Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche

As someone who isn't a skier, but is active in outdoor recreation (I'd rather snowshoe), and lives in the mountains of Colorado, I was keenly interested in this movie when I saw the description. I was hoping for something great, and it is indeed great.

Told from the perspective of the people involved, and with no third person narration, this story unfolds with the events leading up to, and after, the avalanche.

You get an idea of what the people were like at the time, how much they've grown since then, and how much this affected them. They are at times very emotional, but always with a sense of honesty. They were mostly people (around my age, as far as I can tell) who were having a good time being ski bums, when tragedy struck. How they dealt with the tragedy is the main thrust of the story, and it is told with brutal forthrightness.

Even if skiing or winter recreation isn't your thing, this is still a movie to watch.

Maybe a bit long? My big issue was the overly loud music in the first 15 minutes, I understand they were trying to describe that many of the employees were ex-hippies but I keep thinking/hoping they would turn it down during the conversation, they don't! Really annoying. I do like the style of no third party "interviewing" just letting the people talk and tell their story. 3-4 of the main characters are not very likeable. That's always a problem when the story line is built to to provide a "sympathetic avenue" and it doesn't work. Overall, a good doc. I'm sure skiers will get more out of it than non-skiers.

I wish documentarians wouldn't use music underneath entire films. I was looking forward to watching this movie and learning about what took place, but I couldn't get through it because the music played the entire time and took away from the dialogue and content. At times the music was almost as loud as the person being interviewed. I've noticed this happening a lot with more recent documentaries. You want people to watch a film, not become distracted by it. I was a freshman in high school when the avalanche took place and remember hearing about it. The film is highly rated, but I couldn't get through it. Hopefully, I'll find another documentary on the same subject without the overbearing music.

The necessary elements for an outstanding movie are the same whether for a documentary or feature film.:

1] Compelling story and script.

2]. Performance quality that is genuine with unmistakable emotional content that resonates with and enlivens the emotional experience of viewers.

3]. Cinematography that effectively supports as well as enhances the visual story-telling process.

It is my opinion that "Buried" embodies the highest qualities of each of these elements and clearly demonstrates that it's creators possess a mastery of the visual story-telling art. It would be impossible to produce a documentary of this quality without a remarkable commitment of time and compassion. Interviewees rarely share their hearts as openly as those in this film without a substantial level of trust and comfort. Although based on the consequences of a natural disaster there is a consistently uplifting theme of heartfelt humanity throughout. The film also successfully highlights the necessity for avalanche awareness as well as the need for improved prediction and snow management practices.

Bravo to director/producers Steven Siig and Jared Drake for this monumental achievement.

I enjoyed the bulk of the documentary. I had never heard of this event, and this was very informative. Great insight into the impact this had on everyone.

However, in the critical points of the story, the background music/sounds were so overwhelming I had to fast forward or turn down so low I couldn't really hear the speaker. Especially the high pitched sounds that are used over and over. Very distracting. Fine line of using sounds to increase the drama and making it so unbearable it has the opposite effect. For a large part of this documentary, the background sounds are simply unbearable. Just let the story stand on its own.