Search - Vivid (Snowboarding) on DVD

Right idea, bad execution.

Kevin Oosterhof | 08/29/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As an avid connoisseur of snowboarding videos, I was looking forward to Vivid. Why? This video was dubbed as all backcountry with none of the mundane park/rail stuff - which I think is an inexpensive way of filling up snowboard DVD's between the more expensive/helicopter big mountain footage. There was mostly backcountry (98% at least) on the film; that is, if you define backcountry as snowboarding simply without rails. I was expecting mostly big mountain free riding, which it had, but 85% of the video was just boarders hitting jumps vs. freeriding big and insane mountains.Also, Vivid advertises Jeremy Jones - perhaps the best big mountain rider on the planet - in this DVD; however, he only makes two runs in the film totaling, at best, two minutes of footage!?! He had one of the smallest sections of the film!The film had so much more potential. For example, the best/most unique footage of the film is when a boarder is taking a slow motion ride toward hitting a jump with a helicopter flying over head with other cameras directly behind him....then right before he hits the jump, it cuts to some weirdo wearing no shirt, looking up in a dark room with money falling on him???!! Hello, we're here to watch snowboarding, not some artsy fartsy interpretation of snowboarding folks!! Sometimes, the shots seemed forced or off centered as well. Vivid had the right idea (e.g. cutting out park/rail garbage), but fell short of the mark by messing up its cinematograpahy, making jumps feel repetitive, and not including enough and/or detailed footage of big mountain free riding.By comparison, although TB9 and Optigrab have rail garbage, their big mountain footage is so awesome, intense, and well choreographed to music that it outweighs the downside of their share of the typical snowboard film rail garbage. TB9 & Optigrab's soundtracks (e.g. Fugazi, Weezer, Pixies..etc.) are milestones above Vivid's soundtrack (mostly sorry underground rap). Bottom line: stick to 16mm films made by Mike Hatchet and Redline."

Simply incredible

02/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This ground-breaking DVD by absinthe films is incredible. It shows the prgression of snowboarding like no other movie i have ever seen. It takes the standard 720's we have all seen and adds a shot of insane air, style, and captures the whole thing in 16mm from a helicopter so close you wanna give the rider a high-five. The camera angles and cinematography are simply amazing. Romain de Marchi's part alone makes this video worth buying, especially since this video is ten bucks cheaper than the average snowboarding film. On top of the incredible 100 foot table tops and giant hips (all built in the back country of course), the shots of 70+ mph riding down verticle slopes in alaska make this my favorite snowboarding video of the year. Don't buy this video if you want life-style clips of riders, tons of rail, or funny skits. Do buy this video if you want to see huge 900's or rodeo 5's off 70 foot cliffs in some of the most beautiful backcountry you have ever seen. You will NOT be disappointed."

Awsome

R. A. Levien | Lexington, MA USA | 01/16/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't usually watch these things, and I certainly couldn't do any of the things that these guys do. But this is the only DVD I've seen that gives this skier some sense of what he's missing by not strapping his feet onto a board.Parents (and grandparents) looking for a cool gift for a 10-13 year old should consider this. There's some language and explicit lyrics, not to mention some pretty unsafe (and some illegal) behavior, but its all in good fun. Be sure to check out the sponsors' clips at the end. These vary, but some -- like Burton's -- are amazing.All in all: Impressive stuff impressively presented."

My review on Vivid

Kevin Oosterhof | Canada | 04/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vivid had some of the best tricks and steepest mountian descents i have ever seen, the music was also very good. The film was also not drawn out as bad as some snowboard films i hae seen, they had a lot of great camera shots, in all it was a good film"