SKI SCHOOL is the kind of movie that movies and TV shows make fun of today. We have an over the top, stereotypical villain, a talented, fish-out-of-water, young hero and a crazy, party animal mentor, all inserted into a sports themed underdog story. In fact, I believe ‘South Park’ made fun of SKI SCHOOL in an episode and in many ways, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE was poking fun at this with its storyline. But cheesy movies can sometimes be a blast, especially when they don’t take themselves too seriously and manage to invoke some nostalgic feelings in the audience that grew up with them. But SKI SCHOOL is just plain bad. It’s a little late on the cheesy 80’s movie bandwagon and by the time 1990 came around, the schtick was worn out and as I revisited it so many years later, I found myself laughing at it and not with it.
Dave (Cameron) is an instructor at a ski school, but he’s more interested in partying and having a good time than he is actually teaching skiing. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Reid (Mark Thomas Miller), a snobby but talented ski instructor that’s obsessed with being great and hates everyone that gets in his way. Naturally, Dave and Reid clash and things get worse when the talented young skier John (Bresnahan) gets in the middle. But John has plenty of things on his mind, including how he’s going to stay with Lori (Vogel) while trying to refuse the advances of the mysterious Victoria (Ava Fabian).
Part of the problem with SKI SCHOOL is that it lacks the heart of something like MEATBALLS and the humor of a more slapstick underdog story like POLICE ACADEMY. Granted, those are classic 80’s movies, but those are essentially what SKI SCHOOL is trying to be. But the biggest problem with SKI SCHOOL is the lack of even one character that we like. Dave is the closest, but even he doesn’t get much screen time and is never given a chance to develop into something other than a party animal. SKI SCHOOL just lacks characters we can really care about and there’s no one to root for, which makes the entire movie seem a little pointless. The story sets up a skiing contest that everyone talks about, but there’s no reasoning to the contest other than for pride. The school is being bought no matter what and nothing hinges on the outcome except for a second-thought, last second bet between Dave and Reid at the very end.
But hey, if you nitpick a movie like this, you’re missing the whole point. The point of the film is to offer some comedy, cool skiing action and plenty of T&A. But save for the T&A (thanks to two back to back sex scenes at the very end), SKI SCHOOL doesn’t deliver. The production quality and framing is so bad that it almost looks like someone was trying to make an 80’s style movie on their old camcorder. This might hold a special place in someone’s heart that was a pre-teen when this came out and has developed a special connection to it, but for everyone else; this will probably be difficult to get through.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: I love the fact that Olive Films is bringing some of these obscure titles to Blu-ray, but sometimes the video quality leaves a lot to be desired. Such is the case with SKI SCHOOL.
Audio: The audio was fine.
Theatrical Trailer
