Skateboarding Reviews - Videos & DVDs
Skateboarding DVD Video Review:Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour 2000 (Season 1)
Director:
Studio: 900 Films
Released: 2000
Rating: 3 Stars
Staring:
Tony Hawk, Kris Markovich, Andrew Reynolds, Willy Santos, Jason Ellis, Mike Escamilla, Bam Margera, Brian Sumner, Danny Way, Anthony Furlong, Bucky Lasek, and Matt Hoffman, Sal Masekela, Barry Zaritzky and Robert Earl.
This will be the best 6 hours of skate footage you'll likely see for a long time. Tony Hawk knows how to put on a show and entertain. His Gigantic Skatepark Tours are known for mixing personal introspection with a ton of skating. Since they are doing demos at different parks each time, you don't get that overly polished performance that seems like it was done 50 times until perfect. You see a lot of good skating and mediocre skating.
In the end, you'll feel satisfied with all you've been exposed to. Each stop is different and the riders emotions show as the tour progresses. On the days off, the whole crew invades different places and we get to see them as humans, not just skaters. They have lives too, ya know.
I have to harp on the navigation on this DVD. both the first and second seasons had horrible navigation. It wasn't until the third season's DVD that you could choose the individual parks and bonus segments. The way this DVD is laid out, it's hard to return to parts you want to see again. That sucks. Other than that, this is an awesome DVD filled with great skating and diversity. It's refreshing to see a skate video like this that isn't simply a series of handrail stunts spliced together.
This is way better than watching them hour by hour on ESPN... with a ton of commercials and none of the extra footage.
Notables:
- Special Guest Bob Burnquist shows up and destroys it.
- The crew heads to the waterpark and Ian Voterri breaks his arm/wrist.
- The boys get nutty at the playboy mansion.
- The guys had a pricey $2000 dinner charged to ESPN
- Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla and Jason Ellis save the demo.
- The guys fly in a simulated sky diving tank.
- Kona sported the largest crowd to date - 5,000 people
- Bam jumps off a 6-story hotel balcony into the pool in front of the trainer Barry Z
- The boys visit the local Children's Hospital
- Tony's family (Erin, Riley, and Spencer) joins the tour.
- Sal Masekala tries to drop into Vert Ramp and gets ruined
- The guys find a secret location - an abandoned skatepark and skate it all night
- The guys surf in North Carolina
- Bam & Rooftop sabotage Sal's room
- The guys to go the Foo Fighters show and hang out with the band after the show
- During some late night antics on the tour bus, Tony gets cheese whizzed by everyone else.
- Bucky Lasek joins the tour.
- Ian MacKaye from Fugazi shows up
- Mat Hoffman pulls a double tail flip
- Philly is Bam's hometown - he shows the boys the local skate park, FDR
- Jason Ellis hangs from a rooftop and does a 20 foot bomb drop.
- The final demo has massive crowds and cheerleaders on the ramps.
Tour Stops
- San Diego, CA
- Ventura, CA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Woodbridge, VA
- Woodward, PA
- Roseville, MI
- Woodstock, IL
- Jacksonville, FL
- Wilmington, NC
- Middletown, RI
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. The good news is they kind of suck, so if you skip ‘em you won't miss much.
- Mutiny on the Bounty - The guys climb aboard a mock pirate ship while a cast of actors is reenacting some historic moment. They dive off into the surrounding fake pond.
- The Leprechaun - They pull a guy from the crowd and give him a free deck because they dig his hat.
- Disco Dan - The Guys play Dance Dance Revolution at a bowling ally arcade. Tony seem particularly adept at it although he looks the way I'd look if I had to play that ridiculous game.
- Jason "Big Guns" Ellis - Jason arm-wrestles a hotel employee... and looses.
- Billy Switch - mocking some random asian guy.
- After Hours - Partying on the tour bus.
- Water Skater - Attempts to ride a rail into a hotel pool on a wakeboard. Failed attempts lead to bigger and better wakeboard stunts around the pool.
- Room Party - embarrassingly lame segment in which they throw phone books at each other before pretending to wrestle. Totally gay!
- Six Story Plunge - Bam asks a girl if she wants him t ocome down. He leaps off the hotel balcony into the pool. Seems to survive the fall.
- Robert Earl Pro Skater - Robert on a skateboard at an indoor park. He sucks, but we already suspected that.
- hilly Mac - Bam's home turf.
- Birdman Gets Roped - tony is tied up with rope and then nothing happened... Again... totally gay segment.
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.
Skate The Planet Factoid:
Printed:
Display mode: