Movie review | THE FOURTH PHASE

Both previous films can claim to have raised both the cinematic level and the range and quality of big mountain freestyle - i.e. complex tricks in big faces without specially built jumps - to a new level. That's why a film like this naturally raises different expectations than some run-of-the-mill indie film that has collected its budget of 5000 euros via Kickstarter/Indigogo with an extension.

Therefore, this review aims to answer two questions:

• Does the new film also manage to raise the excitement level significantly?

• Is "The Fourth Phase" a good snowboard movie regardless of the high standards of its predecessors?

The first question can be answered quite quickly and unpretentiously with "No".

In contrast to the quote from Der WELT, N24 (" spectacular, unprecedented snowboard action") sent out in the press release, I have to say that the respective editors obviously don't have a good overview of the films of recent years, otherwise they wouldn't come to this conclusion.

Without a doubt: the tricks are impressive, but the fascination of novelty that characterized the previous films gives way to a ritualized professionalism that makes the film seem solid but not exceptional. Both the cinematic design and the tricks will not blow away the experienced consumer. The claim of getting somewhere with a helicopter and as much manpower as possible seems outdated in the meantime (Jeremy Jones trilogy and others) and downright anachronistic.

The consequences of climate change do become clear in some scenes (Snowpack in Alaska), but both the above-mentioned example and the grand narrative of the water cycle are not tied together into a meaningful whole, but appear as associative features in an otherwise thoughtless action film.

With regard to risk management in avalanche-prone terrain, Travis Rice is - once again - a convincing negative example of a charismatic person with strong narcissistic traits who is incapable of reflecting on his own actions based on criteria.

The film escalates into increasingly absurd situations/decisions, similar to a classic drama, which is dramaturgically underscored by the critical comments of the participants that appear afterwards. The climax/catastrophe is then Travis Rice's avalanche accident, which - in view of the size of the descent and the terrain trap - has a mild outcome.

This turning point could be believable, despite the rather mystical depiction in the film, if it weren't for the fact that Travis has apparently learned nothing from his previous experiences.

For those who no longer have it in mind, take a look at the "British Columbia" segment in the film "The Art of Flight" (from minute 45). Despite "one of the worst avalanche conditions in history", of course, they had to check it out for themselves excessively and then, despite numerous spontaneous releases, they simply drove into slopes so often until one - Mark Landvik at the time - was caught.

The film team, Travis Rice and those responsible obviously didn't draw the right conclusions from this. Let's see if things change after this "close call".

Conclusion:

THE FOURTH PHASE is a decent snowboard film with some outstanding scenes, but it neither lives up to its implicit claim nor reaches the level of its predecessors. You can watch it, but you don't have to.