Category: DVD Reviews

To be honest, I couldn’t see the link between an era of nuclear threats and political tension between the East and West in this video, but Cold War definitely illustrates the fact that the Zero team have their fingers on the button to destroy anything in their path. True to form, this latest video from Jamie Thomas and the boys is a no nonsense thrill ride of very dangerous maneuvers performed at break-neck speed and accompanied by good old rock ‘n’ roll to boot.

Mike Gilbert and Lannie Rhoades are the directors and lensmen while Jamie Thomas, Tom Karangelov, James Brockman, Tommy Sandoval, Chris Cole, Tony Cervantes, Ben Hatchell, John Rattray and Dane Burman take care of the stunts.

Back in the day 5 stair rails evolved into 10 stair rails and the Zero team said 15 was standard. Then 15 turned to 20 and kinks upped the ante. Zero saw the rest of the world slowly catch up and decided kinks were the new 10 stair rails and flat bars had to be at least 15 feet long. Anything less was an insult. In Cold War rails are now 25 stairs long, chest high, kinked in multiple places and if possible with knobs and bends in them for added danger. If the level of progression for this genre of skating continues, we’ll soon be seeing the Zero team seeking out triple kinkers and gaps to rails in the heart of war zones with grenades going off and bullets whizzing by.

The only upset for all this gnarliness is the filming which, when trying to keep the fast pace, pulls our attention away from the fact that Tommy Sandoval just backside nollie heelflipped a massive dirt gap with a knee high barrier at the landing; or Dane Burman just kickflip backside 50-50’d a round rail with a horrible hook of a kink at the bottom ready to snap his bones if he missed the trick.

Speaking more specifically of the riders themselves, first of all I’d like to tip my hat to Jamie Thomas who despite the injuries, professional duties, fatherhood and to be honest age, still manages to get really gnarly with his skating and drop original tricks on infamous hubba’s. It was also great to see the original Misled Youth line up film a trick for this section too.

At the other end of the career spectrum is Tom Karangelov who first hit everyone’s radar when he won Slap’s One in a Million contest a few years back. Tom has kept quiet under the radar but today he’s speaking load and clear with his skating and I don’t know if this is done on purpose but he definitely has something of a Heath Kirchart persona about him when he rides up to massive ledges dressed head to toe in white.

Even though their parts are short, Tony Cervantes and John Rattray are a pleasure to watch. Tony keeps things fairly simple but this is reminiscent of older Zero videos which is cool. John takes care of the long flowing lines and features a very unique way of filming these escapades. It gives the footage real rhythm and makes you want to shred yourself.

Dane Burman’s section is ridiculous. Photo by Billy Cox

James Brockman is the video opener and gets straight down to business crushing gaps and rails alike. Ben Hatchell is definitely one of these next generation all terrain rippers who can grind a 30 stair rail just as easily as he can blunt flip out a deep-end pool tranny. Chris Cole seems to have stepped away from gaps as large as Wallenberg to focus on pushing the tech envelope with rails, ledges and gaps. His part also features a cameo by gentle giant Ed Duff. Expect to see and hear more from him in the near future.

Finally, the biggest and baddest stunts are split between Tommy Sandoval and Dane Burman. Either one of them could have scored the last part judging by the wreckless abandon they use to tackle massive drops and rails. The craziest thing out all their jaw-dropping antics is the ease with which they do it. This is the sort of stuff legends are made of.

The last couple of Zero videos may be distant, but like a wine that has aged well, the Zero team present something brilliant and rare yet true to their origins with Cold War. An old fan will feel the same rush watching this as they did watching Misled Youth, whilst the younger fan will feel like a whole new level has been reached with regards to stunt skating. I still can’t find the link between the title and historical fact but in any case this Cold War has definitely turned up the heat for everyone.

Available on DVD (with extras) in skate shops now or downloadable on iTunes.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

Fallen’s ‘Road Less Traveled’ is a tour video with a difference. Most tour videos focus on the demos, the never-been-done tricks at the local EMB and the random acts of silliness that endless hours of van life can produce. As a result it doesn’t always paint the best picture of foreigners abroad and distorts the reality of just how difficult it can be to actually get those rare clips.

Following the lead of Patrik Walner’s Visual Travelling projects, Jamie Thomas and master lensman Mike Gilbert took the Fallen team (Tommy Sandoval, Jack Curtain, Garrett Hill, Brian Hansen, Tom Asta, James Hardy, Tony Cervantes, Dane Burman and Jon Dickson) off the tourist trail to film the trial, error and triumph that goes into producing a feature length film. Like a book, Road Less Travelled is broken down into chapters for each of the four locations visited: Turkey, Portugal, the American West and Thailand. In order to provide insight and background for the events on display, several of the riders walk us though their individual experiences running up to, during or after each journey. The end result is a far more complete and coherent product that doesn’t simply focus on the proverbial hammers (even though there are plenty and they’re shocking!), but also the craftsman putting in the work, their environment and motivations.

Mike Gilbert has understood the purpose of high definition cameras and puts his to work as he captures scenery and surroundings akin to a National Geographic photographer. You also get the sense that sending a crew of scruffy skateboarders halfway across the world, or deep into the back roads of their homeland, generates a strong bond between each rider and the team dynamic gets amplified. Whether it’s another skater stepping between you and an angry sword wielding citizen or watching your buddy step up to the plate of a huge double kinker and get served only to return the next day and ride away victorious, the Fallen team are a tight unit. Thanks to Road Less Traveled I now hold Tommy Sandoval in much higher regard as a tough as nails nutter and James Hardy as a man that actually thinks twice about his role as a professional skateboarder and the opportunities he has to travel. The only cringe worthy (“chocolatey”) moment that stood out for me was listening to Brian Hansen explain his travel anxiety and questionable knowledge of geo-politics. That said, he still managed to board a few planes and put down some tricks so it was all worthwhile.

Garrett Hill pop-shuvs in SA. Photo: Chad Foreman

For a meager 10 dollar download fee via iTunes, I would strongly recommend purchasing Road Less Traveled because it delivers great skateboarding but also provides insight into the riders’ experiences and footage of spots you’ve probably never seen before. Otherwise you can wait patiently for the Transworld Skateboarding website to stream limited viewings of each chapter over a period of time. My humble opinion would be to source the funds for a download with your mates so you can enjoy the skating straight away and for as many replays as you like but that’s your decision not mine.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

It takes a lot of time and effort invested to keep a skateboard company above water, especially when new companies seem to be appearing weekly; surfacing for a few months, churning out an edit then disappearing just as fast. However underneath all of this, some companies are quietly getting on with the important business of putting out high quality products, sponsoring the people who deserve it and generally giving people like me faith in skateboarding. Lovenskate have been around since 2001, doing all of this and at the same time screen printing their own boards and t-shirts in what can only be described as a labour of love. This level of dedication shows in the end result of high quality boards, and is also visible in their first full length video simply entitled ‘The Lovenskate Video’.

Centered around the South East, the video is more a showcase of the area’s vibrant scene than a standard team video; in fact in many ways it reminds me of the video magazine format which seems to have disappeared in recent years, focusing more on the stoke which surrounds the act of skateboarding – the missions, the people, the spots – than on just the team.

The massive tea fetish which underpins the company’s ethos is laid out in the short intro section, which also includes some evocative shots of their base of operations, before wasting no time in launching into a hefty friends section. Heavy on the London footage, it’s enough to make you wonder why you don’t live in the capital as a variety of legendary skateparks and spots are given a proper seeing too by a cross section of local rippers. A break from the skating then leaves time for a skit, and a short clip of the making of the zine which accompanies the DVD (along with stickers, what’s not to like?) Brief shots of cut and paste intersperse the rest of the video, giving a sense of the DIY ethos which infuses the whole project.

Then we’re back into the skating, as a hallucinogenic montage shows the shredding that went down at the recent ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Jam’, where a bowl shaped like a giant teacup was the only obstacle. Judging from the footage the thing was impossible to skate, and by extension also incredibly fun, costumes and slams abound! This is followed by footage from a trip to the recently excavated skatepark at Arenys de Munt, near Barcelona. This was Spain’s first ever skatepark and there’s undoubtedly a buzz to seeing a piece of European skate history being restored and used again.

Another friend’s section see’s the action taken around Europe (whilst still including some footage of Brixton Beach, giving me another pang for London), before the team members’ sections are kicked off by recent addition to the team Matt Ransom. As befits a section from the South East the street spots are crustier than a single dreadlock in a shaved head, which doesn’t stop an array of technical tricks and wallies going down. There is also plenty of footage from Uckfield, one of the most underrated skateparks in that part of the country. This is something which really jumped out at me on first watch – the fact that most of the team seem to have footage at their local parks, giving the impression of a series of sessions and making you wonder why this seems so frowned upon in many videos.

Watch Matt Ransom’s full part:

Lucy Adams follows this with a section ripping up a host of skateparks and rough looking banks, throwing down ledge tricks, footplants, and a gnarly final trick. Next up is Barcelona resident Liam Sproat, who cruises round various spots in said city, throws down some obscure manual variations at Paral-lel and generally helps to remind why the city became such a skate tourism hotspot. Skating to Sam Barrett’s ‘Lay a White Rose’ is the icing on the cake for this rad section. Alex Barton brings some lanky steezing to the table, making hard tricks look simple (including a BS blunt in the aforementioned teacup bowl) and skating some punishing looking handrails.

The well-deserved final section goes to Ewen Bower. If you were at last winter’s Crossfire Xmas Jam then you’ll know some of the madness to be expected (although unfortunately not a Benihana in sight.) ATV ripping, big pop and some footage at Crowhurst bowl, one of East Sussex’s best hidden gems. The final trick is gnarly, but by no means the end of the video.

In a tradition which will make anyone old enough to have bought skate videos on VHS nostalgic, the credits are followed straight away by the extras. First up is an old staple of said VHS, the lesser seen ‘slams section’. As someone who weirdly misses these – possibly because as a youth they showed me that I wasn’t the only skater constantly breaking myself – I was pretty stoked to see this. Then, bringing the video to a close is some definite travel hype in the form of a short documentary film showcasing owner Stu Smith and former team rider Craig Questions travelling to Ecuador in order to check out the ‘Parque la Carolina’, skate with the locals and generally get a sense of what skateboarding is like over there. Cutting the skating with interviews with both the locals and the travellers, this is worth having alone, and is the best extra I have seen on a skate video in a while.

A long time in the making, as a first full length the Lovenskate Video is hard to beat. If you want to see what is bubbling away in the South East underground right now, you need look no further.

Pick it up online with free stickers and more goodness for a fiver here.

Jono Coote