Skateboarding Reviews - Videos & DVDs
Skateboarding DVD Video Review:Red Bull's Seek & Destroy II
Director: Ryan Monihan and Chris Nieratko
Studio:
Released: 2005
Rating: 3 Stars
Staring:
Greg Lutzka, Terry Kennedy, Ron Deily, Hoops, Chris Roberts, Joey Brezinski, R.B. Umali, Ragdoll, Kenny Anderson, Russell Houghten, Pete Eldridge, Kerry Getz, Mike Maldonado, Mark Brandsetter, Chris Nieratko and Chris Pastras.
"Seek & Destroy II" is a free promo DVD from Red Bull, packaged free with Skateboarder Magazine (Javier Mendizabal cover). I don't think you can purchase a copy unless you wish to be ripped on ebay - the disc was FREE.
They say copying is the sincerest form of flattery, so the folks at Thrasher Magazine should be thrilled with this "King of the Road" type of contest, sponsored by Red Bull energy drinks.
Local contests are too mundane. Usually, a local thrash band shows up at the local sk8 park while kids vie for first prize before heading over to Chucky Cheese (McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendys - one of those places that promotes pooping over digestion). Blah (and a bit of Yuck). But professional contests are not much different - they just offer better skating (sometimes). So, where's the originality in contests? Skateboarding is about freedom, no rules and doing your own thing! With the popularity of street skating, why host every contest at a skate park? Want to have a street skating contest?
HOST IT IN THE STREETS!
That's what the folks at Red Bull thought. Ok, I'm sure someone much more connected to skate culture told the executives at Red Bull how to do something different at a sk8 contest. Most executives fall in love with their own first idea and are happy to reiterate it over and over not knowing that most of the general populace thinks their idea sucks.
Here's the deal: 4 teams (each with 2 skaters and 1 camera man) spend 48 hours in each of 3 cities trying to get the best footage possible at each of 3 predetermined spots. Each spot offers a $500 prize for best trick and the final winning team gets $10k. Not bad for six days work. This was not an invitational contest and skaters voted for the winners, so there were no hoards of screaming kids.
Chris Pastras hosted the initial team meetings and Chris Nieratko MC'd the final voting in Vegas, wearing an Elvis suit with a knobby dildo stuffed down his pants. Swell!
The Teams:
Team Long Beach:
Greg Lutzka, Terry Kennedy (who got one trick in before being replaced by NJ local Ron Deily), and Hoops as the filmer.
Team Los Angeles:
Chris Roberts, Joey Brezinski, and R.B. Umali behind the camera.
Team Las Vegas:
Ragdoll, Kenny Anderson, and filmer Russell Houghten.
Team Philadelphia:
Pete Eldridge (replacing Kerry Getz after two days), Mike Maldonado, and Mark Brandsetter with the camera.
The Spots:
Long Beach Spots:
- The Belmont Ledges
- The Courthouse Eight-Stair Rails
- The Poly Academy Big Three
Los Angeles Spots:
- The Santa Monica Pier
- The Santa Monica Courthouse
- Downtown LA
Las Vegas Spots:
- The Vegas Strip
- The LV Academy
- The Russell Ditch
The "live" footage we saw as the teams hit each spot were very rushed. You hardly get a sense of what went down before they're rolling off to the next city or spot. Thankfully, at the end they showed the compiled footage submitted by each team for a chance at the $10,000. Seeing the final footage put a lot of the previous stuff in perspective.
And the winner was (now don't get all stupid about spoilers) Team Los Angeles. Funny thing is I thought Team Vegas killed it. Ragdoll threw down some amazing stuff on rails, especially at the Russel Ditch, and all sorts of great manual tricks. They were robbed!.
Bonus Stuff
Best Trick Entries, Stupid Card Tricks, Joey Pee Pee, Slide Show.
Soundtrack
Scorching tunes provided by The Argos, Looker, Phofo, MC Paul, Prince Paul, The Dix and Evan foster.
The Bottom Line
Skate The Planet Factoid:
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