Global Storming
Shot on impossibly steep mountains in Norway, Alaska, Switzerland, and  Canada, this film captures skiers whose skills are matched perhaps only by their  considerable guts. With some apparently unintentional irony, the film notes that  the skiers are "one with nature," and in the next breath mentions that they fly  by helicopter to remote mountain peaks so they can ski down them. Indeed, no  expense seems to have been spared as nearly two dozen skiers appear in segments  showcasing their daring moves that include death-defying jumps and insanely fast  descents down nearly vertical slopes. This film is, of course, geared to  inveterate skiers, but even those who have never strapped on a pair will get a  kick out of the sheer crazy daring of some of the infectiously reckless  participants. Brief interview segments and some footage shot off the slopes  serve as cursory profiles of the individual skiers, but for the most part the  film consists of relentless downhill action accompanied by a soundtrack of  vibrant music, which includes a generous representation of rappers and artists  as diverse as Metallica and Macy Gray. An amusing coda to the proceedings is a  brief segment of bloopers that bring things thudding back to earth, showing that  even the most skilled of these daredevils can go hurtling through the air only  to land in an uncoordinated tangle of arms and legs.--Robert J. McNamara