New Wave Cinema released their first full length film this spring. With a title like "Brighter", one can already begin to grasp the atmosphere that the film creates. It's all about fun, fast riding, crazy trails and exploring.
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Review by David Peacock
Mountain biking, and the films that document it, have evolved greatly since the inception of freeriding. Greg Stumps Pulp Traction and the Kranked series brought the antics of the best freeriders home for the average two-wheel-lover to gape at. This year, following the creativity of The Collective and the all-out insanity of New World Disorder, Brighter returns to the roots of riding and keeps it light hearted.
The mood that Brighter creates is reminiscent of the Kranked movies; it bounces along eclectically with riding from some big names, as well as some lesser-known soul shredders. Tied together by intermittent sections that detail Garett Buehlers Day Off, it is clear that the intention of this film is solely to entertain the viewer. The editing is clean and well done, but gets slightly repetitive by the films conclusion. That said it is refreshing to see a bike movie that departs from the typical straight cuts from start to finish.
Mike Hopkins rides as Tam films, photo by Bryan Ralph.
One element of the film that I did not enjoy, for the most part, was the music. I found it a bit odd and felt that it didnt really match the riding at times. It must be noted that music is something that will never be perfect for everyone, as it is such an item of personal preference, but my tastes didnt jive with most of the tunes in Brighter.
From Mike Hopkins pinning DH to Mitch Chubey smoothly executing dirt jump tricks to Paul Van Velzen getting creative on his trials bike, the film features a great variety of riding. Dangerous Dan Cowan even makes his return to the mountain bike spotlight, as he tackles technical bridges on Vancouvers Bowen Island alongside Mike Laudrum. To sum it up, Brighter covers just about every conceivable genre of gravity-fueled mountain biking. One standout segment is James Doerflings. The young Canadian is shown tricking massive backcountry jumps that litter the grassy hillsides of central British Columbia, seemingly unfazed by the size or intimidating nature of the trails. Doerfling has spent this spring shooting with Freeride Entertainment in China, so there will undoubtedly be more from him in the near future.
Mike Kinrade riding his trail "The Eh Line".
With the help of Freeride Entertainments Jeremy Grant, Brighter also showcases Mike Kinrade on his quest to discover unique terrain. The segment voyages to South America, where Kinrade unearths what hed been looking for. Say what you want about his style, he has been a top competitor at every Red Bull Rampage and proves why in this segment. Some of the highlight shots are preposessing silhouette time lapses of enormous rocky spires, and Kinrade tackling one-of-a-kind lines, but for more you have to see the film.
Tam Forde broke out on his own for this one, taking his experience working for Freeride Entertainment and producing the webisode series Stund with him. Making a movie is an enormous pursuit, and to do it alone is even more impressive. Hats off to Tam for accomplishing so much as a one-man crew. Undoubtedly he will be back for more in the future, and seeing as he managed to produce, edit and film an entire movie by himself, I can only imagine what he could be capable of with a crew at his disposal.
Garett Beuhler absolutely sends it in his section.
My overall assessment of the movie is that is was amazing for what was essentially a one man effort, but it does not match up to previous films by Freeride Entertainment or this years Anthill release, largely due to a lack of budget and resources. As such, it doesnt push for a top grade; however, for half the price of DVDs from big-name companies, one has to appreciate the value of a good shred-flick. You can pick up Brighter from the New Wave Cinema store.
