Skateboarding Reviews - Videos & DVDs
Skateboarding DVD Video Review:Vision Street Wear's Classic SK8 Vol. 3
Director:
Studio: UnReel Video
Released: 2003
Rating: 3 Stars
Staring:
Steve Cabalero, Neil Blender, Ken Park, Reese Simpson, Stacy Peralta, Mike McGill, Henry Gurierez, Tony Hawk, Jeff Philips, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, Craig Johnson, Rob Roskopp, Chris Miller, Josh White, Steve Alba, Tony Magnusson, Alan Losi, Jeff Grosso, John Gibson, Mark Ragowski, Micke Guerrero, Adam Midget, Jeff Jones, Steve Schneer, Tom Grohlski, Lester Kasai, Monte Nolder, Buck Smith, Ken Fillion, Eric Nash, Reese Simpson, Bobby Reeves, Henry Gutierez, Brad Dorfman, John Lucero.
If you lived and skated through the 80's this may be one of the single most amazing DVDs you've ever seen. If you were born after 1995, you may find this disc boring as Hell. It's all about perspective. Even if you weren't around in the 80's, the Vision Classic Sk8 series offers great insight into the state of skateboarding during that era. Bright colored clothing and equipment ruled the day. Wide boards were the norm but the tricks seem very basic compared with the technical tricks today.
But, the world is an ever changing place - just try to take a bottle of shampoo on an airplane these days - so it's no surprise that skating has evolved as well. Sit back and take in a visual history lesson of the day-glow days of skating in the 80's.
This DVD is a compilation of 3 Vision Street Wear titles from the 80's. "Vision's Rock & Roll Jam - Holiday Havoc", "Ramp ‘N Rage" and "King of the Mountain".
Vision's Rock & Roll Jam - Holiday Havoc (1986)
Staring:
Steve Cabalero, Neil Blender, Ken Park, Reese Simpson, Stacy Peralta, Mike McGill, Henry Gurierez, Tony Hawk, Jeff Philips, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, Craig Hohnson, Rob Roskopp, Chris Miller, Josh White, Steve Alba, Tony Magnusson.
Fans sitting in seats in the Anaheim Convention Center seems like an unlikely scenario for a skate contest. We're used to seeing screaming fans packed against fences and such at skate parks. Inside the arena, Paul Schmidt helped to build the main half pipe. At 30 feet wide, 11 feet high with 9 foot transitions and a foot of vert, this ramp was constructed in Chicago and designed to be disassembled and moved where needed. The final building cost was $5,000. Try to build a ramp today on $5k!
Thirty pros entered the qualifying rounds, hoping to make it to the finals. Some did - some did not, but they all pushed that 80's style to the limits. Lots of cool footage from a time in which professional skateboarders actually felt compelled to compete in competitions... Long before they could get paid to be a persona in a video games.
Of note were the two announcers doing the commentary - Richard Blade and Kevin Thatcher. They both wore over-sized headsets with wrap-around microphones, making them look like two kids pretending to be astronauts. Kevin was the editor of Thrasher Magazine. Richard, pictured at right, looks as though he'd like to be gay, but can't quite get the closet door to open up. His voice and mannerisms don't mesh well with the hardcore punk image of skateboarding in the 80's. He dressed more "Miami Vice" than sk8, but Crockett and Tubbs would have kicked his ass.
This is the fascinating thing about the internet. Just as I'm sure you recognize a lot of the skater's manes in this video. Many of them still skate - some professionally. But what about dorks like Richard Blade (which sounds like a completely made up name)? What's happened to him? A quick visit to a search engine brings up his web site; www.richardblade.com. Apparently, this guy didn't have the common decency to fade into oblivion.
In fact, he was an interviewer on that dumb show "RockStar: INXS" in which the remaining members pick the best-of-the-worst from a pool of wannabe rock stars. Among Blade's assorted photos is a classic of him at a gas station with Berlin's Terri Nunn. Way to boost your fame-factor, d00d.
Ramp ‘N Rage (1987)
Staring:
Alan Losi, Jeff Grosso, Craig Johnson, Lance Mountain, John Gibson, Mark Ragowski, Micke Guerrero, Adam Midget, Jeff Jones, Steve Schneer, Tom Grohlski, Lester Kasai, Chris Miller, Monte Nolder, Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, Buck Smith, Ken Fillion, Eric Nash, Reese Simpson, Bobby Reeves, Henry Gutierez.
From Stone Mountain park in Georgia, here's another contest in which the skaters go through a qualifying round to get into the final jam. No one uses the word jam in that way anymore... ah, the 80's. I'm getting too nostalgic. Pretty soon I'm gonna go down to the car hop for a burger & a coke in a bottle.
In this contest they ask Tony Hawk (a very young Tony Hawk) how he feels about his skating. He replies it isn't as good as he'd like and comments that he just didn't feel like skating then. Um, OK.
King of the Mountain (1985)
Staring:
Tom grohlski, Brad Dorfman, Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, John Lucero.
Another contest for your yester-year fetish. This one staged in Virginia Beach and sponsored by the NSA. I wonder if the National Security Agency still gets $20 checks from kids who want to join the National Skateboard Association.
Bonus Stuff
Previews of other Vision Street Wear releases.
The Bottom Line
If you want to re-live the 80's scene, this is a cool disc to watch. Having lived through this sk8 era, I dig this DVD. Outside of nostalgia, it may not have much lasting appeal.
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