Title: Statement

Author: Thor Wixom / Invictus Productions

Running Time: 40 Minutes (approx)

Format: DVD ONLY

Action: Freeride / Dirt jump

Thor Wixom is an old hand at the mountain bike movie game with previous films such as ‘Plush’ and the ‘Down’ series establishing him as an innovative and visually spectacular filmmaker. The latest DVD offering from Wixom’s Invictus Productions, "Statement" recently made the rounds at the farkin.net offices, giving us a chance to bring you an Australian exclusive review.

Action:
With the freeride movement progressing at a rate too fast to be measured in mere knots, "Statement" offers possibly the most up-to-date look at the newest tricks, sickest lines and gnarliest drops being pulled stateside.

Some of the riding in this video is truly mindblowing stuff, with backflip x-ups, 30 foot hardtail drops, tailwhips, off-axis 360s and some massive drops all making their way into the final cut.

Hardtail rider Russ Morrell puts forward a convincing case for no one needing full suspension in his segment, consistently nailing massive drops as smooth as butter (and measuring them) on his hardtail. Inspiring stuff.

Another standout rider is BMX convert, Chris Duncan, who lights up the dirt jumps with his backflip combinations, double barspins and tailwhips. With Duncan, Darren Berrecloth and Timo Pritzl all blowing people away on mountain bikes these days it seems the BMX influence on mountain bikes is stronger than ever, which is by no means a bad thing.

While these highlights are certainly some of the best mountain bike scenes I’ve seen in a while, other sections of the video fall well short. One scene I found particularly hard to watch was the in depth coverage of ‘Dangerous Dan’s’ Flow Show. Watching the same guys ride the same, free standing lines in a few different locations does not make for exciting viewing in my books.

Wixom also falls into the trap of repeating the same trick, stunt or line from various angles and attempts, which is another pet hate of mine. Though I must say, "Statement's" repetition is not nearly as bad or blatant as the "Lets watch a dude ride in a hampster wheel ten times in a row" type of scenes featured in other major freeride releases this year.

Camerawork / Cinematography:
Wixom has become well known for his engaging and innovative cinematography, particularly for his use of boom cameras in “Third Down” and “Jib”. The boom camera has been put away for “Statement” which is a shame as far as I’m concerned and makes for more pedestrian camerawork.

Wixom still succeeds in capturing some incredible shots however, particularly through extensive use of helmet mounted cameras, which provide, in my opinion the absolute best helmet cam footage I’ve ever seen featured in a mountain bike film. The slick editing between distance shots of a rider hitting a line and the helmet camera footage of the same line make for some awesome scenes and are almost worth the cost of the video by themselves.

Soundtrack:
“Statement” is set to a mixture of punk and heavy metal tunes, which is pretty much standard for a freeride release these days. The tunes are all of a high quality, definitely the sort of music you’ll find yourself humming at the start of a downhill run and quite possibly adding to your “Shuttle music” rotation.

Originality:
So what really made “Statement” stand out from the host of big name releases this year? Well, unfortunately for me, not a lot. While the riding was overall quite solid with some great camerawork and a good soundtrack, the only thing that really stuck in my mind was the helmet camera footage and the hardtail hucking. Just about everything else in the video I found to be interchangeable with just about any other freeride release and the repetition of tricks and lines got on my nerves at times.

Overall:
Ryan says: A quality release with some great riding and a rocking soundtrack. Not the best release from the Wixom stable, but a good look at the latest and greatest that freeriding has to offer. A worthy addition to any collection for the helmet camera footage and hardcore hardtail riding alone, some scenes knock you flat while others just fall flat but overall, a solid film.

Scott says: While the film was of just as high a standard as most of other vids out there, I found myself waiting for something to come out and suprise me. I waited, and waited, 30ft hard tail gap, waited, waited, cool helmet cam, waited, finished. While we all like to see heaps of experienced riders cutting sick, what I'd really like to see is the first glimpses of the next big things... I want to see people who I've never heard of doing things I never thought possible. I know it may be alot to ask, but hey, I'm entitled to want stuff.  

Josh says: Too many drops for my liking, I want to see some racing! However, thats not what this video is about. I loved the helmet cam, though it would have been even better to see them rip some sick DH singletrail with the camera on.

Overall the farkin.net crew voted this video a 3.5 out of 5. Bear in mind that we are a somewhat downhill race biased group of individuals, so if you're a big fan of freeriding and big drops in general you'll probably rate it closer to a 4.

Discuss this review here.