Skateboarding Reviews - Videos & DVDs
Skateboarding DVD Video Review:Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour 2001 (Season 2)
Director:
Studio: 900 Films
Released: 2001
Rating: 3 Stars
Staring:
Alex Chalmers, Jason Ellis, Mike Escamilla, Riley Hawk, Tony Hawk, Eric Koston, Bucky Lasek, Bam Margera, Kris Markovich, Steve Caballero, Colin McKay, Brian Sumner, Steve Berra, Donny Barley, Lincoln Udea, Rick Thorne, Mike Vallely, Shaun White, Mat Hoffman, Sal Masekela, Barry Zaritzky and Robert Earl.
Again, Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour is released on a two-DVD set containing six episodes, bonus stuff and the musical credits. Disc 1 contains the first 4 episodes - Disc 2 contains % & 6 along with bonus footage. My main complaint with this release is the navigation on the DVDs... there's very little. The only options you have are selecting each individual episode. Even the bonus stuff plays as one long segment although it is broken down into several parts.
This is the second season of the tour and things are a little more polished and the tour extends to Europe - "Global style!" as Tony puts it. Europe is pretty much "anything goes" compared with America... and Bam is filming for his next CKY release or Jackass (something along those lines).
Jason Ellis deosn't even have to skate - he's so damn funny. His commentary and antics always add to the mix in a cool way.
Notable Happenings
- Paint ball warfare in the hills of London between the skaters.
- In France at the VANS Big Air Show, Tony pulls a 900 in front of the crowd of 10,000
- Go carting antics
- Bam attempts a 20-foot bomb drop
- Tony and Mat Hoffman take a Ferrari for a spin on the Autobahn
- Rob gets kicked off the bus for being overweight
- The guys ride the Schlitterban Wavepool
- The guys go ATV riding - Rob and Sal race each other - Sal loses ands gets kicked off the bus
- Everyone's family shows up
- Mat Hoffman and Jason Ellis do two never before seen stunts; Mat does a roof jump and Ellis does a half pipe transfer to street course
- The guys hit the cement parks
- Shawn White comes on tour and shows everyone what's up
- Over 5000 people show up in Vancouver
- Tony appears on MTV's Total Request Live with Carson Daly
- Tony also appears on ESPN Sports Center
- Rained out, they do an in-door impromptu demo
- Mike V does biggest bomb drop ever
- The guys go to NASCAR and race cars
- They take over a local radio station
- The guys wrestle alligators
As usual Hawk brings a wide diversity of pros along to skate each park. Tony knows how to make entertaining movies and his creativity on the Gigantic Sk8 Tour makes this a fun disc to watch. The problem is with the replay value. The lame navigation makes it hard to go back and check out your favorite part. I thought fast-forward was a VHS thing of the past. It's annoying to have to do the same thing on a DVD!
Tour Stops
- Elizabeth, NJ
- New York City, NY
- Woodward, PA
- Cornelius, NC
- Merrit Island, FL
- London
- Paris
- Germany
- Plano, TX
- Tempe, AZ
- Encinitas, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Seatle, WA
- Calgary, Alberta Canada
Bonus Stuff
Remember - this list of bonus vignettes is one long segment on the DVD. You can't select the ones you want to watch.
- Ugly American Tourist - the crew roam the streets in this black & white segment with no skating.
- Coach Berry - a look at their personal trainer, Barry Zaritzky, and his towel twirling incidents.
- Hockey Fundamentals - Wearing THGSPT jerseys, the guys hit and punch each other while pretending to know something about ice hockey.
- 210 or Bust: The Results
- Sal -vs - Bam - Sal fills a FedEx envelope with shaving cream in the hopes of slapping it and squirting shaving cream all over Bam. The stunt totally backfires. Later Sal is doused with a mixture of shaving cream, coffee grounds and shampoo.
- Mentos That Car - If yo remember the mentos ads of the time... one featured a woman whose car was blocked in both front and back. Being a small car, four guys moved it. The crew finds a small car and decide to bounce it until they can hop it to a new position. Presumable the owner will return and wonder WTF. Guess you had to be there.
- When Ya Gotta Go - Which of the guys would choose to piss over the railing on a street-level outdoor restaurant happening to be a ritzy Paris night club? Bam - who else
- Marbles in My Mouth - Eric Koston tries to do his intro monologue.
- Rock Stars - Colin McKay talks about music on the tour.
- One More Time - Tony plays with Riley on the tour bus and a sing-a-long ensues.
- Music Credits
The Bottom Line
You have to watch this DVD! Whether you decide to buy it or not may rest with the ease of watching your favorite parts again. I found the lack of navigation very irritating in the digital age of DVD. There's no excuse for not making each event a selectable chapter.
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