Coming Back for Seconds

When The Collective film broke onto the scene two years ago, it instantly garnered acclaim as one of the finest mountain bike films ever made. Sound editing and cinematography, an on the button soundtrack and a rider list for the ages, The Collective crew broke serious ground by changing the formula of how mountain biking looks on film.

When word started to spread that the second installment from The Collective, ROAM, was closing in on finishing, people wondered how it could possibly live up to the first. How could ROAM top the success of The Collective? How? It’s so goddamn good.

I’ll be honest; I was skeptical. The Collective not only gobbled up basically every award at the 2004 Bike Magazine Reader Poll awards, it won uncommon praise from people outside the mountain bike industry by winning the illustrious Best Cinematography award at the 2004 X-Dance Film Festival, an event dedicated to the burgeoning action sports movie field.

This past weekend all my skepticism was snuffed when ROAM premiered at Portland, Oregon’s Clinton St. Theatre to a packed house. Sticking to a similar recipe that made The Collective a worldwide success, ROAM showcases the evolution of our sport yet maintains a substance-based feel, working a soulful artistry into all the 16mm action. It’s easy to see that chief cinematographers and directors Darcy Wittenburg and Jamie Houssian believe in the quality over quantity credo. Much like their first film, ROAM is filled with slow, panning shots, cable and zip line shots and lifestyle snippets – giving us a peek into the envious lives of the riders.

The movie opens up with Darren Berrecloth showing us why he is currently atop the freeriding heap. Bearclaw may very well be the best of the new school riders, mixing unprecedented talent with an aggressive, calculated style. His bag of tricks is deep, real deep, and his fearlessness is undeniable. ROAM does a great job of capturing this.

Ryan Leech’s segment from Prague throws the viewer back in time with its beautiful, panoramic shots of one of Europe’s oldest cities and at the same time allows us a glimpse at the future of the street and trials movement. Ryan’s skill is mind-blowing. He continues on his crusade to make trials riding more fluid by eliminating the setup and recovery hops associated with it. To truly capture the flow and precision of his riding, Wittenburg and Houssian often times used two shots of Ryan in one frame, editing the speed and tempo of his tricks into one shot. The end result is an undulating, flowing and very entertaining way to view the traditionally slow and visually inactive art of trials. Along with untraditional locales like Prague, ROAM takes the viewer to more known riding hot spots like Moab, Utah and Sun Valley, Idaho. Wade Simmons has a strong segment and rides one of the craziest lines I have seen in some time on the slickrock of Moab and Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie absolutely blast the buttery-smooth singletrack ribbons around Sun Valley.

And like all the segments in the film, the music fits each individual rider and location perfectly. It’s not all loud and fast like in so many MTB movies – it’s got soul, substance - a completely listenable soundtrack.

My favorite segment however has to be Matt Hunter and Thomas Vanderham’s from Morocco. These two kids are like a fine wine - they keep getting better with age. It’s hard to believe these grommets in their early twenties keep producing better parts with each video they are featured in. Vanderham’s super stylish whips and Hunter’s charging, go-for-broke mentality will surely see them in videos for years to come, if they can stay healthy.

A clip of Hunter opens with him crashing and breaking himself. The next clip leads in with the written words “Three Months Later” at the bottom of the screen and Hunter standing on the lip of the gap that broke him. He stomps his comeback jump displaying the confidence and courage professional freeriders must possess to stay in the game.

If you liked The Collective, which you did if you ride bikes in any capacity, you are going to love ROAM. It’s just like its predecessor only a little more refined, a little more dialed. I can’t wait until it is released on video so I can sit on my couch with a cold one and take it all in, and then, after it has sunk in good and proper, go for a ride.

If you’d like to view the teaser, you can check it out right here on bikemag.com (see the homepage and/or the video gallery). You can also check out the teaser and get clued into information about a ROAM premiere near you, by going to: The Collective Website