Category: DVD Reviews

22.08.08
Barcelona Premiere.

Barcelona is a beautiful city. And with the amount of skating that gets filmed here, where better to have the Premier of Fallen’s latest and greatest production than 500 meters from the world famed Parral.lel skate spot? The Sala Apolo theatre is also a perfect venue, firstly it’s proper oldskool, secondly its HUGE (and it needs to be for the mass crowd of skaters and skate bettys that were standing patiently in the street outside its art deco doors), and thirdly, it has a well stocked bar!

It seems like every company’s DVD is “highly anticipated” these days, but the hype afterwards is usually pretty short lived. This DVD will be slightly different. We have come to expect a certain style of skating from Zero/Baker/Fallen and that’s nothing but straight big rail hammers. But this video has some heavy tech action too, as you would expect with heads like Billy Marks and Chris Cole on the team. The opening montage gives a feel of something monumental is about to go down; a lot cleaner than anything I have seen from the Jamie Thomas camp before.

Tommy Sandoval gets the video off to a rowdy start with the mandatory rail bangers, adding in a lovely pivot ollie-fakie back in about 10 feet up the sketchy banks at the docks here in Barca; the local crowd go mental at the sight of their home turf. Add in some feeble to backsmith rail action and a – somehow styley – fingerflip down a gap and you just know Sandoval is worth the hype and is undoubtedly on fire this year.

Some of the lesser known guys show the gap between pro and am is almost non-existent these days, with Gilbert Crockett dropping front crooks that Mike York would be envious of and making the backsmith-backside flip out undoubtedly “Fully Flared” worthy. Brian Hansen takes slams, and no wonder seeing he goes as fast as he does, especially when trying – and making – pop shove 50-50s on handrails and gnarly nollie back lips down 14 stair rails!

This is Josh Harmony´s “I made it” section – coming across totally official with innovative smith grind transfers off the wrong side of rails whilst throwing in some of the largest frontside flips down drops I have ever seen. So much flow and ease in his skating make Josh a firm crowd favourite, I’m sure there is a lot more to come.

Jamie Thomas for me is always going to be the main event here, the Iggy Pop of skateboarding keeps going and going while proving the old line of “class is permanent”. No sitting back and relying on his young guns to get the job done here – as eager as ever to push himself with the fastest 360 ollies I have witnessed and an even faster front nosegrind revert on a high and tight hubba. Add in all the usual expected JT action and we are given a section that even Slap Magazine’s forums couldn’t dismiss as “past it”. Next up is the unstoppable Chris Cole, it’s weird to see such a hesh rock dude enter the Daewon-Mullen realms of tech – the opener is a 180 fakie nose grind on a block to switch bigspin flip out; Barca felt that trick hard and the place is screaming! His section, like JT´s, is relaxed and controlled, which is an odd thing to say considering he mixes handrail gnar with varial flipping body varial action as well as a flip wall ride-to late shove off; Cole simply has it all. There are a few bangers I have to leave out, just for the surprise, or should say shock factor of seeing them unexpected for the first time. I wish his section was longer. Or better still, never ending.

The rest of the team held it down, even after the main guys had blown us away. Billy Marks has some interesting ideas on rails, flipping out of feeble grinds is a very unnatural looking feat, as is his ender: a switch frontside bigspin heelflip down the Carlsbad gap. Matt Bennet is rock-solid – Tony Cervantes and James Hardy both have a controlled form of urgency in their skating; tricks like fakie ollie to 50-50 down 15 steps is a trick that demands as much precision as it does balls, must be tough keeping up with their peers in video mode, but the fact they are on the video proves they are up there with the up and coming best in the game.

This vid is unique in many ways: the skating and filming style goes together well and creates a smokey, Jack Daniels scented flavour matched perfectly by the bluesy rock sound track. There isn’t any blatant branding going on either, which is refreshing. Jamie Thomas (at the premier) is wearing a haggard old “Camel Cigarettes” shirt (obviously a token collector!) that looks freshly slammed in. Ride the Sky has been a major production for these guys for a long time now and I hope they are stoked as the Barca crowd is on the finished product which feels honest, and even at times moving to watch these guys throw down and do their thing. This film will give faith to the hesh-skaters that skateboarding hasn’t fallen exclusively to the new-era hat wearing, Xgames aspiring, MTV show having fad that the current generation seem happy to let our culture die in. Skating’s back – it’s dirty, it bleeds, but if the Fallen can get up and Ride the Sky, skating is alive and kicking in 2008.

Click here for the trailer.

Philip Procter

Where do I start? Where do I begin? After watching what arguably is just images and sound placed together in a particular order by those with the know-how, Kevin Parrott and Ciaran O’ Connor, I find my savoir faire for breathing has completely abandoned me and left me in the bottom of a (very deep) well, enveloped in my own shock. The shock of just how exhilarated the contents of a shiny disc in a box could make me. More importantly, how I can remain this impressed after re-watching it a thousand times over already; my DVD player has more or less consumed ‘Savoir Faire‘, but the regurgitations are just as delicious as they were fresh. Now: how do you begin explaining that?

I must point out that I was by all means not expecting this video to be anything less than spectacular. Ambitious as this project was – would you enjoy the responsibility of gathering footage from every corner of the UK, from the absolute cream of our crop and then making a video that lives up to it all? – the very well maintained blog confirmed that all was going well and that this was definitely something worth getting our hopes up for.

The line up is staggeringly vast. The video has full sections from John Tanner, Chris Oliver, Div Adam, John Snaddon, Stephen Roe, Ollie Tyreman and various montages that (seriously) cover absolutely everyone, from absolutely everywhere. Could the UK finally have its answer to Josh Stewart’s Static? I’m sure those of you who have already bought a copy (give yourself a pat on the back and a handshake) were just as eager as I was, finger hovering excitedly over the play button. For those of you who have yet to buy it (give yourself a five pound note and place it in your local SOS owner’s hand), I shall do my best to explain what is one of the UK’s finest independent productions to date.

Ciaran O’ Connor is the kind of editing warlock who steps up to the buffet with a remarkably large plate. Opening the video is an extremely impressive array of motion graphic joy – beginning with such high standards would often set the audience up for an early disappointment but like I said, Ciaran isn’t the sort of dude to go at things by half – Savoir Faire kicks out the jams early with the voice of the gnard calling for a revolution. Wiping the blood and sweat from his face, Div Adam steps up with typical “fuck it, I’ll have a go” swagger and proves his readiness to testify. Tearing up every concrete park in sight, Div skates like a recently uncaged beast, and sets this video off to a relentless start. Amidst the zip zinging 360 flips and barrier kult tributes, this opener has lines as furious as the Exodus track playing, which is pretty raging. Not to mention a transfer that you best “reeeecognise!”

Now, I expect your throat should be a little bit sore from screaming “‘Ave it Div!” at your television for the last five minutes. Fear not, for the montage to follow has some lovely Northern, Western and Welsh skating as rich as a perfect and soothing brew. Jerome Campbell gets milky on some red banks and Danny Wainwright drops two sugars into the blend with his usual finesse. Too many names to mention here, but this montage is a joyful reminder that these ‘rural’ areas are full of persistent shredders who aren’t afraid to get gritty, and that hippity hop funk mixes are awesome (but that was obvious, right?).

John Tanner is next up on the approach, guns blazing, and tricks nailed before the reload. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing Tanner skate then you’ll know that it’s fine to have high expectations for this section. This dude is seriously consistent – worryingly so even – and is in the possession of a crazy bag of tricks that he seemingly plucks from at random. Expect lots of lines with every manoeuvre quite literally oozing style like grog dribbling from a drippy flow pen. Oh, and a nollie heelflip that will make you shit yourself. No kidding. Ste Roe and Ollie Tyreman follow up with some frightful behaviour; including a friendly game of ‘who can do the most outrageous thing into the biggest bank you can find‘, and a resulting stalemate that is far from stale.

Now, if the north/west montage was a nice cup of tea, then the following montage is a visual line of coke taken at 2AM with an MDMA chaser. It is of course, Hold Tight London, with Henry and Morph tugging on the editing reigns for a few minutes of in-your-face brutality. Rory Milanes, Shaun Witherup, Neil Smith, Lucien Clarke and all the usual HTL rippers lay down the oh-so styled out mind melters resulting in one of the best ‘watch-before-you-skate‘ sections I’ve ever seen (no, really). Take a deep breath before – and after! – this one.

Dave Snaddon must boast some sort of jedi mind control over his board, either that or he has hacked into the universe mainframe and hooked himself up with a real-life moon gravity cheat; catches that high are simply not natural. The only thing taller than Dave’s flippers is Nicky Howells, who brings some of his Welsh flair to this extremely high section. Those standards just keep rising.

Having skated Grays School since I was a wee grom, seeing Dave Watson nosebonk the fuck out of that tree stump at the start the final montage could have nearly made me run up and hug the television. Thankfully, I stayed seated and enjoyed the best of the south and east, which was strangely heart warming to say the very least. An immersive, soul-tickling tune sets the backdrop for nostalgic spots getting a slaying from Ross McGouran, Simon Skipp, Dan Cates, Kris Vile and, wait, what’s the plural for gnarly skaters? Whatever it is, this section left me tingling all over, even on what must be the 1000th watch now. It could have ended the video for me, but to take that responsibility away from Chris Oliver would be a crime punishable by death. I refuse to taint this gentlemen’s skateboarding with any lexical nonsense, so just do yourself the favour of buying this wonderful – no – absolutely incredible DVD and see for yourself.

Infinite props to Kev and Ciaran, and everyone else involved in this. Click here for an edit from the DVD exclusive to Crossfire.

Joe

Having lived in a cardboard box for a fairly significant portion of my life (even if I mean this as some sort of uncomfortable metaphor for a flimsy, non-waterproof barricade between me and the bitter cold winds of reality), this little visual documentation from Trauma Skateboards, La Vie En Carton, had me compelled to watch it from the title alone.

Ok, admittedly I feel compelled to watch anything to do with skateboarding that gets posted on the internet for free over-the-shoulder viewing anyway, regardless of what it’s called; I suppose this time I was drawn to it more than usual. Additionally, I’m a sucker for the guaranteed nonchalance that comes with a French production, this being no exception.

La Vie En Carton (or “The Low Quality Life“) immediately contradicts itself with a very well put together animation as its inception. As dark and deeply involved as something Tim Burton would make, that is of course if he ever was a skateboarder. Sacrificing the skate videos common motif method of introducing, the opening montage is continually changing and a noticeable result of dedicated time, effort and vast amounts of creativity – a foreshadowing reflection on the high quality skating that follows.

After the section’s prelude (further evidence of the no-holds-barred approach to making this video), which features more crafty editing tricks and a wee insight into each skater’s personality, the action gets kick pushed into frame by Benjamin Delaboulaye whose solid lines and cheeky gems like manualling in and out of a train (you know, that thing you always think about doing to a static train but never have the balls to follow through) make the foundations for a very decent first section. Benjamin also manages to provide some sort of redemption for that song that was ruined by Shrek, and boasts a worthy contender for one of the best kickflips I’ve ever seen; no kidding. Now, not put off at all by taking the reigns is a early favourite in the form of Benoit Fruitier who isn’t afraid to dabble in the trick of manly men, no complies, throwing in some very slick uses of foot-down action, alongside a heap of controlled slides and drastically well executed reverts. Good stuff.

Skate videos as a whole are lacking in references towards video games, but then, being the gaming gaylord I am I would think this, either way, Walid Mamine’s go-fucking-fast and attack everything in sight approach to skating has a tribute to Break as it’s prologue, so I’m stoked. Oh, and I’m sure you’re aware about how rad launching over a road gap to powerslide would look, well this section has proof, I can confirm that it is indeed rad. M.D.V is next up, who with a similar lurch and power to that of Brian Anderson keeps the momentum flowing a full steam. Sick manoeuvres abound, all to be backed up with more in the eclectic friends section featuring the likes of Samuel Partaix, Steve Forstner and the rest of the Antiz rippers alongside other shralp-stick pogo-a-go-go gnarlyness.

Guillame Finck hosts what is undoubtedly my favourite segment of this delightful video, a concoction of blasé skateboarding, as cool as crushed ice, blended with little eccentricities that serve as a great personification for this video as a whole. Off-the-cuff skating, dedication and fun all performed inconspicuously like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Even unnatural things like Julien Merour’s absolutely incredible natas spin nonsense in the well deserved final section come across with such an unapologetically carefree rapport, just like skateboarding should always be. Available and accessible to anyone, just like this video’s physical form, well, providing you have an internet connection.

Head over to www.traumaskateboards.com for a lovely video at absolutely no charge what so ever. Oh yes.

Joe.

The opening of this video is absolutely amazing. With beautiful timelapse shots of birds, people walking, and some slo-mo skateboard cumshots all set to a suitably relaxed artsy soundtrack. Then some behind the scene footage of the video being finished on the late-night glow of a computer screen and an excited editor calling his mate to say it’s finished. “There’s no gay timelapses and music is there?“. “Err, no…”.

Humble Jumble is exactly the opposite of the dreaded ‘poorman’s Transworld” look. No fannying about, just raw skateboarding from the lads at Ride in Coventry. These guys have been involved in the UK skate scene for longer than most of you have been alive, and the evidence is here in this video.

Skateboarding from all over the UK and further from the Ride team, all done bro-cam style as the lads document there sessions, and the feeling of enjoying it really comes across. This isn’t meant to be some amazing production. It’s skateboarding of mates, filmed by mates. And the soundtrack is a hardcore mix of punk and metal that’ll really get you hyped up to go out and thrash.

Having said that, there is the inclusion of some BMXing in there due to this rider owned shop being run by skaters and BMXers. They’re actually quite good though, and I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a bit of it. That is until you end up in a collision with the things, and the place where your cock was is now replaced by a stuntpeg.

Ride have been supporting skating for yonks, so the least you can do is support them by buying Humble Jumble off their website for a fiver.

Moose

31/5/08

Judging by the hype this video produced on the Sidewalk forum, you’d think it was their latest release- but it isn’t. Baghead Flats is in fact an independent project led by the magazine’s editor, Ben Powell and film obsessive Ryan Gray.

The main focus is on the Northern and Yorkshire UK scene with main sections from Doug McLaughlan, Ben Grove, Joe Lynskey, Danny Beall, Josh “Manhead” Young, Jason Brown, Mike Wright, Andy Scott and a host of others. The skating is right up there with the rest of the international talent, and the tunes vary from underground grime MCs to obscure folk, passing by well known acts like Feist.

So, what’s top drawer for Baghead Flats? Well, the featured skaters are all sick in their individual ways. Lynskey gets tech, Grove is a stuntman, Bell is fast footed, Doug loves a bit of rough tranny, as does Manhead and Jason Brown does his own thing. You’d have to watch his part a few times before you realize how un-contemporary he is. The two biggest highlights for me though were Andy Scott and Mike Wright. Andy is a legend and so f’in effortless on a skateboard that his ramp riding cannot, will not and should not get the vert button pressed. Mike on the other hand handles his business on the streets and puts down some amazing tricks that really a pro should be dealing with.

If there is one thing you should take away from this review it’s that Baghead Flats is an independent project (with help from a few sponsors) that pours light on the UK’s new breed of skate rats. The skateboarding is truly awesome, the production and editing is fantastic and it costs under a tenner. Need I say more? Don’t piss about with downloading it off the internet, own a copy and get stoked as this is arguably the best UK scene video to drop in years.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

More Skateboarding Videos >>

Whats the point of scene videos? Back in the day, it was the main way kids would get sponsored, we would send them in to RAD and the one good guy in the crew would get props, and maybe a sketchy video grab sequence. Scene videos seemed to die off towards the end of the 90s.

Fast forward 2008, and scenes/crews seem to be popping up all over, its part of skatings fabric, skaters are travelling again – and skaters are more info hungry than ever – hows things in London? are the Scottish guys still gnarly? Whats up with all those parks in the north? But, what about Wales? Who? Who, indeed……..

Scott Magill will show you Who?! 20 year old skater/videographer weighs in with a 40minute dvd set to top up the Welsh scenes right to be talked about, visited and ultimately respected.

The dvd kicks in with a Transworld-esque Cardiff City montage and the skating kicks off with Chris Jones sacking him self over and over on a fakie bigspin boardslide on a handrail, once that is pulled clean and plums are counted, some heavy skating sets the level for the rest of the video, a flip noseslide down a gnarly sea front hubba lets you know this video is for real.

The trick level is kept right up there with Alan Williams adding a tech level (halfcab-nose many-nollie bigspin-fake nose manual) Chris Jones adds some speedy firecracker action and crazy nollie pop. Nice fullpipe montage too leading in to the tiny Caradog Emanuals section – this ripper is one for the very near future, super consistent – we also are treated to a 411 Chaos Style montage showing friends and loc’dogs from around Wales.

Keeping the sections flowing is Jess Young, funky tune and funkier wallrides down steps, chunky road gaps and chunkier 50/50 on a tall 8 stair rail, im assured these spots are way prettier on camera and real grime in real life. Nick Batt kicks in some long lines and the newly hooked up at AWS Rhys Meek scoops up bigspin flips for fun.

Dai Williams stomps lazer flips, down 8! Lush flip front crooks that Mike York would be proud of too. Dylan Hughes had a section I was looking forward too, I wasn’t let down either, he kickflips the dirtiest 11 set and gets 4 down with confidence and ease without worrying about the landing and isn’t shy to nollie flip 11 either. For me the standout was Nicky Howells section, nice Foreign Beggars track and a overly large bag of tricks – Nollie heel flip-bodyvarial-shifties (in the air) down steps and the strangest thing is, even with flip nose many-nollie tre’s this dude doesn’t feel “tech” just proper street steez – think Rob Dydek (without Big Black) and you will be close to his style of nailing tricks. Im still in shock at the last two tricks of his section.

For a fiver (£5) the video is put together at a more than acceptable standard, it’s a very easy watch and the skating far outshines most of the spots – musically it all fits together too, and with an hour of worthwhile extras it’s a pretty good little package – highly recommended, a must for the bonafide street urchin.

Watch trailers below to get hyped go to www.bridgenders.com or www.myspace.com/whovideo to buy a copy of the DVD and support the effort that has gone into this film.

8/10
Phil Procter

12.02.08

I’ve always have a soft spot for Love Eneroth. a pioneer for the Scandinavian skate scene in early issues of Puzzle, a smooth operator in a world of brutes when he rode for Antiz, and a top fella when you meet him in the flesh. It seems like a bad back injury sidelined the young Swede and sent him home to re-assess his situation. Never one to give up, Love took his talent and started up his own little independent cruise ship- Bellows, with local talent Mika Edin, Ola Lowbeer, Johan Florell and filmer / brainstormer Martin Karlsson as the ships crew.

Their first official promo, Lurking Class, tips its hat to good skateboarding and runs a tight schedule of tech, suave and ballsy maneuvers. Ola Lowbeer opens the show with some precision pop and a wide variety of terrain scaled. Johan Florell is a cheeky little skate rat that looks half asleep on his board, but don’t let the youth kid you because his bag of tricks is deep and the backside noseblunt pop out in the middle of a ledge is his specialty. You’ve probably spotted Mika Edin is a couple of European magazines, and Scandinavia’s Neighbours video that dropped a couple of years ago. Already dubbed as serious talent, Mika’s part in Lurking Class is the few minutes that should hopefully certify that moniker. Mika proceeds from the shadow of the captain, Love Eneroth, and you can see how much influence this elder places on his mates. Love is the full package, lest his previous skate parts be testimony to that, and even though injury has obviously sucked a little adrenaline from his ambitions, Love still goes for it in all his fine finesse. An impossible backside wallride proves that Love’s still got what it takes to cut it as a pro.

The video seems to end on Bellows filmer, moral mascot, Martin Karlsson proving that just because you follow a crowd doesn’t mean you can’t join them. A few tricks here and there, and them the bonus footage ensues, and there’s lots of it. To conclude, Lurking Class is a very laid back and easy to watch promo (available right now on their site) that actually packs a pretty strong punch (c.f. tricks mentioned earlier). I have no idea if Bellows are out to achieve world domination, but they are definitely on course for some applause and will be turning heads worldwide as they move forwards with this.

Visit www.bellows.com for more.

RL-D
8/10

07/02/08

If you walk into your SOS and ask to see what Consolidated have to offer video-wise, you are bound to watch a bunch of sick skaters get down on a wide variety of terrain to a soundtrack of classic rock and proper gangster rap. Oh, and a subliminal mockery of the industry too. Goin’ Bananas is the latest release from skateboarding’s restless gang of cruisers, and the content is pretty much standard issue ATV schralpage, with a few extra bonus points that hint towards a sign of the times.

First of all, you’ll spot UK heads Ben Raemers and Ollie Tyreman get proper sections alongside their American veterans. This is good to see, and the two youngsters hold their own against their elder and more established peers. Ollie skates full of agro, whilst Ben plays around with massive hubbas and vertical transitions alike. These two aren’t the only new faces to the Consolidated pack, Sean Guttierez represents the Barrio with some smooth annihilation of tranny heavy spots, whilst Tanner Zalinsky speeds his way across the suburban concrete playground of middle America. Maru from Japan puts on a pretty good show of determination as he rips his way through all kinds of sketchy spots.

For the older more recognizable faces, Karma Tsocheff signs off a good part even though you can’t but help get the feeling that you’ve seen better from the OG Conso rider. Mike Peterson gets cock blocked by Kyle Berrard for trying to steal the comic relief, but both of these men fly through the place stomping their authority on every continent. Finally, Roberto Aleman gets a well deserved last part and seems to have taken the dictum “Stronger, Faster, Longer” to heart when he filmed his shocking part.

The overall feel you get from Goin’ Bananas is that Consolidated have tried to evolve a little bit be it with new riders, or simple editing techniques. However, the same undercurrent of an independent hands-on approach steers the way for this bands of brothers. You can’t knock a team that can actually skate anything, and I mean anything, you put in their path.

Click here for the trailer for proof.

RLD
7/10

2007 has been a good year for skate videos. The season ended with more blockbuster titles than your local multiplex, and every need was catered for. Steering the way for independent cinema and rooted street skating was Josh Stewart and his third installment to the already acclaimed series, Static III.

Now, I know working independently is very risky business, and judging by how Josh has voiced his position regarding the matter, skateboard cinematography is a hard nut to crack and prosper from. However, I don’t want to turn this review into another charity case plea because you should all know already that skaters need to support one another if we really want our passion to thrive properly. In fact, it’s rather ironic that Static III should even be accompanied by a charity-style PR campaign because the product sells itself. Static III is a diamond in the rough. A well thought out cast of talented yet discreet skaters (Pat Steiner, Soy Panday, Tony Manfre, Jahmal Williams, Olly Todd, Steve Durante, Danny Renaud and Nate Broussard to name the highlights), filmed flowing endlessly through their local back streets, and edited to a smooth soundtrack.

If skating through the city gets your juices flowing then Static III is your pacemaker. Stunt aficionados need to look elsewhere for their entertainment. This screening provides plenty of quick footed trickery and beautifully shot photography for your viewing pleasure. I think Josh really worked hard on making sure the video could be watched from start to finish without needing to reach for the fast forward button- It clocks in just past the half hour mark. A method to keep attention levels live was to mix digital and film and spread and merge skaters parts together. Josh also worked on refining a few new filming angles notably the side to side swing and pan out ride-aways on lines. These techniques can lead to a lot of camera movement and may induce queeziness in some viewers, but after two watches, you get over it. In fact, you must get over it because Static III induces multiple viewing.

To end this promotional text, do go out and buy this DVD because Josh Stewart has worked very hard and actually outdone himself. Static III stands in its own genre and smashes the cinematic curse that the third part of a trilogy sucks balls. Good job Josh!

8/10

RL-D

How do you begin to give a critical review of a skate DVD that was a certified hit before it even hit the shelves? Lakai’s first full length motion picture, Fully Flared, is probably the best portrayal of digitalized skateboarding the movement has witnessed in over a decade.

The last time I heard such heated debate and anticipation for a recorded image of the world’s best skateboarders was on a Sunday afternoon in an empty parking lot, just weeks before Virtual Reality was premiered. I must say it comes as no surprise to see that some of the skaters featured in those first VHS reels of goodness, are also featured in this DVD. You see, skateboarding will always change but the general rule of thumb is learn from the past and do something different. Only a select few can abide to these rules because only a select few have the ability to grasp skateboarding and run with it, way ahead of the crowd, into unknown directions. What you witness when viewing Fully Flared is the future of skateboarding. But not next month’s trend, or next years tramline, Lakai is taking us a good ten years into the future leaving everybody else to play catch up.

So, trying to remove the 900 or so comments, opinions and topics I have read about FF over the last three years, I shall try and dissect this DVD a bit more so that you really understand what you’re about to witness. To begin, just read the list of riders repping Lakai footwear. Bar a few discreet faces, the team reads like the US Olympic Dream Team of basketball: Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Eric Koston, Guy Mariano, Marc Johnson, Cairo Foster… Add the cream of European skateboarding in there thanks to Jesus Fernandez, Lucas Puig, JB Gillet, Nick Jensen and co., and you have a recipe for some of the finest skateboarding ever. I mean, you might wonder where the vert part is, or who’s taking care of all the leaps of faith amongst this lot, but that’s where you’re missing the point entirely. Lakai supports skateboarders not stuntmen, in other words people who skate everything and well. In fact better than well, they ride their skateboards to the best of their abilities and stretch the limits of a plank and four wheels to the point of pure wizardry.

Ty Evans, Aaron Meza and Federico Vitetta are the men responsible behind the viewfinder, with creative collaboration and direction from visual heavyweights, Johannes Gamble and Spike Jonze. This outfit makes for a visual presentation that will blow you away with angles, effects and editing techniques very few could master in a dream. Fully Flared almost has a film like quality to it as the counter hits the 75 minutes mark and credits roll. That’s a tad bit too long for a quick viewing to spark the hype and get you skating, but in the digital era of chapter skipping you only need to jump to your favourite part and get the adrenaline flowing.

Any part will do because they’re each worthy of your full attention. I won’t get bitter and compare parts, styles or tricks because it’s horses for courses as they say, but I will make a point of saying that each section has more than one hidden gem cut into the barrage of tricks. No need for hidden sections and the like when each skater slips the odd magic trick into their part. You will need to watch Fully Flared a lot to scratch the surface of where skateboarding is heading. Sometimes words do not suffice…

10/10

RL-D