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First Descent Review

Movies.com Critics

4.5

Dave White Profile

Terror-o-Meter: Eight out of 10. Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 3.0
    51

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Mixed or average reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 38

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Boring, repetitive and maddening about a subject you'd think would be fairly interesting: snowboarding down a mountain.

    Read Full Review

  • 40

    out of 100

    Variety Robert Koehler

    Pic displays filmmakers Kevin Harrison's and Kemp Curley's love of snowboarding, but suffers from an unjustifiably long running time, considerable repetition and a generally awkward structure.

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  • 50

    out of 100

    The New York Times

    The Alaskan runs are often spectacular, resembling nothing so much as a controlled plummet down an avalanche. All of which is worth the price of admission if "stoked" is a regular part of your vocabulary.

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  • 60

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

    Snowboarders are given their Dew in this nicely shot but lengthy exercise in corporate branding.

    Read Full Review

  • 63

    out of 100

    USA Today Mike Clark

    Because snowboarding is younger than skateboarding and surfing, Descent lacks the poignancy of past surfer/skateboarder portraits that have shown participants reaching middle age.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

    As a result, what should have been a thrilling 90-minute sport adventure runs on for 20 more repetitive minutes. First Descent is exciting, but less would surely have been more.

    Read Full Review

  • 83

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly

    First Descent is not as eloquent, and thus not as electrifying, as Stacy Peralta's "Dogtown and Z-Boys" or "Riding Giants," the two jock docs it's clearly modeled after. No matter: Visually, MD Films offers up a sugar rush.

    Read Full Review

  • See all First Descent reviews at Metacritic.com

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Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 3.118
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