Airsoft Movie Reviews

I really enjoyed this video. One of the first things that caught and kept my attention was the candid, off-the-cuff humor between Todd and Billy. Laughs make learning easier, and this DVD is no exception. The quality of the DVD was respectable as well. I own a few instructional martial arts videos which look as if they were produced by the practitioners themselves with no additional or professional help. Although you won't find any Spielbergian special effects or emotional John Williams soundtrack here, the little graphics and music that were used were modern and complemented rather than distract from the presentation of the film.

My review isn't complete without testing the taught techniques of this DVD, but being in Seattle in mid-June leaves me little to no opportunity save a lengthy trip to Mt. Hood, which probably won't happen. The good news is this video has provided me with the know-how, inspiration, and confidence to try out these techniques as soon as I hit the hill.

This great DVD spurred me to inquire about Volume 2, and I e-mailed producer Morgan Stone of 900 Films. Coincidentally, they were just wrapping up voice-overs for Volume 2 as I e-mailed last week. It's essentially finished but won't be available until Thanksgiving of 2003. Morgan wrote some of the things Volume 2 would cover, such as frontside, backside, and switch 180's, 360's, and 540's. I wouldn't be surprised to see frontside and backside railslides either. Maybe they'll save the inverted stuff for a future Volume 3? If so, I should best buy a helmet, and start nailing the basics in Volume 1!

Note, keep in mind that this is for beginner tricks--jumps, rails and grabs in the park and pipe. No spins, no flips, nothing excessively extreme, so don't expect too much. After watching it, you may think you can master most of this in a couple of days--not (I'm glad I withheld my review until after the season).

On the flip side, if you aren't confident with your edges (say, at least comfortable (not, "well I think I can make it") on black diamonds or difficult blues), the vid won't help you, and learning that well first on the slopes will make your (and everybody else's) park experience much nicer--remember shred-iquette. Until then, the vid is great for inspiration.

To Amazon: the video title isn't "Snowboarding Basics," it's "Snowboarding Park and Pipe Basics." That's kinda like the difference between "Jumping Basics" and "Base Jumping Basics."

There are a lot of great riders like Travis Rice (who just won the X-games slope style), Gigi Ruf, J.P. Solberg or Jussi Oksanen (who does a couple 1080s that means three rotations).

Most of the tricks shown are in back country, not in actual competition, which I find good. The thing is though, that these guys are some of the best snowboarders in the world, because they can also win the competitions. Many of them are also test riders for Burton.

Also the filming is beautiful. With that I mean that it is kind of surreal from time to time, meaning that there is a lot of slow motion or extraordinary camera angles.

The tricks themselves are simply insane.

With just over 30 minutes the film is kind of short, but there is also additional stuff with amounts to around 30 minutes and you never get bored how matter how often you watch it!

It's simply a great DVD.

I personally know Danny Hodge who helped with these tapes. His skill, his knowledge and his love for both the sport and young wreslters comes through again and again.

If you want to learn technique for the standing position...these are the instructional tapes.

If you want to learn technique for the down position...these are the instructional tapes.

If you want to learn techniques for riding...these are the instructional tapes.

If you want to learn mat wrestling...these are the tinstructional apes.

I wish our wrestlers at Oklahoma University came to us with the thorough understanding of the techniques taught my these tapes. Great job!!!

Olympic coach Joe Seay was right. These are the best.

A. L. Haizlip

The Voice of the
University Oklahoma

and

World of Wrestling
Roller Productions
Wrestling

This was the first season of division play and after the Mets came from behind down the stretch to pull away from the Chicago Cubs and actually win 100 games, they swept the Atlanta Braves in three games to go on and face the Baltimore Orioles led by future Hall of Famers Frank and Brooks Robinson. Mike Cuellar defeated Seaver 4-1 in the first game in Baltimore and it looked like the Met's bubble had finally burst. But then Koosman out dueled the O's other 20 game winner, Dave McNally 2-1. When the series went back to Shea Stadium Gentry and Ryan combined on a 5-0 shutout defeating Jim Palmer. Game 4 saw Seaver redeem himself for being the only Met pitcher in history to lose a World Series game (at that point), with a 2-1 victory over Cuellar in 10 innings. Koosman picked up his second series win with a complete game 5-3 victory as the Mets claimed the title.

This first World Series title will always be the sweetest for Met fans, balls rolling through Bill Buckner's legs to the contrary. The video looks like it is from another century, but all of the moments you remember are preserved: the great plays in the outfield by Tommy Agee and Ron Swoboda, J.C. Martin's pivotal bunt, the three homers by Donn Clendenon, and the blazing bat of utility infielder Al Weis. My favorite memory is the home run by Ed Kranepool in the one game he started under Manager Gil Hodge's platoon system, since the left-handed first baseman had been with the team since coming up in that first season when they set a record for losing games. But the sight of Met's third baseman Ed Charles leaping in the air in celebration after what would prove to be his final professional game, is also still vivid.

Personal Note: We were living in Japan listening to the World Series games in the middle of the night on Armed Forces Radio in 1969. I thought I had learned the previous year, when the Tigers came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series in 7 games, that every time I listened to a game the team I wanted to win ended up losing. But after missing Game 1 in 1969 it became clear that if I listened the National League team won. Since I was rooting for the Mets I had to get up for the next four games. But for Game 5 I did not wake up until the game was half over and the Orioles were up 3-0, at which point the Mets scored five runs in their last three at bats to clinch the title. Unfortunately, we moved back to the United States and I was not able to influence any more World Series games, having done so successfully 12 games in a row.