SkateOntario would like to thank Ultimate and Centre for sending us videos to review. Props also to independent video crews like Logic, Digital, and Progression.

The DC Video (dcshoecousa.com)
Let's start with a roll call of the DC skateboarding shoes team: Danny Way, Colin McKay, Rob Dyrdek, Josh Kalis, Stevie Williams, Anthony Van Engelen, Brian Wenning, Robbie McKinley, Ryan Smith, Greg Myers, Lindsey Robertson and Ryan Gallant. Whether pro or am, this is one solid crew.
This is the kind of team video that is so cohesive and powerful, it totally blows away the magazine format vids. The music is well-chosen and some of the footage (including the insane Danny Way gap/half-pipe footage) is shot in real film for that super-quality feel. You have to see it to believe it. Another giant step forward for skate cinematography. Probably as essential as the Dogtown video. Get it....
(In early 2004 look for a new DVD version that comes with a book and other extras.)

PJ Ladd's Wonderful Horrible Life (coliseumskate.com)
This video brings back creativity to skateboarding. The whole team are talented skaters who throw tech variations, large gaps, and some old school flavour to the proceedings. This totally wicked video has some great music including two Cuban tracks, and a whole slew of Brit pop. That will turn some people off, but to my ears it's refreshing. What can you say about a video with huge shifty kickflips, ollie one-footers, double grabs, and a recreation of Rodney Mullen's amazing flatland routine from Revolution? Mix this old school style with innovative new school imagination, and you've got a potent brew of skate video on your hands. PJ Ladd may indeed have the video part of the year. A must see…

Dogtown and Z-Boys
This is the flick that had everybody talking at Sundance a few years ago (2001). It was made with archival film, photographs and recent interviews with the major players of the time: Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta (also Director), and early legends like Jay Adams, and the Zephyr shop team. Peralta enlists Hollywood hipster Sean Penn to do the narration. The soundtrack is pure 70's classic rock and it serves the picture well. The visuals are stunning and as the celluloid flickers, and Penn paints the scene, the grooves throb and the skaters go off. It's a treat to see schools like Kenter Canyon being surfed by the early bare-footers on wiggly sticks in the California sun. (I first saw the amazing banks at Kenter when mid-80's mags showed Gonzales and Kaupus ripping these asphalt wonders). What's truly amazing is how this film superbly traces the evolution from hardcore Santa Monica surfing to the natural progression of bank and pool skating. The film flows as effortlessly as the original skate-surf pioneers did in abandoned, backyard pools. The cool thing is this video is available in most video stores so you have no excuses if you haven't seen it.

Logic Video magazine #10 (logicskate.com)
For those who don't know, Logic is a budget priced skateboard video series that features mostly up and comers and unknowns. This issue had Canadian Gailea Momolu on the cover! He originally came out of Ottawa and now he's blowing up in the US. His part is solid with some strong tech and switch tricks. Van Wastell's part was well done. It had multiple camera angles for each trick, so it wasn't always the hateful fisheye crotch shot from 2 inches off the ground (which is the problem in the Australia section). Finally those extra shots from a distance far away enough to give good perspective of each trick! Other wicked skaters included Jason Jones and Andy Honen. Their parts are interrupted by montages with random skaters. Why? It totally ruins the flow. Overall the DVD was pretty cool. The music started with adventurous styles but then became non-stop hip-hop. I don't think the video had one halfpipe in it (not even a mini-ramp!) but the bonus section featured an old school pool skater. I guess you could say variety was lacking, but for the price you can't beat the value.

411 Video Magazine #51 (411vm.com)
Another installment from the most reliable video magazine on the planet. The music is from the Matador Records people, and rocks, and the skateboarding is some of the latest from many of the best. You know exactly what you're getting into when you pick this up. Features the Element team, Rodrigo Teixeira, Kenny Reed, Paul Shier, Cairo Foster, Rob Gonzalez, Stefan Janoski, Jason Odell, and many more.

Digital Video Magazine #7 (digitalskateboarding.com)
This is a pretty well shot magazine with the usual collection of talented up and coming skateboarders. On the cover it promises "30 minutes of skateboarding, sluts, and stereotypes" but mainly sticks to the skateboarding. Knowing Weiss was involved, I was disappointed when the slut promise was broken, and the video spent most of the 30 minutes concentrating on the skating. I guess this means those who care more about skateboarding will be really happy, as the skateboarding action is pretty top notch. Whiskey this is NOT. A solid video this IS.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Check out Barbarians at the Gate in the classic video section!

Send your reviews to: skateontario@strongandfree.ca




skateONTARIO | mission | gallery | video | industry | links | contact | about

Copyright © 1999-2004 skateONTARIO and SAF Network. All rights reserved.