First Descent

2005

110 mins

Directed by Kemp Curly, Kevin Harrison
52%
86%
Documentary
Sport

A sponsor heavy documentary (it's made by Mountain Dew Films) which chronicles the 25 year history of snow boarding. Extreeeme!... More

A sponsor heavy documentary (it's made by Mountain Dew Films) which chronicles the 25 year history of snow boarding. Extreeeme! From the time when snow boarders were banned at ski resorts to their eventual welcome reception, from a backyard hobby to a multi-billion dollar recreation and licensing industry.

It's told through the exploits of veterans: Shawn Farmer, Terje Haakonsen and Nick Perata; and up and comers: Hannah Teter and Shaun White. These experts are helicoptered to the tops of virgin slopes in Alaska and snowboard down the mothers. Needless to say it contains many a kick-ass run, many a sick jump. Extreme.

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First Descent | Ratings & Reviews

52_%64 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
86_%23,906 reviews
Audience score rating

"First Descent: The Story of the Snowboarding Revolution profiles and aggressively sells the relatively new sport of freestyle snowboarding, borrowing moves from Imax adventure films and the Bruce Brown tradition of surfing docs. Pic displays filmmakers Kevin Harrison's and Kemp Curley's love of snowboarding, but suffers from an unjustifiably long running time, considerable repetition and a generally awkward structure. Fans will pile in during the opening frame for the sport's first mainstream movie, but vid is where this one will score style points..."

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