Warren Miller's Impact

Characteristic of every Warren Miller film, Impact is visually dazzling, culturally stimulating, and full of wit and visceral thrills. Starting in Cordova, Alaska, the film eases the viewer into the wild ride to come by focusing briefly on a helicopter service that delivers champion skiers to the top of the region's jagged peaks. Next up is a visit to Snowmass—the ultimate family mountain found in Aspen, Colorado—an ideal vacation destination for active parents and kids, where there are slopes for every age and level of experience. Viewers will also see clips from the Jeep NASTAR (NAtional STAndard Race) Competition, in which amateurs from preschoolers to 90-year-olds compete across the country, while a little globe-hopping brings Miller's crew to the lovely Alps valley town of Chamonix, France, where one can escape into a storybook fantasy and later ski down astonishingly beautiful mountains. Finally, in one of the most action-packed sequences, several professional female snowboarders are seen performing death-defying moves down Olympian heights. Backed by a rockin' soundtrack featuring Coldplay, The Dandy Warhols, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and others, DVD extras here include a behind-the-scenes featurette and deleted scenes. Highly recommended. [Note: also newly available on DVD are the skiing/snowboarding titles Warren Miller's Fifty and three-disc boxed set Warren Miller's Riders Collection (featuring Freeriders, Snowriders, and Snowriders 2, priced at $34.98).] Aud: P. (T. Keogh)