Santa Cruz: Fires and Freaks Box Set

Wheels of Fire (1986)
Streets on Fire (1988)
Speed Freaks (1989)

Santa Cruz may not be relevant as a skateboard company anymore, but at one time they were up there with Vision and Powell Peralta. These re-released DVD’s are not strictly new, but have recently become available again after drying up in the distribution channel.

UPDATE: since this review was written the DVD’s have become more widely available both as single releases and in a new boxed set.

I am forever mixing up the the “on’s” and “of’s” in these titles, so don’t jump on my back if I get them mixed up. The first two (Wheels and Streets) are by far the best. One word: Natas. Natas, and more Natas. The Natas footage is what most people remember and want to see. His sequences are the most entertaining bits in the videos. People were blown away when they first came out, and they still watch well today. The other parts in the first two DVD’s are still fun to watch, but Natas is so swell that I’m going to keep blathering on until someone slaps me. Santa Cruz really raised the bar at the time these videos came out. The production and filming were above everything else.

The second release, Streets on Fire was not quite as brilliant, mostly due to the hackneyed plot lot involving Jasson Jesse locked up in a prison for the crime of skateboarding. Jesse may be the high point of Stoked but his story line in Streets is a drag on the pacing.

Speed Freaks. – unfortunately I haven’t seen the re-release, or even the original of Speed Freaks, so I can’t say anything about it. However, the first two DVD’s are available with Speed Freaks for a mere $5 additonal. If you factor in potential shipping costs, it might actually be cheaper to get the boxed set.

Don’t expect to find the boxed set info on the Santa Cruz web site. There was nothing at the time of this review.