''Snowboard Academy'' is a 1997 independent

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

film directed by John Shepphird and starring

Corey Haim Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor who rose to fame in the 1980s as a teen heartthrob. He starred in '' Silver Bullet'' (1985), '' Murphy's Romance'' (1985), '' Lucas'' (1986), '' License to Drive'' (1988 ...

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won an Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and numerous televis ...

and

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

Plot

A competition is held between two brothers on their father's ski slopes; one is a skier, the other a snowboarder. The competition would determine if snowboarders could be allowed to be a part the ski patrol. Into the scene arrives Rudy James who stumbles his way into a job as ski patrol, entertainment host, and jack of all trades. What was cut out of the film was that Rudy James was hired by Mimi to ineptly sabotage the ski hill so that she could win it in a divorce proceeding. The two brothers discover her plot to damage their father's ski hill.

Locations

''Snowboard Academy'' was shot on location in Chantecler Ski Resorts, which is part of the Laurentides in the city of Sainte-Adele, Quebec. Shooting lasted 20 days. Additional stunt footage was shot in

Squaw Valley Ski Resort Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in the Western United States, western United States, located in Olympic Valley, California, northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada range. From its founding in 1949, the resort was known as Squaw Valley, but ...

, California. Stunts were shot and coordinated by Michael Roban. In a 2005 interview, the lead actor

reminisced that the filming of Snowboard Academy was the "hardest to hit my mark on".

Reception

''Snowboard Academy'' is one of the first films to feature

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

, which at that time was a burgeoning craze. The movie was not released to general critical acclaim, with reviews best summarised by

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

, who stated the film is a "limp ski resort comedy". A more positive review was published by ''OnSnow'', which stated that it contained "everything a good snowboard movie needs". However, it was panned in the book "Ski Films: A Comprehensive Guide" in a full page review that gave the film two stars, and described the film as "Ernest goes skiing." Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic panned the film's "pathetically broad humor and amazingly atrocious filmmaking technique."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snowboard Academy 1996 films 1996 comedy films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1990s teen comedy films American skiing films American teen comedy films English-language teen comedy films Snowboarding films