, the evolution of the latter into Olympic contender has been inspiring. The documentary about the history of snowboarding called "First Descent" is at times as breathtaking as the long Alaskan runs five of the world's best take in the film, which cuts in historical footage of the sport with modern helicopter shots that both magnify and reduce the colossal feats these young and not so young boarders perform.With only the limited vocabulary of voice overs of the snowboarders, repeating "gnarly" enough to make me forget arthritic joints, the film misses opportunities to describe technicals like acrobatics and boards in informative ways. I am not asking for inane commentary readily available for televised college and professional football; I just would like a deeper look at the details of the sport rather than repetitious exclamations of awe accompanied by sequences that begin to look alike from a birds-eye perspective.The film does capture the natural rhythms of descent and diction endemic to an uncomplicated sport—for that I am gratified and forever respect the brave souls who traverse Alaskan peaks rather than leisurely hike the lowlands as I did a few years ago. The feats of the very young Shaun White and very seasoned Terje Haakonsen give both a visual feast and a verifiable history of the sport embodied in the two famous boarders.In no way, however, could I see the pure white mountains as the helicopter does so many times giving an IMAX experience without IMAX. The cinematography is the major reason to see this slight documentary, unless, of course, you are a boardhead.

First Descent is not just a snowboard movie, but a great look at the history of snowboarding and beautiful look at heli-boarding, and the great land of Alaska. Not be confused with a Teton Gravity Research, which has a little bit of story, and a lot of riding; this movie has a good amount of riding, and a lot of history.The history is intermixed with the present Alaska shoot, and the 3 decades preceding today. I would say they picked some great boarders, namely Terje Haakonsen, and the young Shaun White. They show what a seasoned rider and a back-country neophyte can do.The history is great, it has a great humorous look at the old school boards and antics of snowboards of the 80's and 90's, both of which is laughable. The interviews are great with snowboarding pioneers, and even the CEO of Aspen.Now unlike the TGR and Warren Miller films, the film is evenly divided between the history and the new footage, but don't fret, the footage is great. I think the filming could crew could have used the experience of the TGR and WM crew, but they do a good job, and the visuals are fantastic. It is a great ride right to the end.