Ultimate X: The Movie

In a feat of truly impressive cinematic finesse, Hendricks manages to capture every possible angle, from below a soaring motorcycle to atop a speeding luger's helmet.

Most of Ultimate X is comprised of truly exhilarating footage of men -- and one woman -- pushing their bodies and their nerve to the edge.

All of this looks great on the giant IMAX screen -- most things do -- but the filmmakers can't shake the sense that this is an inflated TV special.

After clawing their way into the Olympics, so-called extreme sports deserve respect, but this is no way to get it.

Nausea-inducing street luge provides the requisite kinesthetic thrill of this mega-cinematic genre.

This compilation of blisteringly tight stunts plays like the world's longest Mountain Dew commercial.

Happily, a feeling of genuine comradeship among these athletes shines through, and their irreverent, go-for-broke comments are a jolt of fun compared to the usual canned epigrams from pampered sports multimillionaires.