Product Description

HIGH IN THE WILD URAL MOUNTAINS, A MASSIVE LEDGE OF SNOW AT THE TOP OF THE RIDGE SUDDENLY COLLAPSES & AN AVALANCHE CRASHES DOWN! WORD OF THE DISASTER REACHES A NEARBY MINING TOWN & ALL THEY CAN DO IS TRY & GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81204 in DVD
• Brand: PLATINUM DISC LLC
• Released on: 2005-10-18
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Customer Reviews

Well, it was no Vertical Limit,
But it gets the job done.

A bunch of characters including two brothers, the younger brother's lover, her father the developer, and an avalanche watcher start to realize a nearby peak is about to come crashing down. Trying to find a way to keep everyone safe while maintaining profit, all while overcoming their own inner drama and differences, keeps them busy for roughly an hour and a half. We get to tag along too.

It basically has mediocre dialog, mediocre directing and editing, some pretty good photography, and bad acting, but it's the story that keeps this little experience interesting. In general, it's a somewhat tense countdown while the weight of the mountain starts burdening the souls of all involved. Can't say it was that bad.

Obviously a big difficulty was keeping it going with limited materials, being that a few shots/ideas are re-used several times. It also has a pretty useless side-story about the developer's evil business partner that frankly only worked to use up space, then climaxed in a pretty campy shot that I won't give away. But the fact that it even had side-plots and backstory and character development is kind of commendable for the type of movie it was. So there we go. Entertainment fun-fest and all that.

--PolarisDiB

MORE MOUNTAIN MADNESS...
When I saw this DVD in the video store, I knew that I would rent it, as I have a thing for mountains, despite the feeling it would not be a very good movie. Well, my expectations were met. The movie, although mildly enjoyable at times for its mountain views, is pretty much a stinker. It is definitely not a keeper.

The plot is simple. Scientific data indicates that a particular mountain in the Urals in Eastern Europe is going to undergo a massive avalanche that will bring down about half the snow on the mountain onto a ski resort. Of course, the person who brings this information to the village's mayor is met with derision. No one wants to believe her. Like John the Baptist, she is a voice crying alone in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, two mountain bad boys, brothers who run snowmobile tours in the mountains, have their own troubles. The younger one has had a bad break-up with the resort owner's daughter. The other one has his hands full keeping his wilder, younger brother in check. The resort owner's daughter has her own issues, as does her father and his business partner. When the inevitable happens and disaster strikes, let the games begin.

Over all, the special effects are repetitive, which is to be expected, given the fact that this is an obviously low budget film. The plot is loosey-goosey, with a number of silly sub-plots to nowhere, as the script is just plain bad. The directing is laughable and ham-handed. The acting is, for the most part, dreadful, with the exception of the resort owner, who gives evidence of some acting ability. No one in this film should give up their day job just yet.

The bottom line is that viewers should take a pass on this film, unless, like me, you are a sucker for mountains or disaster films. Even then, viewers should proceed at their own risk.

Maybe this wasn't the best place to build a luxurious hotel
Avalanches are some bad business - and they're bad for business, particularly if you are building a luxurious hotel at the base of a high mountain threatening to slide off its shelf and come crashing down on top of you. It's a subject that lends itself well to cinematic treatment, and I think this particular effort, Nature Unleashed: Avalanche, really isn't that bad of a film, especially given the project's budget. The acting isn't all that bad for the most part, and the storyline and subplots are average yet solid. It's not a film I would go out of my way to see, but there are certainly worse ways to spend an hour and a half. And I'm happy to say that this whole disaster goes down without the words "global warming" being mentioned at all.

You can't blame nature completely for this disaster because it is helped along significantly by stupid people being stupid. On the other hand, the catastrophe was inevitable given the geological conditions of the snow peaks in the area. One woman knows just how real the danger is (and just how hard it is to survive an avalanche), but no one wants to listen to her - not the mayor of the town at the mountain base and certainly not the men putting the finishing touches on a brand new luxurious resort running up fast against a deadline for completion. Even after a series of powerful and damaging avalanches take place, the scientist's warning of a super-avalanche fall on deaf ears for the most part.

Of course, you have to have at least one clichéd love story in play, but at least that is complemented by another subplot involving the builder of the hotel and his daughter. One positive aspect of the film is its relative success at maintaining a strong degree of tension up until the very end. There are a series of increasingly dangerous avalanches building up to the proverbial Big One, and massive mounds of soft snow aren't the safest places to conduct rescue missions, either. I can't say the whole story isn't wholly predictable because it is, but the end result is still a decent movie.