This attempt to elevate a skateboard video to an action-adventure film nearly makes MTV's Jackass look like Masterpiece Theater, but that will probably be its greatest appeal. What little plot there is concerns two skatebo... more »arders who ride into and over just about everything in their path in a battered van that has miraculously escaped the junkyard. There are some other characters, including two women who seem to have wandered over from the set of a porno film while busting out of their tiny nurse's uniforms, a young Asian woman (played by martial artist Ming Tran) in a schoolgirl's uniform who kicks (and kicks and kicks) the hell out of what she terms a "dirty white guy" who tries to lift up her plaid skirt, and a vengeful cop played by none other than Erik Estrada of CHiPs fame. Skateboarding champion Tony Hawk even turns up to play a drunken pizza delivery guy. As if that's not enough entertainment, the skateboarders drive their malicious white van through a Christmas tree stand (they don't murder Santa, but sure mess up a lot of trees) and a sidewalk cafe (though, in fairness, they were provoked). A cop car gets made into a skateboard ramp, which seems like a huge deal to Estrada's character until the car is later attacked with a pickax, doused with gasoline, set on fire, and blown up. None of this makes much sense, but there's a lot of raucous music, plenty of very nifty skateboard tricks, and enough bizarre visuals to thoroughly entertain those who find themselves in the right frame of mind. Extras on the DVD include a featurette on the film's premiere, where fans celebrated by tossing a lot of stuff at the van and the cops came to cool things off. --Robert J. McNamara« less
"with very little skating and more screwing around and well produced scenes, this video is one of my new favs.if you like jackass, this smokes that stuff.buy this now."
Not a great skate film, but . . .
Ryan Agadoni | Whittier, CA USA | 03/05/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This isn't a very good skate movie. The pacing of the non-skate stuff is tedious and cumbersome and not all that entertaining. The scenes with the nurses, for example, are incredibly boring, as the novelty of volleyball-sized twins wears off almost instantly. The destruction of the police car at the end is boring too, at least until they dump it off the building. Tony Hawk's segment left me thinking "huh?" The references to Hawk's Gleaming the Cube role is funny for a second, but it goes on for minutes.The saving graces are the skate segments, Ming Tran's segments, Gayblader, and the behind the scenes video (especially all the Ming Tran segments). If you can pick this up cheap, it's worth it for that."
Masterpiece
J Tran | Orange County, CA | 05/14/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The major problem with skate videos today are that they are stale and predictable. Nothing really seperates a skate video from others. This is not the case with Destroying America. Lot's of destruction, high quality footage and a hilarious performance by Erik Estrada make this video great. Not to mention the eye candy provided by the beautiful Rachel Sterling. If you're looking for something new, interesting, entertaining, and different, give Destroying America a view. If you're a jaded skater smark, and pretend to hate anything that differs from the homogenated generic [stuff] you've been watching, then don't watch it."
Brilliant!!!!
J Tran | 01/30/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Jeremy Klein is a genius!!, hot asian girls, the chips guy, destroying property, and skateboarding, awesome video!!"
Hilarious!
J Tran | 10/30/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The video is thoroughly entertaining and filled with unexpected surprises. The opening scene is great... it's shot in Chinatown where an innocent looking school girl kicks the hell out of a "perverted white guy" that can't seem to take a hint. The next scene consists of sexy nurses basically bursting out of the nurse uniforms. Scenes that follow are Jeremy Klein and Heath Kirchart destroying everything they run into and outsmarting Ponch... yes, Ponch! What more can a guy ask for? If you're looking for your average skate video - go somewhere else. If you want to be thoroughly entertained - get this video now!"