In a small town in Canada, five teenagers – Casey, Art, Rudy, Jimmy, and Boney – are on the local hockey team. Casey is the goalie and the team has been stuck in a losing streak where he blames himself. His parents are taking time apart and that’s something that weighs heavily on Casey not only in the net, but in his life.
After the game, the five sit by Lake Ontario and talk about whatever teens talk about. While discussing how frozen Lake Ontario is, they come up with the idea that they could skate all the way to New York on the coldest day of the year. With little hesitation, they decide to do it.
SKATING TO NEW YORK is the directorial debut for Charles Minsky, but he has been a cinematographer for years. You can tell because he uses a lot of techniques that creates a style of their own. As far as the cast goes, none of them are new to acting and it shows. They do a great job of just being themselves and making it feel very organic.
I liked the movie. The scenes on the lake while they’re trying to get to New York were pretty good and kept the movie interesting. At times, the movie looked like a sports documentary with all of the skating and I don’t mean that in a negative way. The hockey looks awesome. It is fast paced and watches like a real game. The movie’s time was split between the skating on the lake and the hockey, but the hockey got a little less screen time.
Cast
Connor Jessup as Casey Demas
Gage Munroe as Art Bouchard
Wesley Morgan as Rudy Bouchard
Matthew Knight as Jimmy Mundell
Dylan Everett as Boney Labue
Michelle Nolden as Jessie Demas
Jason Gedrick as Doug Demas
The video for the movie is a 1080p AVC transfer that, overall, is pretty decent. Most of the movie is against a white background and, at times, you can make out some clouds or tree lines. Most of the focus is on the kids in their bright clothing. The contrasting is excellent and keeps the images clear. There isn’t any black crushing or blocking that I could see, but there aren’t a lot of dark scenes. There are some images that look a little overly enhanced with very soft edges.
The audio track is a nice DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix that is pretty good. The best part of the mix is hands down the sound effects. The audio is separated with effects and the crowd noise during the hockey scenes. It makes for excellent ambient sounds while you hear the closer sounds of the skates and sticks on the ice. The crushing of snow under their skates and boots is also clear and noticeable throughout the entire movie.
There are no extras on the release except for a trailer of the movie.
Bonus Features:
-Trailer
Disc Details
1 Blu-ray Disc
Running Time
93 mins
Edition Ratings
PG-13
Region Coding
Region A
Video Resolution
1080p AVC AVC
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles
English SDH
SKATING TO NEW YORK is a good film that isn’t just all about the kids skating across the lake, but there are a few underlying plot lines with the characters. Their trek across the lake does show how strong their friendships are and also their individual strength. The video looks great and the sound mixes have pretty good sound reproduction. As for the extras, there is only a trailer on the release. I say at least give it a rent, but it is something that appeals to a wide range of ages. The best film that I can compare it to is STAND BY ME.
