Deep Winter is more than just fluff!

While I can’t say as though I’m typically a big fan of straight to DVD movies, there are times when one can find a hidden gem that was overlooked by the big studios for one reason or another. Such films are typically geared towards a certain demographic that doesn’t support a major release and more often than not, the movie hasn’t a chance to make any money given the limited budget for advertising and promotion.

Being a passionate skier, I search the shelves of my local Blockbuster every year looking for any new movie having to do with skiing and/or snowboarding. Let’s face it, the lifestyle sports theme isn’t a big sell and I can think of only a handful of movies that made it to the big screen. Hot Dog and Aspen Extreme made their marks on Hollywood with the former attaining nothing short of cult status, but most other scripted skiing movies are pretty damned awful and rarely have much of a plot to follow.

All that being said, I was fortunate to find one of those rare gems last week on that shelf I was talking about earlier. When I rented Deep Winter, I admittedly had pretty low expectations. While the casting of Michael Madsen as a former big mountain skier turned heli-ski guide was a little promising, it was the description on the back of the cover that caught my attention more. A ski racer, who had fallen from the graces of the U.S. Ski Team returns home to make the harrowing first descent in Alaska with a childhood friend. Add a beautiful love interest and some very well-shot big mountain footage and you’ve got the making of a watchable movie.

With skiing doubles such as the Seth Morrison and Dan Treadway and being co-written by big mountain skiing pioneer and freelance writer, Micah Abrams, Deep Winter not only held my attention, but left me wondering why this film has gone unknown, even through skiing circles. I would have thought that with Morrison’s and Abrams’ connections, some free publicity would have made a name for this flick, but sadly, I’m one of the few who knows about it. And while I really don’t want to give away a lot of the plot or storyline, I will say that this movie is not only visually stunning, but well-written and exciting. I highly recommend you add this to your queue or stop by your local store. I plan to buy it myself.