Avalanche

I lived in Durango, CO when they filmed this movie. This makes it all that much funnier. You cannot take this movie seriously.

The avalanche is actually fan blown styrofoam. Half the mountains pictured in the movie, don't actually exist.

If you are a Durango resident, watch this movie for kicks. If not, don't even bother, you're better off watching the weeds grow.

This is a perfect movie for Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Dreadful, horrendous, awful and terrible are all words that don't even begin to describe how bad this movie is. Rock and Mia, about as mismatched a pair of costars as could be imagined; he towers over her and they share no chemistry whatsoever, would make more sense as father and daughter than ex-spouses but that is the least of this picture's problems. Some of the cast try to maintain their dignity and soldier on while being faced with stupid words to speak and idiotic situations to react to. Nonsensical happenings, bad special effects and rotten direction all add up to a textbook example of why the disaster epics ran out of steam shortly after the release of this dog.

I am a bit embarrassed to admit I was in this movie. A bit, but, hey I had fun filming & was paid pretty well. Actually I was several scenes. I was a student at Fort Lewis majoring in Theater. Our troupe was invited to audition to be paid extras. It was spring break & I was earning money for my upcoming wedding. Not bad pay for a college student.

The snow and cold was real. It snowed the whole time we did any outdoor scenes. A fun mess when you add shredded plastic, Styrofoam boulders, and huge wind fans.

I lived in the area for quite a while & I too find this movie funny. I love the scene when Rock Hudson walks over to a window and states when he saw that mountain he knew he had to live there. That mountain is nowhere near Durango. As for the avalanche, well lets just say it is very hard for an avalanche to travel up mountain. But this one did to start at Tammeron and end up wiping out Purgatory mountain (now known as Durango mountain). Very funny stuff if you are from the area.

In the original credits Fort Lewis College Theater Department was listed but I see we are not here. As I was the only member to stick around during th break to work on the movie I must say I am disappointed but not surprised.

One of the premieres were held in Durango. I was not as pleased with the final product as I was when we filmed. We never saw the whole script so the movie was very different from what we were told. But all in all a good time and a not as bad as it could have been film. Wish I could say I went on to better movies but I went on to be a full time mommy and wife.

If you ever lived in the area it is a fun watch. You will see bloopers in things others will never notice.

Go watch it NOW before it disappears forever! I remember watching this when I was a kid, and even then we all burst out laughing during the avalanche. This movie is absolutely hilarious- you'll laugh your head off. As a drama, I rate it a 4, but if you watch it and think of it as "Airplane!" In the Rockies, it warrants a perfect 10. It it SO unbelievably over-the-top and campy, it's hard to believe they didn't intend it that way. I'll give them a pass on the special effects, since in the late 70s this was about the best they could do, but I can't forgive Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow for appearing in this just for a paycheck. Jeanette Nolan is the best thing in this film, and Robert Forster does a good job in his role (and he's much more handsome than Rock Hudson)! Everything else is a laugh-fest.

Checking in rather late, though not at the tail end, in the 1970's disaster movie cycle, this Roger Corman cheapie is only entertaining in fits and starts. Hudson (looking ragged and drunk at times) has just built a huge winter paradise in the mountains of Colorado. His ex-wife (Farrow) comes to the opening, for old times sake, while employee Forster foresees danger in the snow caps. Hudson's mother (Nolan, in a white fright wig) wines and dines with abandon. There are also trite and annoying plot threads about a studly skier, a TV show host (Primus) and his unfaithful wife and a nervous ice skater. Aside from having less than stunning production values, the film's main problem is that it takes an hour for the title event to occur and then races through all the resultant carnage with choppy editing and distorted timing. The viewer must endure a shabby, clichéd script and some bad acting while waiting for the Styrofoam chunks and plastic snow to may their way down the hill. Hudson is bad. He barks and yells inappropriately when he isn't wooden. Farrow looks idiotic much of the time and is completely mismatched with Hudson. (She learned nothing from this experience as she was soon to film the disastrous "Hurricane", another career killer. Thankfully, for her, Woody Allen was just around the corner!) Forster actually outshines the others with his charm and conviction in a thankless part. Nolan shamelessly hams up her role in a desperate attempt to add life to the often dull proceedings. She is funny, but not always in the way intended. Primus had worked for Corman before, so he should have known what he was in for. On the plus side, there are a few hooty lines of dialogue and some unintentionally hilarious, overwrought, emotional scenes among the lesser players. Also, a few of the ice and snow effects and destruction scenes are solid (most, however, are shoddy.) One hilarious scene has a skater spinning obliviously while snow encompasses her. In another, folks digging a hole out of an enclosed lodge keep knocking against the rubber "snow" so that it springs back! Then there's the rescue workers who, after witnessing an electrocution, allow the victim to fall onto the ground instead of into their net, which is right under him! There's also an ambulance door that apparently flies open simply by leaning against it. One distinction: This has to be the only 1970's disaster film that has nudity. Hudson (in a bid to reinforce his heterosexual image?) has a secretary that walks around his chalet naked! If the film had spent a half hour getting to know the people and an hour rescuing them (instead of the opposite), it might have been more entertaining. The way it stands, viewers wind up not really liking the characters and can barely keep up with the rescues!