That's It That's All
Went to see the premier of the new Quiksilver movie That's It That's All this night – already posted the trailer here a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually I went to see The Baader Meinhof Complex with Fredrika and Øystein first, which was somewhat weird – seeing an undubbed German movie in a Norwegian cinema, I mean. Anyways, it was perfect timing. Left the first movie at 11, stood at the very end of a huuuuge queue and still somehow managed to get one of the best seats in the whole damn cinema all the way in the back, central position. It was also kinda funny to be sharing an entire theater with no less than 500 other, very stoked riders.
This show was basically the very last stop of a ginormous world tour that started over three months ago (!) in New Zealand, to promote a film that took over two years in production time and which many critics believe to be the best snowboarding movie up to this day. Director Curt Morgan and rider/producer Travis Rice as well as a couple of other pros were actually present but obviously very tired from the long nonstop trip and only dropped a couple of lines and threw out some giveaways – among them one of Travis' old boards – to then sink back into their seats. They looked so exhausted, I'm guessing they didn't even attend the afterparty.
But, oh yeah, the movie. I must say, after having seen the truly amazing teaser at least fifty times, I was, well, a little disappointed. It is definitely a great and clearly very expensive snowboarding movie – most of the material is shot in HD from helicopters – featuring some amazing rides, spectacular tricks and beautiful scenery, which has probably never been captured in this way for that kind of film. But like in a lot of good action flicks, sadly, the best scenes are already in the trailer. Don't get me wrong, it might very well still be the best of its kind up until now – but if you expect to be completely blown away and end up being more like "Yeah, cool.", it somehow isn't very satisfactory.
What also made it kind of awkward to watch, is that it was very evident, the makers had been watching such great surfing documentaries like Riding Giants or Step Into Liquid one too many times. It seems they tried to make their film in a similar style, with deep, meaningful interviews and the attempt to give snowboarding the same spirituality as surfing ("It's not a sport, it's a way of life..."). But it just didn't work. For one because the concept was copied very inconsequential, but also because the two sports just don't compare. Snowboarding simply lacks the depth, strong history and steep progression that surfing has. Let's be honest, as much as I love snowboarding, even the steepest slope, longest drop and sickest trick don't compare with the raw force of nature that is a 30 foot wave. Then trying to mold Travis Rice into such an icon, such a legend, as Laird Hamilton is, didn't work out and the relatively bland choice of music wasn't a great help either. Even the Norwegian warm up movie Ponytale, which is by the way free for download, had better stuff.
But hey, I'm gonna stop nagging now. It is, after all, a way above average snowboarding movie that you should definitely go see, if you come across it. Just don't let the trailer fool you into way too high expectations... ;)
This show was basically the very last stop of a ginormous world tour that started over three months ago (!) in New Zealand, to promote a film that took over two years in production time and which many critics believe to be the best snowboarding movie up to this day. Director Curt Morgan and rider/producer Travis Rice as well as a couple of other pros were actually present but obviously very tired from the long nonstop trip and only dropped a couple of lines and threw out some giveaways – among them one of Travis' old boards – to then sink back into their seats. They looked so exhausted, I'm guessing they didn't even attend the afterparty.
But, oh yeah, the movie. I must say, after having seen the truly amazing teaser at least fifty times, I was, well, a little disappointed. It is definitely a great and clearly very expensive snowboarding movie – most of the material is shot in HD from helicopters – featuring some amazing rides, spectacular tricks and beautiful scenery, which has probably never been captured in this way for that kind of film. But like in a lot of good action flicks, sadly, the best scenes are already in the trailer. Don't get me wrong, it might very well still be the best of its kind up until now – but if you expect to be completely blown away and end up being more like "Yeah, cool.", it somehow isn't very satisfactory.
What also made it kind of awkward to watch, is that it was very evident, the makers had been watching such great surfing documentaries like Riding Giants or Step Into Liquid one too many times. It seems they tried to make their film in a similar style, with deep, meaningful interviews and the attempt to give snowboarding the same spirituality as surfing ("It's not a sport, it's a way of life..."). But it just didn't work. For one because the concept was copied very inconsequential, but also because the two sports just don't compare. Snowboarding simply lacks the depth, strong history and steep progression that surfing has. Let's be honest, as much as I love snowboarding, even the steepest slope, longest drop and sickest trick don't compare with the raw force of nature that is a 30 foot wave. Then trying to mold Travis Rice into such an icon, such a legend, as Laird Hamilton is, didn't work out and the relatively bland choice of music wasn't a great help either. Even the Norwegian warm up movie Ponytale, which is by the way free for download, had better stuff.
But hey, I'm gonna stop nagging now. It is, after all, a way above average snowboarding movie that you should definitely go see, if you come across it. Just don't let the trailer fool you into way too high expectations... ;)
ccseabass - 2008-11-16 02:42