User Reviews

Earlier this year, "Lords of Dogtown" brought us the story of the skateboarding revolution in 1970's California. Seemingly right on cue, "First Descent" now imparts upon us the birth of the snowboard craze in documentary form, weaving together a narrative of the sport's brief history and the Alaskan backcountry adventures of five of the snowboarding's biggest and brightest. Co-directors Kemp Curly and Kevin Harrison piece together a finely-crafted exposition of snowboarding that is both informative and technically marvelous, and satisfies despite a strangely glory-centered message.

The cast of real-life snowboarders creates a range of viewpoints that keep things interesting, consisting of Terje Haakonsen (the snowboarding god), Nick Peralta (the pioneer), Shawn Farmer (the 40-year-old hillbilly), Shaun White (the X-Games golden boy) and Hannah Teter (the girl). The film centers around the gang's trip to the uncharted peaks of Alaska, where they shred the sickest lines down the deadly slopes of previously-untouched mountain ranges. The setting itself rightfully takes center stage throughout the action sequences: frequent fly-bys of the snowcapped peaks against the crystal sky are breathtaking all by themselves. As the snowboarders cut through the powder, the camera captures each upswept flake from angles that intensify the majesty of each mountain, which makes pretty apparent the skill needed to survive the descent. The sound direction adds to the drama, drowning out all ambient noise and leaving only hiss of the boards on the snow. The film's most technically impressive moment is when one of the boarders touches off an avalanche - the gruesome crack of the collapsing snowdrift followed by the disintegration of an entire mountainside (in slow motion, of course) is nothing but amazing.

Intertwined with the expedition is a telling of the history of snowboarding and brief bios of the five main players. Through grainy 80's footage, the film shows snowboarding's roots as an anti-authority movement, combining elements of skateboarding and surfing to form a sport that got the kids interested in hitting the slopes again. The film does a good job of tracing snowboarding through the years by means of various segments throughout the film, showing how it grew from the invention of a bunch of damn punk kids to a billion-dollar industry and an Olympic event. But, you can't help but snicker when the overly intense, deep-voiced narrator describes snowboarding as a noble movement that "fought to keep its soul" and boldly struggled for validation during its conception in the 80's. Also, aside from Shaun and Hannah learning how to dig people out of avalanches before their first Alaskan run, the film pretty much ignores the fact that snowboarding can, you know, kill you. And while we're being negative, we can talk about how the whole movie seems to be a huge action-sports commercial for Mountain Dew and Oakley eyewear. But I guess someone has to pay the bills, right?

The cast bios are a mixed blessing. While they present the development of snowboarding from a personal standpoint, they make the industry out to be some fantasy world where a bunch of independent souls live by their own rules (richly, I might add). Farmer, the 40-year-old surfer dude, enjoys skeet shooting in his backyard with his father and shopping at his favorite store ("Guns, Liquor and Ammo") when he isn't getting paid to careen down the side of a mountain. The life of the 18-year-old snowboarding superstar Shaun White is strenuous, only allowing him a week off between signing autographs in L.A. and being the grand marshal at a NASCAR race in Darlington. Apparently, the documentary would have you think that the easiest thing in the world to do is become a pro snowboarder, completely bypassing any kind of training or personal injury the main subjects had to endure. Oh, and the word "gnarly" is used nine times. Take that as you will.

But, despite the thematic concerns, the documentary is wholly entertaining. Even though the "do what you want" attitude toward life may be taken slightly overboard, it provides a generally effective context for the whole film. The spirit of the snowboarding culture is convincingly portrayed in a form that is, in a word, beautiful – if you're a winter sports enthusiast, pray that this one comes out in IMAX. "First Descent" is a good diversion from exam week that will get you in the mood for semester break - and if the whole "school" thing ends up not working out for you, all you have to do is strap on a board and win some X-Game gold. At least that's how this film makes it out to be.

First, I am *not* in the least bit knowledgeable about snowboarding or any of the related sports (surfing, skateboarding, skiing). And I was myself fearful that this movie would include so much "technical" or "advanced" material that a mere mortal wouldn't be able to follow it. "Documentaries" can be very specialized, after all.

I need not have feared finding myself out of my depth and neither should *you* if you're not yourself in the center of the "scene" and yet are thinking about seeing this film.

Because this is really in the spirit of The Lords of Dogtown and ... and ... well, there was a Surfing quasi-documentary from last summer, I can't think of the name ... but it had the same flavor. The flavor was a special sort of humanistic excitement that for me arises from combining both (a) great footage of the Action; and (b) great narrative and interviews with the People involved.

I liked the sort of back and forth from Present (a sort of Reality Movie type expedition to Alaska with 5 top boarders) and Past (History of Snowboarding).

The scenery from Alaska was simply breathtaking, the descents gripping and exciting and full of vicarious adrenalin rushes.

The interviews with Terje and Shaun and Hannah and Farm and Shawn were wonderfully engaging: fresh and convincing and sincere enough that I as viewer felt like I got a real sense of who these fascinating and delightful persons were.

The history painted the whole Snowboarding Phenomenon with a vivid and appealing personality as well.

The way that the entire film built toward what truly was a blazing, satisfying completion, was just delightful. In fact the sort of sustained baseline of excitement was modulated by a kind of rhythm back and forth from whiteknuckling action back to a little narrative or interviewing to let me catch my breath.

Great job everyone ... and *thanks* for giving a viewer like me a little glimpse into a gripping and exciting and wonderfully human world.

I never thought much about the attraction of snowboarding over skiing until I seen this documentary. Now I understand. The film is an exploration of the creation and history of snowboarding and it's explosion into popular culture. The basic setup is a trip to Alaska by three young snowboarders to "conquer" the mountains. The footage of these snowboarders down these mountains is absolutely incredible.

While I naturally enjoyed meeting the snowboarders and getting to know them a little I loved the older footage. You probably thought snowboarding grew out of the Southern California Surfer screen but you would be wrong. It actually grew out of the skateboard craze of the late 70's. If you every watch a skateboard competition some of the same moves are used in snowboarding.

Since there is no plot this documentary is all about attitude so casting (or selection) was critical for the young snowboarders and the film certainly picked right. Two of the young snowboarders, Shaun White and Hannah Teter won Olympic Gold Medals at Torino in 2006 (in addition to being enormously appealing). None of them seem to have a bit of fear; no matter how hairy the run down the mountain.

I love films that present something I have never seen before and seeing these guys get dropped off at the top of the mountain and go down for miles is unbelievable. Quite a film - See it. and my highest recommendation.

The entire movie was breath taking as well as informative about the sport. The scenery was amazing and the stunts were a first time viewing experience for me and kept me on the edge of my seat. It's unbelievable what the human mind and body can endure in this sport. I congratulate the snow boarders in this film and the entire crew that put this film together. This was a movie I would like to see over and over again and bring other people to see it. Unfortunately, I had to drive 1-1/2 hours to see it. It is not shown in any of my local theaters. The trip was well worth while. This is the type of movie that doesn't end when the film is over, you keep talking about it to anyone who will listen.

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It puts you in a great mood. There is one amazing scene after another of snowboarders doing insane freestyle and big mountain riding. The mix of the new generation riders (Shaun White, Hannah Teeter, and Travis Rice) with Terje from the 90's and Shawn Farmer from the early days of snowboarding (late 70's through 80's) gives you the full spectrum of different riding styles. The movie jumps back and forth from these 5 big names doing a trip together in Alaska searching for some back country riding to the documenting of snowboarding's history. I feel the two different focuses kept it more interesting and made the movie more enjoyable. I don't think the movie was too over the top in its effort to promote snowboarding nor do I think it exaggerated its impact on the ski resorts or the world. It seemed balanced, realistic and factual from my own knowledge of snowboarding which dates back to the early 90s. If you're a soccer mom that watches Oprah and soaps most of the time this may not be very exciting to you but if you have a love for sports, the outdoors and some excitement you should be able to enjoy this very easily like I did.

No doubt, First Descent is definitely one of the most versatile snowboard movies out on record BUT unfortunately the movie is very "American". Sure, the idea of the sport was basically mainly developed in the states but the other continents made a valuable contribution to the heart and soul as well.

The movie features four US and one European rider and the title would promise that you are about to see an American conquering untouched mountains. In fact, the ONLY first descent in this film is being accomplished by an European, Terje Haakonsen. The rest of the riding activities can rather be considered as a training and comparison camp for pioneers and pro boarders from very different sections of the sport which is very neat to watch, no question, but the documentary parts lack heavily in essential information about the full (r)evolution. Europe and Japan are almost being demonized and pointed at for destroying the spirit that snowboarding stood up with to lay itself down.

Protocolling each move, statement and achievement is rather pathetic at some points and appears like "time fillers" to me. "(S)He's so great", "We are so cool" and "Oh, incredible what we just did" are statements that really miss the point in my opinion. Some of the shots are very nice and "expensive" and definitely offer never-seen-before perspectives of the activities that these athletes are experiencing but it could have been less stagy.

After all it is an interesting summary of the US opinion on the history of something that has obviously not reached its climax yet.

this movie had massive potential and they did some good things with it but just couldn't pull it all together.

basically these five riders go up to ski back country peaks in Alaska. the riders are of 3 veteran riders around 40 years old each and two youngsters, a male and a female who have both been highly successful. the premise is good to document their trip along with accounting for the history of snowboarding and of each rider.

what goes wrong is this: they spend way too much time discussing the history of snowboarding. basically if they would compile the history better and shorten it up they would have an excellent movie. i understand their want to illustrate the many aspects of the history of the sport and it is hard to sum things up on an entire subculture but it just needed to be done.

the movie was 2 solid hours and probably an hour of it was talking about the history and really just repeating where it came from (skating and surfing) and the fact that skiers and the rest of the world didn't want to acknowledge snowboarders. which, most people know these two facts anyways, so i just didn't feel it needed to be talked about at such length. just shorten up that and make it into a 1:15 to 1:30 minute movie and we would be sweet.

it was really a good concept and i like how they paid many respect to roots instead of just trying to market to the cool, young, more daring snowboarders and fans.

its just too long. really is still an important flick, though. i would say wait until video but unless you've got a great, big TV, you might want to shell out the 8 bucks to see it in theaters. or if you've got a dollar theater around that the movies go to after they are done at the reg. theater then go see it there.

The best thing about "First Descent" is that it lives up to its promise from the trailer of "no wires", "no special effects", and "no stunt doubles". Unfortunately, although this snowboarding documentary is occasionally thrilling, it only skims the surface of its subject matter and manages to wear out its welcome by the time the end credits roll.

The primary fault of "First Descent" is that it is two movies in one, and neither is given enough time. The first is a history of the sport since its conception. Intercut with this is the story of five snowboarders (Shawn Farmer, Terje Haakonsen, Nick Perata, Hannah Teter, and Shaun White) on a trip to Alaska to board down untouched powder in the Alaskan mountains (these rides are called "first descents"). Thankfully, despite the fact that the movie is produced by MD Films, none of the boarders ever crack open a Mountain Dew for the camera.

The historical section of "First Descent" is a straightforward primer on the sport. Archival footage is mixed with interviews from dozens of authorities in the community. Several interesting topics are touched upon including snowboarding's growth from the X-Games to the Olympics, the effects corporate sponsorship, and the influence of filmmakers and photography on the spread of snowboarding's popularity.

Unfortunately, each of these topics is only allotted several minutes and is paid lip-service rather than explored to any satisfactory depth. Certain topics such as the ties between the snowboarding, surfing, and skateboarding beg for their own segment, but are only mentioned in passing. Furthermore, these issues represent only a fraction of the running time from the historical section. Much of the history of the sport, as presented, turns out to be less than compelling and is suffocated by a constant barrage of snowboarding stunt clips. Although some of the footage is impressive, it soon becomes repetitive and tiresome.

The Alaskan sequences, although flawed, are the more interesting segments and feature new material produced for the film. This material is exquisitely well-shot and is often awe-inspiring. The sheer size of the peaks and their near vertical drops are captured well enough to convey a tangible sense of danger. The boarders are seen performing death-defying stunts, some of which are mind-boggling in execution. One boarder even unwittingly starts an avalanche, only to narrowly escape courtesy of some impressive boarding.

These images make one wonder why production companies decide to spend inordinate amounts of money on visual effects (see the avalanche scene from 2002's "xXx") when there are daredevils out there who will give you the real deal and have a great time doing it. It is likely that skill in capturing these stunts is the reason "First Descent" is seeing a release on the big-screen, especially since the historical sections would be more at home on television rather than in large format.

Each of the Alaskan boarders is given a background as to their history in the sport. However, these introductions are only around five minutes each, and for the most part these athletes are thrust into their "runs" down the Alaskan mountains before the viewer gets to know them. Again, intriguing issues such as how one of the boarders, Hannah, is a woman in a man's sport are given only cursory attention. The weakness of this is that although the boarders are exposed to dangerous situations in the mountains, the viewer has trouble caring about their plights beyond them being "man versus nature". Additionally, since just about all of the Alaskan sequences take place on the mountains with boarders on solo-runs, neither the personalities of the boarders nor the bonds between them can be developed. When the boarders gush about how they have "grown" or "bonded" with each other over the trip, their comments lack resonance.

Fundamentally, "First Descent" tries too hard to be the snowboarding documentary to end all others, and the result is a lack of focus. The film's length is not enough to illustrate snowboarding's entire history and the story of five boarders in Alaska. In trying to cover all the bases, "First Descent" ends up covering none of them well enough. However, a longer running time would have proved equally fatal as the film sometimes drags along at its current length.

The better approach would have been to focus in on only one of the two main story lines. Of the two, the human element is most compelling. A more in-depth look at the five boarders would not only be more emotionally satisfying, but the best snowboarding footage (of their runs) could be retained. Interestingly, 2001's skateboarding doc "Dogtown and Z-Boys", although stylistically inferior to "First Descent", featured a commitment to character that ultimately proved to be more effective.

If you are a snowboarding nut, see "First Descent" in theaters to truly appreciate the stunts captured for the film. Otherwise, you should consider skipping this one. As pure eye candy, "First Descent" is an 8/10. As a documentary however, it's closer to 4/10. Taken as a whole, its rating falls somewhere in between.

This movie was like going on vacation. Gorgeous mountains in Alaska, great rocking music, and a hell of a story about the birth and development of snowboarding. I found it very entertaining, and could look at the landscapes all night long. Plenty of things I didn't know about the development of the sport as it came along after my snow skiing days were over. Great athletes with wild attitudes - lots of old footage of competitions as well as X Games clips - the art of capturing this footage as if your were on the board yourself is a great rush for a middle-aged lady like me. I'll be taking some friends to see this one.

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.

very redundant and just flat out boring. not a knock against snowboarding, just not a very entertaining film. it doesn't compare at all to a warren miller. there are some pretty sweet tricks done, and it was nice to see someone from Vermont on the screen,but i just thought it was really slow. they could have cut some stuff out to make it go by a little quicker and keep our attention onto the screen. i found myself kind of "day dreaming" through a few of the scenes because it was pretty much a a shot of the same thing over and over again. it was cool to see how it all began and how everybody got down when the sport was emerging, but after about an hour of it, i thought it was time to move on.

WOW, i just saw the previews for this movie, i would have loved to have a chance to film it. Its my dream to film snowboarding and i believe this will be a great film. I'm starting out to film locals for a small time production company. This will give me great ideas how to take it to the next level. I think its a sweet idea to get 5 Generations together and have them talk about how life is with snowboarding. It will be very interesting to see how the sport came to be as it is these days. There are many stories told on how snowboarding became what it is. Cast in point, in the movie Out Cold. "Did i ever tell you that i invented snowboarding, I didn't want any credit but they kept giving it to me. I believe that this movie wont be a big hit to the Major public, but to the people that have snowboard as a passion it will be AMAZING.

In terms of story and content, this is probably the strongest film ever made about snowboarding. Gorgeous photography and a really solid storyboard made this film a real motion picture rather than a collection of montages like you see so many other boarding films. Unfortunately this film lacks the real jaw-dropping moments you really need in a film of this caliber. This film has one or two, but needs more to really sustain the interest level. Terje Haakonsen was spectacular as always, though, and any film blessed with his participation is almost always sublime.

On a side note, I was a little disappointed in Shaun White's performance in this film. It seemed as though his heart was not really in the big back-country experience and that he would have rather stayed at home in the park. I was surprised to see him board with his freestyle binding setup (wide centered stance) rather than something more conducive to powder riding. I think the film crew noticed the lack on enthusiasm and actually showed him the least of all the five riders.

Overall though, I'd strongly recommend this film to any snowboarder who is truly interested in the sport.

just look at some of those peaks, that ish is crazy. S white's run in the pipe at X is a 10. the Norway prince Terje, is the best host. and best rider ever. Just got back from Burton trip in Russia. Respect to Burton snowboards!! some of the back ground gets long, but this is where the sport came from. the roots. buy the DVD!!! support snowboarding! its amazing that Shaun white and Hannah both won Gold medals at the Olympics. and to see them in Alaska for the first time. some of the on hill camera work is a class, the crew did a great job on this one, the sound and the interviews were perfect, very informative. i could use more action. oh and travis rice saves it with his stunts off the kicker.

This movie is, like, totally rad! Like, totally! I think Porky Pig look-alike and snowboarding muffer Hannah Teter puts it best when she says "...like, whoa, we've never done this before. Like, what if I die up there? Not bugging out about it. But, being like, I don't know. Feeling a little stressed on it. You know, I want to be safe. I still want to learn a lot. I want to learn about back country riding. And I want to progress, you know?" You said it, Hannah! If retards could snowboard I'm sure they'd be in this movie. Hey, wait a minute! Now I get it. Retards can snowboard - and they are in this movie. How wonderfully retarded.

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.