This wasnt necessarily an intentional choice.
After settling into the grass below Missoulas embarrassingly small mimic of a jumbotron, I had a look around.
Within 10 minutes it became clear what we were in for, the ultimate archetypal ski movie.
The BC segment, the pow segment, the touring segment, the Jackson Hole resort segment.
It was both easy on the eyes and moved along at a decent clip.
The skiing, unsurprisingly, was good, too.
Nick Mcnutt, Sammy Carlson, and Dane Tudor had an outstanding shared segment.
Each member of that trio approaches the mountain differently.
Mcnutt is all tweaks, taps, switch landings, and butters.
Tudor is pure bolts, executing massive tricks with precision.
Carlson was some blend of the two, marrying fluidity and style with hard charging lines.
Regardless, both of their segments were great throughout Stoke The Fire.
But the skiing was always going to be good.
And despite the high quality of production and skiing, everything felt oddly forgettable.
TGR did succeed in injecting variety with one segment, though.
Going skiing entails a whole lot more than just skiing.
Many of my favorite movies of the past recognized this fact by displaying the in-between moments.
Im recalling arm wrestling matches with Russians, atomic elbows into tables, and pre-drop jitters.
To make up for this lack,Stoke The Firedeploys the ever-cliche athlete interview.
These clips dont do a whole lot to engage the viewer, as weve all seen it before.
After watching the movie we went out to get beers.
One that introduces more of a narrative, that plays with pacing, structure, and filming style.
Or even catches one of its cast members with their pants down for once.
In the end, TGR brings money into skiing.
Thats not a bad thing.
