This column will be a bi-monthly type deal, since I can't afford new videos every week. I will give you my completely biased opinion on the newest, hottest videos out, plus some of my personal favorites. If you are a flatlander, look somewhere else, because my finger hits the fast forward button any time flatland is present on my screen. Also, I probably won't be reviewing, more less buying, any race videos. I don't think I could sit through a couple hundred motos, more less hearing that annoying woman announcing the NBL nationals. Joey Garciiiiiiiiiya. (NBLer's will get that one) Get out your popcorn and let the oohs and ahhs flow.
DK has a great team of professional riders, so making a video showcasing them was a logical step for DK. Dave Freimuth produced this video so you know that it contains only top-notch riding. Each rider has their own sections consisting of skatepark, trails, real street, and flatland. (But Nate Hanson is not your run of the mill flatlander, his turndowns rule) Lots of Chenga footage, Ohio trails, New York trails, and trail mecca Pennsylvania. This video actually met my high expectations, it competes with the best street and trail videos out to date. Big transfers, rails, gaps, trains, and barspins galore had me hitting the rewind button quite a few times, which is always a good sign. I give this video a B.
Standard videos are always favorites of mine due to their focus on street riding, but this video made the others run and hide. Wow, this is by far the best video I have ever had the privilege to watch. Bobby Fisher starts the video out with his high speed smith grinds and huge gaps. The trails sections that follow are equally amazing. The best sections are Issac McCree's, Punjab's, and Rick Moliterno's. Punjab makes PUSH look easy as he flows through the rhythm pulling huge tricks with great style. Chuck does what he does best, jump higher than everyone else and do the most stylish tabletop seatgrabs imaginable. The last section is set aside for Standard's owner, Rick Moliterno. I knew he was a good rider, but I had no idea he was such a great street rider. Big gaps, rails, grinds, and manuals all to the sounds of Iron Maiden's "number of the beast". I give this video a solid A.
If you've never watched an Ells video, than you are in for a shock. Theses aren't your normal videos, they are filled with strange effects, sounds, and images. The newest Ells Bells production is On the Down Low. As you can see from the above, Ells doesn't follow the mold with his video covers. Unfortunately, she doesn't get nude, darn. It starts out with a movie type story with gonz as a psychiatrist type figure, that's not a stretch huh. After the movie and ads are finished, about 20 minutes later, the riding begins. It all starts with a big rail gap to wreck, and it never does let up. This video is all street, which puts it high in my book to begin with. Gaps are abundant and brakes are not. These goons are living the brakeless lifestyle to its fullest. The most popular tricks in this video are 180's off of stairs, gaps, trees, and wallrides; and barspins off of everything. Some of the rails slid in this video are some of the steepest, scariest rails ever caught on film. The worst rail, is the final scene, Cory Toth tries this 2 story tall rail and hits the eject button mid grind and falls at least 25 feet onto his head and back. As many of you have seen in the newest Ride, he did break his back, but is back riding now. That wreck scares me. This video is very unique and does have some of the best street footage, but I'm a little let down after reading that On the Down Low is hyped as the best street video ever. I think Road Fools 1 and Domination have better riding in it. I gave this one a B+.
I acquired this video from the shop I work at in Columbus, Ohio for free because someone returned it due to it not working properly. So for a free video to piss me off this bad, you know it blows. This video was bad from the beginning and kept the crap coming the entire 30 minutes. If fly outs and trick doubles are your thing, than you might enjoy Nachos, but if your looking for real street and rhythm, this video is not for you. The quality of this video is very poor, which is too bad since the soundtrack is quite good. The makers of this video have been calling our shop at least once or twice a month wanting us to order more videos, I guess they don't understand us when we tell them that their video sucks. Oh well, if you want to waste money and time in front of the TV, buy Nachos. I give this video a D. I didn't give it an "F" because I want to reserve that grade since I am sure there are videos out that are even worse.
