| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Frostbite
Fox // R // February 15, 2005
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Sometimes I'm just in the mood for something that has, essentially, no hope of having any redeeming qualities. "Frostbite", an "outrageous" teen comedy that makes quite an effort on the box cover to promote the fact that it features ex-adult actress Traci Lords. Seemingly working with zero budget and almost entirely amateur actors, the picture is hilariously terrible - very easily one of the most uproariously awful cinematic train wrecks I've seen in years.
The film focuses on one Billy Wagstaff (Adam Grimes), who sits around smoking pot all day until he gets into the famed Pine Mountain Snowboarding Academy, where he has the chance to actually make something of himself (and hopefully, change his last name from Wagstaff.) When he gets in trouble after a night of beer and women, he finds himself booted out of the academy and trying to get back in.
Without even enough plot to fill out 83 minutes, the movie pads out the running time with rather weakly filmed snowboarding footage, dumb comedy episodes that do nothing to advance the movie and lengthy credits (even some outtakes.) The humor is incredibly grade school and idiotic (and offensive, at times - and I'm not one to be easily offended) - the town in the film is called Schitville, for example.
The acting is remarkably bad - Lords is especially funny as a coffee shop owner who shows off her "features" to get extra change out of the customers. The only "known" actor in the film is Phil Morris, who has been brilliant in "Seinfeld" (where he played lawyer Jackie Chiles) and elsewhere. Here, he just looks embarassed. Yes, there is brief female nudity, but no one should have to sit through this just to see that. Overall, the movie makes previous snowboarding cheese-fests like "Out Cold" and "Extreme Ops" look like Oscar material.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Frostbite" is presented by Fox in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame, with each edition of the film having their own side of a single-layer/dual-sided disc. This is a pretty unobjectionable transfer of objectionable material - the film looks to have been shot on video, with little budget and production value. Still, the presentation remains crisp and clear, with fairly nice sharpness and detail.
Slight edge enhancement was present at times, as was some minor pixelation. The print appeared to be in fine condition, however, with only a few instances of wear. Grain was present, although that could certainly be due to the video production. The film's natural color palette looked okay, with only decent saturation and a generally "flat" look.
SOUND: "Frostbite" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but that doesn't seem true - the surrounds were never used, as far as I could tell, and the sound quality is very mediocre. The music on the soundtrack sounded muddy and flat - as if it was recorded in someone's basement. Dialogue didn't fare much better, sounding low in the mix and not very well-recorded.
EXTRAS: 4 deleted scenes.
Final Thoughts: "Frostbite" gets awarded half a star just for being one of the worst movies I've seen in ages. It's unintentionally funny in its badness for a while, but then it just turns totally dreadful. Fox's DVD edition offers the movie with about as good audio/video quality as could probably be, given the material. Absolutely not recommended, aside from a rental for those looking for something just terrible to goof on.
Sometimes I'm just in the mood for something that has, essentially, no hope of having any redeeming qualities. "Frostbite", an "outrageous" teen comedy that makes quite an effort on the box cover to promote the fact that it features ex-adult actress Traci Lords. Seemingly working with zero budget and almost entirely amateur actors, the picture is hilariously terrible - very easily one of the most uproariously awful cinematic train wrecks I've seen in years.
The film focuses on one Billy Wagstaff (Adam Grimes), who sits around smoking pot all day until he gets into the famed Pine Mountain Snowboarding Academy, where he has the chance to actually make something of himself (and hopefully, change his last name from Wagstaff.) When he gets in trouble after a night of beer and women, he finds himself booted out of the academy and trying to get back in.
Without even enough plot to fill out 83 minutes, the movie pads out the running time with rather weakly filmed snowboarding footage, dumb comedy episodes that do nothing to advance the movie and lengthy credits (even some outtakes.) The humor is incredibly grade school and idiotic (and offensive, at times - and I'm not one to be easily offended) - the town in the film is called Schitville, for example.
The acting is remarkably bad - Lords is especially funny as a coffee shop owner who shows off her "features" to get extra change out of the customers. The only "known" actor in the film is Phil Morris, who has been brilliant in "Seinfeld" (where he played lawyer Jackie Chiles) and elsewhere. Here, he just looks embarassed. Yes, there is brief female nudity, but no one should have to sit through this just to see that. Overall, the movie makes previous snowboarding cheese-fests like "Out Cold" and "Extreme Ops" look like Oscar material.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Frostbite" is presented by Fox in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame, with each edition of the film having their own side of a single-layer/dual-sided disc. This is a pretty unobjectionable transfer of objectionable material - the film looks to have been shot on video, with little budget and production value. Still, the presentation remains crisp and clear, with fairly nice sharpness and detail.
Slight edge enhancement was present at times, as was some minor pixelation. The print appeared to be in fine condition, however, with only a few instances of wear. Grain was present, although that could certainly be due to the video production. The film's natural color palette looked okay, with only decent saturation and a generally "flat" look.
SOUND: "Frostbite" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but that doesn't seem true - the surrounds were never used, as far as I could tell, and the sound quality is very mediocre. The music on the soundtrack sounded muddy and flat - as if it was recorded in someone's basement. Dialogue didn't fare much better, sounding low in the mix and not very well-recorded.
EXTRAS: 4 deleted scenes.
Final Thoughts: "Frostbite" gets awarded half a star just for being one of the worst movies I've seen in ages. It's unintentionally funny in its badness for a while, but then it just turns totally dreadful. Fox's DVD edition offers the movie with about as good audio/video quality as could probably be, given the material. Absolutely not recommended, aside from a rental for those looking for something just terrible to goof on.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||