SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: EXTREME OPS

"EXTREME OPS"
(2002) (Rufus Sewell, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Mild	Extreme	Heavy	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Extreme	None	Extreme	*None	Heavy

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Moderate	None	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: Members of a TV commercial crew try to avoid a Serbian war criminal and his henchman while on location in the snowy Austrian mountains.

PLOT:

Jeffrey (RUPERT GRAVES) and Ian (RUFUS SEWELL) are partners in a TV commercial production house that specializes in outrageous spots. Ian, the director, occasionally gets annoyed with Jeffrey, the businessman, when he promises that which might not be possible. For their latest campaign regarding a digital video camera, Jeffrey has informed their client that they're going to shoot part of it in front of a real avalanche.

Accordingly, they assemble a collection of skiers and snowboarders including Silo (JOE ABSOLOM), Kittie (JANA PALLASKE) and gold medallist Chloe (BRIDGETTE WILSON-SAMPRAS), to be in front of the camera. Behind it will be daredevil photographer Will (DEVON SAWA) and German production aide Mark (HEINO FERCH). To get the right shot, they head off for the Austrian Alps where they end up in an unfinished resort on the top of a mountain courtesy of local chopper pilot Zoran (JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI).

Unbeknownst to them, the resort - that's busy with Serbian workers - is also the hideout of Slobovan Pavle (KLAUS LÖWITSCH), a Serbian war criminal who's recently faked his own death in an airline accident. Meeting up with his girlfriend, Yana (LILIANA KOMOROWSKA), and his volatile son, Slavko (DAVID SCHELLER), Pavle is plotting his next heinous move.

Yet, when he realizes that the commercial crew captured his image on their camera, he wants to make sure that they don't get out alive. From that point on, and as the team tries to set up their shot, they realize they're in for more than just a hard day of work and do what they can to avoid the madman and his henchmen.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of extreme sports and/or anyone in the cast, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For violence/peril, language and some nudity.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: DEVON SAWA plays a daredevil cameraman who's afraid of flying but is sweet on Kittie.
BRIDGETTE WILSON-SAMPRAS plays a gold-medal winning downhill skier who signs on to do the commercial and outrun the planned avalanche. She initially discovers that she doesn't have what it takes to pull that off, but later finds the resolve to do so. She drinks in one scene and gets drunk, and briefly uses profanity.
RUPERT GRAVES plays the money man behind the commercial crew who tries to hit on Chloe and is only really looking out for himself. He uses some profanity.
RUFUS SEWELL plays his business partner and the creative director of the commercial who tries to get his crew out of harm's way. He uses some profanity.
HEINO FERCH plays another crewmember who uses some profanity.
JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; BRIDGETTE WILSON-SAMPRAS plays a gold-medal winning downhill skier who signs on to do the commercial and outrun the planned avalanche. She initially discovers that she doesn't have what it takes to pull that off, but later finds the resolve to do so. She drinks in one scene and gets drunk, and briefly uses profanity.
RUPERT GRAVES plays the money man behind the commercial crew who tries to hit on Chloe and is only really looking out for himself. He uses some profanity.
RUFUS SEWELL plays his business partner and the creative director of the commercial who tries to get his crew out of harm's way. He uses some profanity.
HEINO FERCH plays another crewmember who uses some profanity.
JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; RUPERT GRAVES plays the money man behind the commercial crew who tries to hit on Chloe and is only really looking out for himself. He uses some profanity.
RUFUS SEWELL plays his business partner and the creative director of the commercial who tries to get his crew out of harm's way. He uses some profanity.
HEINO FERCH plays another crewmember who uses some profanity.
JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; RUFUS SEWELL plays his business partner and the creative director of the commercial who tries to get his crew out of harm's way. He uses some profanity.
HEINO FERCH plays another crewmember who uses some profanity.
JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; HEINO FERCH plays another crewmember who uses some profanity.
JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; JOE ABSOLOM plays the most daring member of the cast who performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; JANA PALLASKE plays his female counterpart who also performs various wild/extreme stunts and uses some profanity.
KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; KLAUS LÖWITSCH plays the Serbian war criminal who's in hiding until the crew accidentally uncovers his hiding place. He then sets out to kill them so that word of him still being alive doesn't get out.
LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; LILIANA KOMOROWSKA plays his sultry girlfriend.
DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; DAVID SCHELLER plays Pavle's cruel and vicious son who threatens some of the commercial team.
JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.; JEAN-PIERRE CASTALDI plays the team's local pilot who smokes.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this action/adventure film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of 1 possible "f" word, more than 20 "s" words and several slang terms using genitalia names, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, sex is implied in one scene, and two women kiss in a game of truth or dare. A man's bare butt is seen during the same game as well (in a nonsexual context).

Violence includes various deaths (some by gunshot, others in a helicopter crash), while attempts on others' lives also occur and people are struck in other fashions (but there's very little blood). Some of those scenes and others (including attempting to outrun an avalanche as well as a literal cliffhanger sequence) may be suspenseful to viewers.

Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while all sorts of imitative behavior (some of it potentially dangerous for the untrained) is present. Meanwhile, a few characters smoke and others drink, one to the point of being drunk.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Ian jokes about just hanging around and drinking a beer while hanging face down in a kayak from a safety net. Meanwhile, people on location there drink champagne, including Jeffrey.
Kittie asks Will if he has any drugs, but then clarifies that to be Midol or Advil as she's having her period (saying she's cramping and bleeding like a stuck pig).
People have champagne on a plane, including Jeffrey who insists that Chloe have some.
Kittie announces that they go get a drink when first arriving at their location. We then see her, Silo, Will and Chloe drinking in a large bar where others also drink.
Ian says he needs a drink and Mark drops his flask down to him.
Will, Silo, Kittie and Chloe have beer in a hot tub. While playing a game, Silo downs a beer in one gulp, while Chloe is later drunk.

BLOOD/GORE: Kittie asks Will if he has any drugs, but then clarifies that to be Midol or Advil as she's having her period (saying she's cramping and bleeding like a stuck pig).
We see urine in snow (after Will was trying to write something with his urine stream in it).
Jeffrey sneezes onto his hand but finds himself without any tissues. Thus, he wipes his hand on the wall (but we don't really see much of anything).
There's some blood on Silo's face after Slavko punches him.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Pavle and his minions all have bad attitudes for the atrocities they reportedly committed before the story begins as well as for trying to kill the commercial crew.
Ian initially acts distant/cold toward Chloe, as he doesn't believe she has what it takes to do the stunt work for the shot. Kittie and Silo also look down on her form of skiing compared to theirs.
Silo and Will use a video camera to spy on Yana (by having one standing on the other's shoulders to allow the camera to peer into a window).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers.
For those sensitive to airline safety, there's talk of a plane crashing with 200+ passengers, but we don't see any footage of that.
After hanging face down in a kayak from a safety net, Ian and the kayak then fall into the bottom of a waterfall and others dive in to rescue him.
Upset with Jeffrey stepping on his creative toes, Ian half playfully/half seriously dangles Jeffrey by his feet over the edge of a tall building and at one point holds onto only one foot (to make his point).
For those scared of dogs or dog attacks, Silo and Will have a bunch of menacing Dobermans chasing after them at night (and have several close calls with them).
A massive avalanche comes toward Will as he tapes it and he looks a bit nervous, but is okay.
A terrorist holds a gun on Jeffrey.
Slavko holds his shotgun on various members of the commercial crew while his associate holds a gun to Zoran's head.
The crew tries to board a helicopter and lift off as an avalanche races toward them.
A terrorist holds a gun on Ian.
A terrorist holds a gun on Zoran.
As the team tries to escape via a cable car, it suddenly stops and then reverses direction back towards the top of the mountain. As Pavle and others open fire on them, the team members jump quite a distance to the snowy slopes below them to try to escape.
The team members try to stop when they realize they've skied and snowboarded to the edge of a cliff. Ian and Kittie end up on a large piece of ice and/or rock that starts to break away from the cliff. The others race to rescue them as the piece falls away, resulting in various team members dangling off the cliff (with some barely holding onto others). Pavle and his team then come along in a helicopter and open fire on them as they try to hide in a crevice. During this, one team member cuts himself loose from his line and falls a great distance off the cliff, but then deploys a parachute.
Two people try to avoid Pavle's helicopter and then a huge avalanche that "chases" after them down the slope.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Shotguns/Machine guns: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
Pavle shoots a handgun into the ceiling to get his men to leave him and Yana alone.
Mark fires a small missile into the mountain to create an explosion that will set off an avalanche. Later, Kittie tries to hit a helicopter with such a missile but misses.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Can't do sh*t," "I don't give a sh*t," "This is bullsh*t," "Sexy sh*t," "This sh*t is for p*ssies," "Holy sh*t," "Oh, sh*t," "Stop thinking with your d*ck," "You're a pr*ck," "Nuts" (crazy), "Bloody" (adjective), "Freaking," "What's up, bitches?" (said by a guy to both men and women), "Bloody idiot," "Jeez," "How the hell are we gonna get this thing up the hill?" "Dyke" (lesbian), "Chicks" (women), "Piss off," "Bastard," "Suck," "Hell yeah," "Jerk," "Shut up," "What the hell's your problem?" "You sick freak," "What the hell /was that/do you expect?" and "Suckers."
Some kids may be enticed to imitate the various wild (and often dangerous) stunts that take place in the film. They include spinning and flipping over on mountain bikes; taking a kayak over a waterfall; some of the guys ride skateboards on top of a moving train; Silo and Kittie ski behind a train on snowboards while being pulled along by tow lines (when they run out of room on the snow, they slide along the rails, all while Will hangs upside down from the train just above the track to tape them); Silo and Kittie snowboard off a roof and down onto an outdoor bar top that they slide along; Silo and Will slide down a snowy hill on some sort of lids; the crew sets off an avalanche; and we see various team members on top of a moving train again.
Upset with Jeffrey stepping on his creative toes, Ian half playfully/half seriously dangles Jeffrey by his feet over the edge of a tall building and at one point holds onto only one foot (to make his point).
Kittie wears a midriff-revealing top while playing with her band.
Silo rides his skateboard through the airport and jumps over some obstacles.
Silo and Will use a video camera to spy on Yana (by having one standing on the other's shoulders to allow the camera to peer into a window).
Pavle shoots a handgun into the ceiling to get his men to leave him and Yana alone.
We see urine in snow (after Will was trying to write something with his urine stream in it).
Will and Silo place large hot rocks from a fireplace into a cold hot tub to make the water hot.
Kittie has many piercings in her ear.
Will has various tattoos.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None that we heard, but a few songs had lyrics that we couldn't understand, thus offering the possibility of containing potentially objectionable lyrics.

PROFANITY: At least 1 possible "f" word, 21 "s" words, 5 slang terms using male genitals ("weenie," "d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 1 slang term using female genitals ("p*ssies"), 9 hells, 2 uses each of "G-damn" and "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Christ," "For Christ's sakes," "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," "My God" and "Oh God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: After Jeffrey is unsuccessful at getting an Austrian hotel clerk to give them their rooms at the price they negotiated, Mark talks to the man in his native language (we see it in English subtitles). He then lies to the clerk about Jeffrey being there for surgery on his "weenie," that Jeffrey has never had sex with a woman and is afraid he might loose it, and that a doctor is going to replace it with a sheep's "weenie."
Silo and Will talk about some woman with one thinking she's a "dyke" and the other saying he thought the other "got with her." Silo states that his fantasy is to have sex with a newscaster.
Silo and Will use a video camera to spy on Yana (by having one standing on the other's shoulders to allow the camera to peer into a window). They spot her and Pavle briefly hugging, etc. and they mistake him for her dad, but one of them likes the idea of it being her dad (meaning in an incestuous fashion).
Pavle opens Yana's top that reveals her cleavage, and he then makes his men leave them alone (suggesting sex or fooling around).
Ian tells Will to "stop thinking with your d*ck" (referring to Will's attraction to Kittie).
While playing a game of truth or dare in a hot tub while drinking, Chloe and Kittie have to kiss as part of the game. The women then dare Silo to get out, roll around in the snow naked and then climb a pole the same way. He does, and we see several views of his bare butt. We then briefly see a passing shot of Chloe in her one-piece bathing suit.
Jeffrey tells someone on the phone that he wants a woman who is "stacked."
Slavko gets a perverse pleasure out of making Kittie and Chloe kiss at gunpoint and on video.
We briefly see Kittie's panties as her pants come off as Will holds her by the feet above a ledge.
Yana shows some cleavage.

SMOKING: Zoran smokes around 5 times, while a miscellaneous man also smokes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The extreme sports and stunts the team members perform.
Skiing and snowboarding.
The conflict in the former Yugoslavia (only briefly brought up here).

VIOLENCE: Kittie jumps into the "mosh pit" at a concert where she's performing, but no one catches her and she crashes hard to the floor.
A skateboard blasts through a billboard sign (this happens again later).
Kittie playfully hits Will in the stomach to see how "soft" he is.
Silo and Kittie accidentally crash through a closed window and into a hotel lobby.
Yana slaps Pavle while mad at him.
Slavko holds his shotgun on various members of the commercial crew while his associate holds a gun to Zoran's head. Slavko then head-butts Ian and knocks him to the ground. Silo then rushes Slavko who punches him in the face, and then fires a warning shot into the air.
We see that Pavle has Jeffrey bound and gagged on the floor.
Slavko and his associate hold their guns on each other and end up shooting each other several times when a detonation startles them. An avalanche then covers them and they're presumably killed.
Pavle hits Jeffrey over the head with a chair.
Kittie jumps down onto a terrorist while he's distracted. She lands on him and knocks him unconscious.
Pavle and his men open fire on the team as they jump from a cable car down to the snowy slopes below them. Pavle fires a shot that tears up Kittie's snowboard, but she's otherwise okay.
Pavle and his men then come along in a helicopter and throw a man down onto a rocky ledge (the man is presumably dead). They then open fire on them. During this, one team member is hit, but is alive. One team member then manages to shoot his snowboard out toward the chopper where it hits one man and knocks him from it.
Pavle backhands Yana.
Yana slaps Jeffery on the face to rouse him.
As Yana leads Jeffrey out of a building, he accidentally bangs his head quite hard on a low hanging beam.
Kittie fires a small missile at Pavle's helicopter, but misses.
A helicopter crashes and explodes, presumably killing several people onboard.

Reviewed November 26, 2002 / Posted November 27, 2002

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