Review: Seasons
by Jason Van Horn
SF Dirtlab hosted the SF premier of the newest mountain bike film from the group known as the Collective. The Victoria theatre was filled up with enthusiastic viewers, which was especially great considering that it was marketed primarily through word of mouth and virally via social networking sites like MySpace and email.
If you aren’t already familiar with the previous films from the Collective, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Loaded with some of the best talent producing mountain biking films today, shot with high quality cameras, and featuring top riders in the sport, the features rival the quality of any Warren Miller film or sports documentary out there..
My personal stoke factor for riding has been pretty low for some time. Upon viewing Seasons it was given a serious kick in the ass. After watching it, a few things were fairly evident: Matt Hunter and Thomas Vanderham go big, and continue to go very big. Two riders known for big mountain lines in previous films, these guys are continuing to pin it. One of the best things about this series is that it slows down the action long enough for the view to really get a scope on how big these riders really go.
photo courtesy of Sterling Lorence and the Collective
As viewers, we’ve seen huge drops before; but the camera takes a moment during a dialog with the rider to look up at the lip of the take off. No doubt about it, the jump is big. Hunter runs up the edge a few times feeling it out. Same as the rest of us, he’s nervous about the first time over this thing. It is a familiar feeling, and he doing what the rest of us do in the same situation: visualizing the take off, hang time and the landing, plotting his trajectory, disregarding the worst case scenarios. The only different is that this jump isn’t just big- it huge. Straight up motocross huge. Or big mountain snowboard huge, complete with a night steep and long run out. When he finally sends it, you get an appreciation for how big these riders are going and pushing it.
The movie is filmed over the course of a year and a half, and this time is noted and edited into sections according to the time of year- hence the title, “Seasons.” If you have ever nursed the thought of packing it up and leaving it all to defect to Canada, (I know I have) to ride bikes in the land of the fabled North Shore, this definitely puts it all into perspective. In case you forget, it gets cold up there in the winter, a fact you appreciate when you see Darren Berrecloth warming himself up by a fire after a polar bear lake jumping session. Another reality check comes during an interview with Steve Peat, and the following session on a muddy section of trail, complete with wet rock gardens- seriously gnar. And we see it- that is why this guy rips so hard. Another thing that stood out on a subsequent section of Peat hitting a world cup run was the most effective use of slow motion I’ve seen in a mountain bike video yet. Usually bordering the realm of cheese, the camera slows time in the middle of a turn and the view gets into the moment and we actually again appreciate how hard he is straight up ripping.
One of my favorite sections of the film comes when they gather the featured riders together for a session at Whistler. Big mountain rider, racers, and slope style specialists all hit the trail, training it down a section of trail. We’ve seen bmx riders doing trains while riding bmx trails, but somehow it brings it home when we see mountain bike riders doing it on the features of mountain biking’s most renown destination resort. Again: the stoke factor: high.
photo courtesy of Sterling Lorence and the Collective
Great music, cinematography, riding, editing. The bar is set again. Check it out.
http://www.thecollectivefilm.com/