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Ghost Canyon

Ski Patrol (Special Edition)
(Ray Walston, Martin Mull, George Lopez, Paul Feig, T.K. Carter, et al / Blu-ray / NR / (1990) 2022 / MVD Rewind Collection)

Overview: The lease on the Snowy Peaks Lodge, a popular ski resort, is up for renewal and it’s owner Pops (Ray Walston, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) has no worries about signing a new lease. Despite his Ski Patrol, an out-of-control group of skiers led by Jerry (Roger Rose, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives) and Iceman (T.K. Carter, John Carpenter’s The Thing), the resort has an impeccable safety record.

However, a devious land developer (Martin Mull, Clue) has other plans in mind for the resort and hires the talents of a young blonde named Lance (Corby Timbrook, The Glass Shield) to undermine the Ski Patrol’s efforts to keep the slopes safe. Blu-ray Verdict: At the Snowy Peaks Ski Lodge, wise cracking slacker Jerry Cramer (Roger Rose) works Ski Patrol with a group of other misfits who are under the command of tightly wound head Murray (Leslie Jordan).

When land developer Sam Marris (Martin Mull) sets his sights on Snowy Peaks, Marris makes a deal with Ski School instructor Lance Finkmayer (Corby Timbrook) to sabotage Snowy Peaks safety requirements so the current lease holder, Pops (Ray Walston), will lose his claim and allow Marris to turn Snowy Peaks into resort town Marristown.

Ski Patrol comes to us from producer Paul Maslansky best known for his creation and curation of the Police Academy series. With grosses dipping with subsequent installments, Maslansky tried to revisit the formula and applying it to the world of skiing.

Maslansky initially intended to expand Ski Patrol, much like Police Academy, with two sequels and a spin-off TV series, but when the movie only made $8 million that never came to be - though, supposedly, there’s been some talk of a Ski Patrol sequel/reboot with the team behind Workaholics.

Anyway, for those wondering, Ski Patrol isn’t offensive or obnoxious, but it’s yet another rehash on an overplayed formula that was making the rounds in the early ’90s.

Some of the cast bring wondrous energy to their performances, with T. K. Carter, Paul Feig (yes, the very same man who would make Freaks and Geeks and less famously, the 2016 Ghostbusters), and Leslie Jordan delivering some very decent smile-worthy moments every so often, but aside from a decent long payoff joke involving Leslie Jordan’s character taking growth pills, there are quite a number of floundering gags.

Such as Jordan repeatedly tripping over a dog named Dumpster, to whom he’s also allergic, or a grating performance by Sean Sullivan as a character named Suicide, whose shtick is that he is part of a band where every member is him and two masks named Buried and Slaughter (who he voices!).

Regardless, Ski Patrol takes the Police Academy formula and goes through all the expected motions you’ve seen the latter bring to both the big and small screen (including a softly-labelled, so-called follow up entitled Moving Violations).

My own personal funny moments include the bad guy, preppie ski patrol members decked out in their intricately patterned fashion sweaters during a fireside discussion scene, as well as a climactic trashing of a giant wiener mobile on skis!

What’s also most wonderful is the bouyant enthusiasm that most all of the main cast display while on screen! Nobody behaves in a rational or realistic manner, sure, and everything is all gonzo and hyperactive, sure, but that is what adds to this 1990 classic!

Festooned with a sheen of late 1980s fashion sensibilities that make one wonder what the hell we were collectively thinking back then, Ski Academy might well have been titled Ski Academy, for it would have gotten away with it on a downhill double diamond freeride!

This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

High Definition (1080p) presentation of the main feature in 1.85:1 aspect ratio
Audio: LPCM 2.0 Stereo
Optional English Subtitles
Original Theatrical Trailer
Reversible Artwork

www.MVDvisual.com





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