Best Video This Year?

[Jorli]

I'll try to give you guys a bit of insight from a producer's perspective, first of all, I can't speak for the others, I definitely would like to make better movies and as I previously identified, sled films are not the metric of comparison when thinking about iconic films that define sports, and they do not measure up to the standard of quality in any other sport. The number one reason for this is because there is no support from the industry for this type of media. It takes money, lots of money to make great films, The Art of Flight cost millions to produce and market, as did Where the Trail Ends and All I Can was in the high hundreds of thousands, all these films were at least 2 year projects, where the Trail ends being a 3 year show.

Unfortunately, with the trends of declining media sales combined with an industry that completely ignores its producers and really uses them in the worst of ways, the outlook for a snowmobile film of the above mentioned caliber is next to zero and the trend is going to zero budget as well.

I had approached Ski-Doo for 6 years trying to get their support for projects, I even tried to get them aligned with Slednecks when I worked with them, they declined every alignment opportunity and rather than encourage progression, instead they decided to steal material we produced that was pirated by someone on youtube and use it for their marketing. (see attachment) This is just one example of what I've dealt with, there are many others.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that Slednecks and 509 will be the only 2 snowmobile movies produced soon, the reason is because they use film to market their products and aren't reliant of media sales, however the decline of media sales will negatively affect their ability to maintain their standard of quality.

As for the rest of us, the writing is on the wall!!!!

 

[13below0]

If i lived in the flat lands back east I would say "cool video"
Thunder

Actually I live in the east and think most of the the new videos are marginal at best. Sorry but slednecks has gone down hill since probably 5 or 6.

 

[Powderhound]

Crazy where these films have come from over the last few years.

3-5 years ago it was nothing but hill climbing, chute slaying, hilicoptoer shooting madness.

Now it's a bunch of nancy's boondocking through the lilly's and jumping back and forth over their sleds when doing the side hill action. (I will say the crazy SOB's that are bailing off 100' drops are just nuts) But over all not to impressed with any of them this year.

And one more blast. Where in the heLL do they get the music. Nothing worse then your ears bleeding at the end of the video from the head banging punk stuff.

I am sure it won't sell but I want to see big HP, climbing, crazy stuff, a few drops, some boondocking, and a mix.

One of the films I watched this year (no name needed) was nothing but boondocking and catching a sled cross infront of a bunch of trees as it goes out of site.

Sorry just not a great year.

I also like the rider bio's and sled details. Tell me what ya got.

(other than a polaris pro)



Check out thunderstruck 11. It has all u r asking for..

Thunder

Check out thunderstruck 11 it has what you are looking for

 

[Powderhound]

The worst is seeing the same footage in three different films. Burandts BA and Schooled share much of the same footage. We don't care who the new side kicks are and we don't care that you got to take a jet to the X Games. Garbage filmaking as far as im concerned.

Agreed I bought both and the camera shots are the same just edited different. I want my money back for one at least

 

[Vertical-Extreme]

Check out thunderstruck 11 it has what you are looking for

IMO the last good (and best) Thunderstruck movie was TS7. what Randy and Brad did climbing the superchute and the Rain Maker was unreal. 8 had some amazing climbs but the editing wasn't nearly as good. Now the guys who got me interested in sled vid's aren't even riding in them anymore, (with Randy and Mesenbrink being the exceptions...)

 

[snengineer]

Thank goodness we have youtube. Having the most advanced equipment and biggest pockets make an amazing film, i.e. Art of Flight, but that is no excuse for being lazy and producing thoughtless cinema (which some have a habit of doing).
What I think we are asking for is continued use of creativity that can be found using simple filming equipment (enhanced with awesome equipment). If that can't happen I will stick to watching Russians and Japanese sledheads doing what they do, surprisingly funny to watch BTW.
Some awesome stuff has been produced in the past, the market seems to be flooded with mediocrity right now, like stated above some will go away and some will survive, lets hope the best ones do!

 

[Arctic Thunder]

IMO the last good (and best) Thunderstruck movie was TS7. what Randy and Brad did climbing the superchute and the Rain Maker was unreal. 8 had some amazing climbs but the editing wasn't nearly as good. Now the guys who got me interested in sled vid's aren't even riding in them anymore, (with Randy and Mesenbrink being the exceptions...)

RIGHT ON!!!! I agree 100%%%%%

Those were the days.

Thunder

 

[XFIRE800]

The time lapses and slo mo's get old. Everyone said Fourcast II was the best movie, but its not for me. Theres a time lapse before every scene, marginal snow conditions, and too much talking. Its not a bad film, but i just can't sit down and watch the entire thing and stay enthused. I have never son boarded in my life, but got hooked on The Art of Flight. It is an insane movie and show and is on Netflix. I watched all 7 episodes and the movie in 2 nights and still like to throw it on when im studying and stuff.

 

[Jorli]

The time lapses and slo mo's get old. Everyone said Fourcast II was the best movie, but its not for me. Theres a time lapse before every scene, marginal snow conditions, and too much talking. Its not a bad film, but i just can't sit down and watch the entire thing and stay enthused. I have never son boarded in my life, but got hooked on The Art of Flight. It is an insane movie and show and is on Netflix. I watched all 7 episodes and the movie in 2 nights and still like to throw it on when im studying and stuff.

Its nice to hear that some people enjoyed the film and we really do appreciate that. Fourcast 2 wasn't an attempt to recreate Slednecks 2.0, I have zero interest in making films that are just sports **** and if you don't like timelapses and interviews, then that is an easy fix that makes my life a heck of a lot easier.

The Art of Flight contained a lot of dialogue and timelapses in it and was less of a true "snowboard movie" than "Thats it, thats all". 60% + of the Art of Flight was shot with a Cineflex via Helicopter, had helicopters filming helicopters filming airplanes filming snowboarders..... A reliable word put the cost $4 million and counting spent on production and marketing, 2 years of production,.....how on earth are our self-funded, zero supported and can't get companies to respond, (and if they ever do, the answer is always no!) can't even cover fuel budgets supposed to measure up? We buy our sleds at full retail, even the riders (except Keith) just what resources to you think we have? Do think these movies make money? haha!~ We are all broke, sorry it didn't meet your expectations.

Read my interview in joydigger if you want to see what we are up against. I'm not writing this to be negative, but understand that it is what it is and I'm frustrated that their aren't the resources for us to do a better job.

Maybe you should fund your own film and produce it on your own, license all your music and bring it to market and manage your distribution. If you think these things should be on an Art of Flight level, then throw down and make it happen!

 

[Arctic Thunder]

Here is some pretty good stuff. I really like the music in this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHg1NTKLuAs&feature=player_embedded

Thunder

 

[Toad face killah]

Man you guys are harsh. I love them all. I can watch multiple movies or trailers in a day and I think I still get a chubby when watching them. I guess i just love to ride... and love to watch what other people are doing to push the limits.... Watching anything from the badass marketed movies to the regular joe that just wants to show off his last fun day. They are all fun to watch. Some are more appealing to watch but they all take care of the same thing... that itch to ride. Go shred boys

 

[Arctic Thunder]

Man you guys are harsh. I love them all. I can watch multiple movies or trailers in a day and I think I still get a chubby when watching them. I guess i just love to ride... and love to watch what other people are doing to push the limits.... Watching anything from the badass marketed movies to the regular joe that just wants to show off his last fun day. They are all fun to watch. Some are more appealing to watch but they all take care of the same thing... that itch to ride. Go shred boys

Agreed! But how to do you feel if you purchase 3-5 dvd's at $20 each and after watching the first one you see the same thing in the next 3?

I will never complain about the youtube stuff, promotional DVD's, trailers, etc. But when its hard earned cash I just expect more I guess. And the other things is I have been buying the same videos for years, thunderstuck, 509, slednecks, ect. So I have high expectations because they have always delivered. I just felt let down this year is all.

Thunder

 

[PowderCrew]

I actually was impressed with 2 I saw this year... Slednecks 14 (last years, right?) but I hadnt seen it, and it got me juiced morso than years past editions. The Boondockers 9 in my opinion was a good one too. Im not a fan of the style of music (its not rock, a lil' more mellow easy listening) but thats just my personal music tastes. Copyrights make it VERY HARD for the guys who market these films as well. But the boys in Boondockers pulled some AWESOME stuff! I've been burned out on T-Struck as well, though that was the FIRST film I ever heard of and got back in the day. (#3, still one of my all-time favs actually) Slednecks was so-so for me until 14... liked that one. I agree on one thing... I've noticed WAY more edit time on "irrelevent" stuff. In Slednecks 14, got tired of watching Cory Davis walk around Anchorage for more than 5 min it seemed, another spent about that long showing packing the bag, cooking an egg, pulling the sled out of the garage... too much...if you want to show "the life of a sledder", what makes "our" personalities and adventures unique... add short snippets of those unique experiences...

 

[Blk88GT]

I have to agree, BBA and Schooled 4 were nearly identical. Schooled is losing it's "teacher" intentions and is more of a "look at me" thing now.

 

[PowderCrew]

I have to agree, BBA and Schooled 4 were nearly identical. Schooled is losing it's "teacher" intentions and is more of a "look at me" thing now.

If Chris Burandt cant teach ya in 3 SEASONS.... you cant be taught.

 

[Blk88GT]

I wasn't looking to be taught, I know everything already!

 

[leiterch]

I have said this before, but I see a major miss with sled films only being offered in hard copy DVD format. I would like to know why these films can not be released as digital copies. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Two Stroke Cold Smoke was released on iTunes and I promptly went out and bought it. I personally rarely have time to sit down and watch a DVD, but I find time to watch it on my phone or iPad while traveling. This puts me in the situation of buying the DVD and then do a rip and convert so I can put it on my portable devices.

As far as the filming. Due to the reasons above and most of the videos sharing footage, I haven't purchase any movies this year.

I enjoyed the schooled movie. I have no idea why those kept being produced. The idea was great, once. Now that seems really unnecessary.

I never liked the ramp tramp movies at all, but I like a mix of trees and cliff drops and couple knarly chutes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Bowfisher]

I have said this before, but I see a major miss with sled films only being offered in hard copy DVD format. I would like to know why these films can not be released as digital copies. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Two Stroke Cold Smoke was released on iTunes and I promptly went out and bought it. I personally rarely have time to sit down and watch a DVD, but I find time to watch it on my phone or iPad while traveling. This puts me in the situation of buying the DVD and then do a rip and convert so I can put it on my portable devices.

As far as the filming. Due to the reasons above and most of the videos sharing footage, I haven't purchase any movies this year.

I enjoyed the schooled movie. I have no idea why those kept being produced. The idea was great, once. Now that seems really unnecessary.

I never liked the ramp tramp movies at all, but I like a mix of trees and cliff drops and couple knarly chutes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I bought Fourcast II and Thunderstruck 11 off of iTunes this year. Fourcast II was my favorite but I haven't seen all of the releases.

 

[donbrown]

509 Volume 7- Everything rocks from music to the cinematography to the riding.

I just watched 509 Volume 7 ... overall glad I bought it. Criticism ... did not set white balance adjust on some footage causing bleed.

 

[bnorth]

Big fan of Jorli's videos. They are a major switch from the staples and incorporate a lot more "film making" I'd say. TS have gone downhill since 7 and Jim's narration puts me to sleep. BBA 2011 was a good film but 2012 came across as more of an informercial for his business with a ton of the same scenes as schooled 4 as mentioned earlier. Slednecks are OK but too much heavy music I much prefer the Fourcast 2 soundtrack. Slednecks seems to have lost a lot of cinematography since Jorli left as well. I wish Dan was still doing Krazy Canadian because that guy is insane in the brain for sure. I love the earlier TS films with him in them.