The past few months have been an interesting case study in the possible ways to promote a video. In one corner you have Mutiny and their “Let’s Get Mystical” which not a word was said about prior to it’s release aside from an epic web video that shook the world. Did the video deliver? Hell yeah it did. But it also benefited from an almost total lack of expectations. Very few people even knew the video was coming, so when it ended up kicking ass, it was extra sweet.
In the other corner we have Fit who some would say over-promoted their new video with an unbelievable series of 30 weekly web videos leading up to it’s release. Fit most certainly profited from this approach in some ways (a shitload of free internet press every week not to mention the literal profits from the ads they plastered all over their Youtube channel) but it also created an unprecedented level of hype for the final product. And the internet has made it clear: a lot of you are mad at Stay Fit. What do I think? Walk with me.
Here’s the thing: Stay Fit is a good video -and I’m not just saying that because TCU has Fit ads now, thanks Moeller, sorry Robbie ;)- if you already own it, put it in your DVD player and skip through the sections one by one (except Russ Barone’s section since it for some reason doesn’t have it’s own chapter, you’ll have to fast forward through Inman’s part to get to his) and try to tell me that any of the sections in the video aren’t good video parts.
Let’s start with the obvious heavy hitters. Van Homan’s section is epic. It’s unbelievable that he is still producing on the level that he is and this section certainly fits in well amongst the other legendary video parts in his catalog.
Dakota Roche is the other most clear stand out. Dakota is a beast with almost unhuman bunnyhop skills and the ability to seemingly 180 and icepick everything. His part is long but there is never a dull moment as nearly every clip is a banger.
Chase Dehart delivers too. His part contains a lot of Chase’s usual smooth, flowy lines and technical-yet-never-overdone trickery that you’d expect, but he steps it up a bit and takes some basic tricks like manual 180s and wallrides to some big set ups. His part has a great feel to it and my personal favorite song in the video.
It would be hard to imagine Brian Foster having a bad part. His section is mostly trails with some skatepark clips thrown in. I’m not necessarily the guy to tell you what is good trail riding and what isn’t, but it’s obvious that BF knows what he’s doing and this part is awesome in my book. He even ends it with a gap to wallride that some of you may remember because another well known rider attempted and failed at it in another recent video – it is gigantic. To me, this section shits all over his Primo part. I don’t want a BF street part. It feels forced. This part is great because it’s BF riding the stuff that he loves to ride and pushing himself past his limits in the process, doing creative moves at the trails that will definitely take you by surprise.
Justin Inman and Chase Hawk, same deal as BF. Chase’s part is almost mostly trails and park lines and it works for him because that’s what he’s best at. This section isn’t as epic as his Chill Bro part, but I don’t think anyone should have gone in expecting that. Justin’s section is nice as well, albeit maybe a little less interesting than Chase’s.
Russ Barone comes through with a stellar part too. It’s not as burly as Dakota but Russ really fits into his own lane. He’s never overly technical and doesn’t often surprise you with his clips, but everything he does is perfectly smooth and looks totally effortless. He definitely comes through with a bunch of great clips and his part is one of my personal favorites.
There’s a great mix section featuring some locals like George Ramirez and Trey Jones who kills it mixing his own unique style with an obvious Banned In Orlando influence, riding off roof’s like it’s no big deal.
A few sections are lacking. You’ve probably heard by now: Edwin has 3 clips. Is that surprising? Kinda, but I think he had less than 5 clips in Summer Of Fit too, so I wasn’t all that surprised. By all accounts, Edwin has been killing it lately filming for Animal 4, so couldn’t he have spared more than 3 clips for Fit? I’m not trying to speculate why he ended up with so few clips, but it was definitely a dissapointment to some of his fans. His clips are mixed in with Tom White’s, and while Tom has more than Ed (and all of Tom’s clips are great), there still aren’t too many. You end up with a really good part of less than 20 clips, but the average viewer definitely wanted more than that. Don’t buy Stay Fit expecting to see a lot of these dudes.
Anyone expecting to see lots of Eddie Cleveland footage will also be dissapointed since his part is short due to injuries that plauged him while filming for the video (and a lot of his clips already appeared in his Stay Fit web video) but fortunately Jackson Ratima is there to provide moral support and maybe sorta kinda steal the show. The part is dope either way as these two are both great riders, and the clips that Eddie does have are all classic Cleveland.
There have been more than a few complaints about the music, editing and overall tone of the video on the net too, but I have to disagree on most counts. If you ask me, Rich Hirsch did a fantastic job with what he had to work with. The music may not be for everyone (it sticks mostly to raw sounding indie rock and laid back hip hop tracks) but I thought it worked. The editing is on point even though there are a few too many film burns for some people’s taste. The video was filmed by a plethora of different cameramen but the footage is still mostly consistent across the board and doesn’t have that shitty look that videos like Sunday’s “Up, Up & Away” did where the mixing of tons of different cameras was so blatant.And overall the video has a good feel and a nice pace.
It’s astonishing that I’ve made it this far into the review and I’ve hardly mentioned the legendary Moeller/Robbie break up of 2009, right? I’m sure at least a few of you are wondering if there are any visible clues regarding the split, and there are. Firstly, the original Fit video that premiered at Interbike started with Van Homan and ended with Dakota. In the copy of Stay Fit you can buy from the store, the video ends with Van with Dakota’s part second to last. Obviously Moeller didn’t want to let Dakota shine with the last section after he defected to Cult. Interesting.
Also Robbie Morales’ clips were removed (along with Shawn Garrett’s) from the video and there is no mention of Robbie in the DVD credits or the packaging, which is a pretty blatant slight since Robbie filmed the bulk of the video. Still, business is business and I can’t say I’m surprised, Moeller didn’t become a multi-millionaire by being a pushover.
Those things do little to effect the feel of the video for the average viewer though. What you have is a video that was filmed all within the confines of a year and while it certainly has it’s shortcoming’s, most criticism is simply a by-product of the self created hype surrounding the video. Is that fair? Not really, but it was inevitable.
One more oddity: The UK mix section that was in the DVD at the Nora premiere is relegated to the bonus of the video, which is a shame -it’s one of the best sections on the entire disc.
Bottom line: If you take Stay Fit at face value and go into the video without grandiose expectations, it’s without question a great DVD worth adding to your collection. Purchase it here.
Previously: Brian Foster in Fit’s “F-It”| Welcome to Fit: Florent Soulas| Mike Aitken In Fit’s “F-It”.