ALTITUDE (Alex Merkin, 2017)

[Jox]

There are stills photographs (see previous post) yet studios mostly release screen captures nowadays...
http://www.shockya.com/news/2017/04/06/ ... -richards/

[Jox]

Denise Richards Stars in 'Altitude,' Jonathan Lipnicki's New Action Flick

Lipnicki recently spoke about his new flick with The Insider's Debbie Matenopoulos, and what it means to him that Altitude is being compared to Bruce Willis' classic franchise

"They were like, 'It is a female-driven version of Die Hard.' I was, like, that is a really cool -- there is not enough female-driven content out there," the 26-year-old actor shared. "I think it is kind of a thing that it is so profitable that people haven't explored it for weird reasons. I think it is time we need more films like that."

During the discussion, Lipnicki, probably best known for playing Renee Zellweger's adorable son in 1996's Jerry Maguire, also opened up about his decision to sign on as a producer for the movie.

I wanted to hop on that as a producer because I believe in that. Making good content like that, that has been neglected before because it may be a misogynistic industry or misogynist time," he said. "I was really excited to jump on both as a producer and help with it."

http://www.etonline.com/movies/214891_d ... _lipnicki/




http://www.ramascreen.com/denise-richar ... e-trailer/

ALTITUDE will open in the following theaters:

LOS ANGELES
Laemmle’s NoHo 7
5240 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601

NEW YORK
AMC Empire 25
42nd Street Entertainment Center
234 W 42nd St
New York, NY 10036

HOUSTON
AMC Studio 30
2949 Dunvale Rd
Houston, TX 77063

ORLANDO
AMC Universal Cineplex 20
Universal’s Islands of Adventure
6000 Universal Blvd #740
Orlando, FL 32819

PHOENIX
AMC Arizona Center 24
565 N 3rd St
Phoenix, AZ 85004

DETROIT
AMC Forum 30
44681 Mound Rd
Sterling Heights, MI 48314

ATLANTA
AMC Southlake Pavilion 24
7065 Mt Zion Cir
Morrow, GA 30260

PHILADELPHIA
AMC Loews Cherry Hill 24
2121 Route 38
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

CHICAGO
AMC South Barrington 30
175 Studio Dr
South Barrington, IL 60010

DENVER
AMC Highlands Ranch 24
103 Centennial Blvd
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129

[Jox]

LA Times review
Budget is not the only thing that's low in action flick 'Altitude'
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mo ... story.html

[Jox]

Review with only Kudos for Denise Richards and Greer Grammer:
http://www.nerdly.co.uk/2017/04/14/altitude-vod-review/

The filmmakers may have delivered an uninspired film but despite that fact, credit must go to the two female leads in the film. Denise Richards gets to play a female version of Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57, complete with witty one-liners as she kicks bad guy arse. This is easily the strongest character she has played since her appearance in Starship Troopers. Meanwhile the real star of the show is Greer Grammer, as Sadie, the badass bitch of the hijacking crew – who manages to steal EVERY scene she’s in and shines even when she’s working in the dark

Clip:
Dolph Lungdren is Not Actually Your Pilot in ‘Altitude’
https://undertheradar.military.com/2017 ... -altitude/



And for the laugh, somebody self-nicknamed " jinxyjinxy" and likely from the production or distribution camps left a dithyrambic review on IMDB

Totally shocked by this wild ride!

I wouldn't normally rate a film like this 10/10 but I was so caught off guard by how much I enjoyed it that I wanted to give it the highest rating possible just to help spread the word. What a blast!! Its a film that never takes itself too seriously, but DOES take the action, humor and characters seriously enough to let the viewer invest in them as they sit back relax and just have an extremely enjoyable hour and a half of escapism. Honestly, the film delivers from beginning to end and feels more like a throwback to the fun action films of the 80s and 90s that aren't made as often today. Denise and Dolph are solid and the newcomer, Kirk, is really likable and has very good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Plus there are some really great surprises, including one scene towards the end that I've never seen anything like before. Fully recommend this title to anyone who wants to take an extremely fun and satisfying hour and a half thrill ride.

EDIT:
Bulletproof Action review:
http://www.bulletproofaction.com/2017/0 ... -altitude/

[savagesketch]

This happens to be playing at a theater relatively close to me. I looked into going to see it, and started reserving my ticket online first. Not a big surprise, but the theater didn't sell a single ticket to any show offered the other night. Second day of release, and it still looks to be an empty theater. To further complicate matters, it's only playing twice a day. Which further begs the question -- why do they bother releasing it theatrically? Especially if it's only in a handful of theaters with zero marketing and limited showtimes. It barely even has a chance to breathe. If VOD is easier for both the distributor and the consumer, then why is theatrical even pushed?

[Jox]

It's not aimed at making money for sure, I also wonder, but my guess is even though it's not much I think the idea is to get more actual media awareness and press reviews to push people to see it on VOD instead of downloading it illegally... (and it costs less to put out there than when it was film prints). It's been years that even with some bigger releases than this (not talking blockbusters but low-medium budget films that are getting a better treatment than this) that they know they're getting their money back just from the theatrical release, it's more part of the marketing itself (the same way movie theatres make more money from selling popcorn and sodas than selling tickets)... So did you watch it in the end, if so what did you think?


Theatre pic from co-producer James Cullen Bressack

James CullenBressack‏ @JamesCullenB

Just watched Altitude in theatres, it's playing all week check it out. I was one of many many producers on this film.

PS:
What I still don't get is how SKIN TRADE didn't get as many screens as WAR PIGS, DON'T KILL IT and ALTITUDE...
Was the racy subject matter really too much to handle for some conservative Americans (as I know some had addressed it to D)?

[savagesketch]

It's not aimed at making money for sure, I also wonder, but my guess is even though it's not much I think the idea is to get more actual media awareness and press reviews to push people to see it on VOD instead of downloading it illegally... (and it costs less to put out there than when it was film prints). It's been years that even with some bigger releases than this (not talking blockbusters but low-medium budget films that are getting a better treatment than this) that they know they're getting their money back just from the theatrical release, it's more part of the marketing itself (the same way movie theatres make more money from selling popcorn and sodas than selling tickets)... So did you watch it in the end, if so what did you think?

I did watch it, but I opted to see it on VOD like the majority. It's about what you'd expect. It's a tired premise, and not even Dolph can elevate it. Denise Richards is completely miscast (big surprise), but she actually does okay considering. Dolph's really not even in the film that much, I'd say maybe 15 minutes tops, most of which are in the cockpit. I'm guessing this was only a couple days for him. His entrance scene is pretty cool, but every other scene is just going through the motions. He seems bored. Chuck Liddell continues to amaze with his acting abilities... I don't know why producers keep casting him in these things… He can't act, and there really aren't any roles for him considering his signature look... All the same, it's not a terrible film. Definitely worse films in D's filmography worth discussing. ALTITUDE just kinda exists, only to be forgotten.

Hoping now that with Aquaman on the horizon,Dolph won't have to resort to junk like this.

[Jox]

Holywood Reporter Reviews
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review ... ilm-994581
(surprised at how fairly good the THR review is)


U.S. Blu-ray & DVD on June 20
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=21166
http://www.noreruns.net/2017/04/17/alti ... d-june-20/
http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/show ... ds-6-20-17
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... ay.352263/

[Jox]

Blu-ray pre-order
https://www.amazon.com/Altitude-Blu-ray ... 06ZZMJD4J/

DVD
https://www.amazon.com/Altitude-DVD-Dol ... 06ZXX1PRZ/

[Jox]

And for the laugh, somebody self-nicknamed " jinxyjinxy" and likely from the production or distribution camps left a dithyrambic review on IMDB

Totally shocked by this wild ride!

I wouldn't normally rate a film like this 10/10 but I was so caught off guard by how much I enjoyed it that I wanted to give it the highest rating possible just to help spread the word. What a blast!! Its a film that never takes itself too seriously, but DOES take the action, humor and characters seriously enough to let the viewer invest in them as they sit back relax and just have an extremely enjoyable hour and a half of escapism. Honestly, the film delivers from beginning to end and feels more like a throwback to the fun action films of the 80s and 90s that aren't made as often today. Denise and Dolph are solid and the newcomer, Kirk, is really likable and has very good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Plus there are some really great surprises, including one scene towards the end that I've never seen anything like before. Fully recommend this title to anyone who wants to take an extremely fun and satisfying hour and a half thrill ride.

Not only there are a few more of what clearly appears as "fake reviews" (and they could be less obvious or better hidden in being so) but it seems the 6.8/10 rating has been tricked as well with 63.5% votes being 10/10...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4556370/ratings

Screen Shot 2017-04-24 at 22.08.06.png (51.57 KiB) Viewed 19935 times

[Jox]

Swedish DVD release on April 10th by Nijutafilms
http://www.njutafilms.com/altitude/

Unlisted, the Swedish DVD includes behind the scenes B-roll footage with Dolph (7 mins).

EDIT:
The clips are not interesting though, most of it taking place around the "video village" (playback monitor)...

[Jox]

I just saw ALTITUDE and I hope BLACK WATER (from the same producers ) will be less dull (than just two action stars in submarine with bad guys to take on)...

There is a (or rather a hundred) reason why DIE HARD is considered one of the best action films or why old school screenwriters are keen on structure and defining what their movie is about even when writing a mere exploitation genre piece.

While not horrible, ALTITUDE even made me wonder if even AGENT RED wasn't better or more interesting than this. A big mistake too is to have a bombastic and big budget like score through out the film contrasting too much with how little is going on the screen. Not only ALTITUDE looks like it's made 20-30 years too late but even then I'm not sure it would have been enough... (Most genre movies like this are just "filling time and new products for TV & VOD programmers")...But props to the cinematographer and VFX guys for making it look watchable.

Thank god for Mike Mendez's DON'T KILL IT which proves you can make something out of a very low budget and short schedule in the hands of a crafty director with a vision and a witty script...

PS:
And I'm sorry if anyone from the creative crew is reading this and hurting from my comments, but I'm just being honest, you're not pleasing or making anybody any favours by making movies like this. Believe me I know how tough the business is and how getting movies made is hard, and sometimes we just wanna go the easy way by doing what will be sellable or financed more easily but sometimes less is more and focusing on a small but very thought out story can be more effective and interesting than trying to emulate what would need a big budget with a tenth or what would be needed.

Or find a real twist to a very old and beat recipe... The best genre directors reappropriate things to make them their own, John Carpenter loved Howard Hawks western and all his movies were his own take on that and none of them looked like a western or a Hawks film.

You wanna make high-concept flicks like DIE HARD on a plane, DIE HARD on a submarine flicks? Fine, just look for an intriguing twist to have a new take on the genre that will make it exciting, unexpected and maybe even spawn a new subgenre...

EDIT:
And no Jonathan Lipnicki, making the lead a woman is not good enough or make you a feminist...

[Daan]

I always thought Agent Red was kinda fun because for all its faults, it doesn't take itself seriously. It even has Dolph running around on sneakers during his 'secret mission'

[Scifibuff5]

I too am a sucker for Die Hard clones (although nothing can be worse than White House Down which is unwatchable mindless garbage) but so far it just looks like simple fun. Agent Red I also am an unashamed fan of and while the producers might have not cared for it, they're ones to talk given how Andrew Stevens/Jim Wynorski also wrote schlocky fun and sometimes far worse films on a regular basis years before Agent Red came along.

Overall, I'm just glad we have films like these to fall back on as opposed to the only Action oriented thing that's currently playing being another forgettable superhero flick or lame book adaptation.

[Jox]

U.S. Blu-ray review with captures
http://moviemansguide.com/main/2017/06/ ... de2017-bd/

VIDEO – 3.5/5
Altitude is presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture quality isn’t terrible as there is sharp detail; colors were decent especially on the plane as we get a splattering of blues onboard while skin tones appear natural looking. The downside is, there were noticeable instances of extreme banding and being high-def, the computer graphics while the plane is flying looked particularly bad.


SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover. Only feature is the Trailer (1:42; HD).

Previews – Aftermath, Extortion, Isolation, Arsenal, Marauders


AUDIO – 3.25/5[/b]
The movie has a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track where dialogue levels were clear enough and even the ambient noises of the aircraft in air comes through the rear channels, however depth is inconsistent and when the action picks up, it’s rather dampened. On the whole, it’s a basic lossless track and probably was limited with some below average sound design in post.


OVERALL – 2.0/5
Overall, Altitude is the latest in a long line of bad direct-to-video releases, and the newest from Grindstone Entertainment. The plot, and effects for that matter, seemed to come straight from a SyFy original movie. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate is light on features while the video/audio transfers were average.