D-Aces: No Mercy
Watch D-Aces' third video, No Mercy, in regular mode and it's pretty much a standard-issue stunt video (though one with admirably high production values): standard tricks (circles, no-handers, acrobatics) against standard backdrops (dragstrips, deserted back roads and the occasional industrial park) with the standard mix of indistinguishable thrash metal and hip-hop beats. Flip to the bonus features and activate the "Rider Commentary," though, and No Mercy becomes one of the most fascinating stunt videos you've ever seen. Star riders Cory Kufahl and Dan Urban narrate the video scene-by-scene and give a unique glimpse into the life of professional stunt riders. Find out Kufahl and Urban are both former licensed roadracers who defected after being fined by the Championship Cup Series for doing wheelies on the racetrack. Hear them describe the finer points of the tricks they perform and explain in detail the ins and outs of stunt bike prep, even cataloging the list of tickets they received during the filming of particular scenes. Most stunt videos are all action and no insight, with no access to the riders' personalities. No Mercy brings you up close and personal with the riders like no DVD before, making it highly recommended viewing.
Streetfighterz: Ride of the Century
The concept was simple--after years of entertaining requests from fans who wanted to ride along with them, the Saint Louis, Missouri-based Streetfighterz crew decided to take care of everyone at once and organize a single, huge fan rideout September 13, 2003. Although it might be a bit presumptuous to call your event the "Ride of the Century" just three short years into a new one, the Streetfighterz still managed to put together a major ride--more than 250 groupies turned out, despite cold, rainy weather and plenty of police surveillance. Of course, attendance by such big-name buddies as the Starboyz and Pure Bred Riders didn't hurt matters... Although it might be a stretch to fill a full-length DVD with footage from a single ride (especially when that ride is mostly a mob of motorcycles cruising SL-area highways in the rain), the Streetfighterz do an admirable job of fattening the package with footage of stunt sessions with the Starboyz and PBR the night before and the day after the big ride. Not to mention 250 bikes rolling at once is an impressive sight--or better yet, trying to jam into a single gas-station parking lot!
Underground Riders: Love It or Hate It
As you might expect from a crew dubbed "Underground Riders," Love It or Hate It gives off an unapologetically gritty, underground vibe. This is a DVD with absolutely no pretense. There's no disc menu, no chapters, no bonus features, nada--nothing but an hour of the dirtiest, nastiest street stunting you've ever seen. Graphics (what little there are) are crude and simplistic, and the production values are basic, giving the vid a hyper-real ghetto feel utterly in keeping with the on-screen action, a surprising amount of which is slow-speed urban stunting on impossibly crowded Newark city streets. High points include a roadside cameo by hip-hop hero/actor Ice T, not to mention a cameo by the Gravedigger and some other big-name monster trucks that shared a bill with UR during an exhibition at Englishtown Raceway (one of the DVD's few off-highway segments). How strange to see the UR riders flossed out in matching jackets and helmets performing under the lights at Englishtown after so many scenes of them killing it bareheaded in T-shirts on Newark's back streets. If old-school, all-illegal street stunting is your pleasure, the first half of this DVD's title will certainly ring true.