Vision is a name that conjures up some heavy connotations from the 80’s heyday of skateboarding. Love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t deny the impact they had. The Classic Sk8 DVD Retrosk8 series is a bare bones reissue of some old videos. Besides holding the record for a how many times a product can have “SK8” in it’s name, the series is successful if you take it at face value; Preservation and historical documentation at a reasonable price to boot. If that’s all you need to hear then fire up the credit card and get ready for a trip down memory lane. If, like me, you are obsessive compulsive about this type of thing, read on.
Vision earned a rep for skeezyness, and true to their roots, Vision is back to cash in when and wherever it can. These are low budget affairs seem to be transferred from some low quality originals that in some cases are damaged or have not been reconditioned, despite the claim on the web site that says “This new “all digital” release ensures that you can see & hear every slide, grind and big air clearer that ever before.” Even if you cut some slack due to the level of technology during the era, there is still a feeling that this product was rushed to completion without attention to detail, such as video tracking artifacts that got captured in the scan to DVD. There is no bonus footage or commentary, booklet or artwork. The original covers are only reproduced very small on th outside. On top of that, lot of the content is barely worth watching in the first place. A notable omission from the series is the Chicago Blow Out, although bits and pieces appear in the context of other videos.
On the plus side, they are packaged three videos per disk. I have to give them credit for that. They serve as an excellent time capsule for skatenerd historians like myself. Most people will opt for Volume 1 since it features the classic Skate Visions, and the now immortal disembodied voice of Gator’s mom “Mark, did you clean your room?” as well as Lester Kasai break dancing and “If you think that’s rad, there’s a contest going on right now at Upland!” Yes, indeed. I do think that’s rad. Runner up Volume 4 features “Barge at Will,” a video that stands on it’s own as far as the skating and entertainment level as well as the fact that it came from a critical time in the industry’s history. It also has the “Terror in Tahoe” video with Lance Mountain’s legendary contest winning run where he lit his board on fire with lighter fluid, back when creativity in a run could sometimes sway the crowd and judges more than technical ability. Slightly notable are Vol 1 and 4’s “Skate Escape” and “Red Hot Skate Rock” which were basically the first arena tours combining music and extreme sports. The rest are lackluster contest videos and “Psycho Skate” which is essentially a cheesy repacking of other footage and commercials like an infotainment show. They will likely only appeal to you if you were from the area, were at the event, or had a copy of your own at one point.
DVD Listing:
Volume 1:
SKATE ESCAPE – SKATE VISIONS – NSA ’85 “BEACH STYLE” OCEANSIDE, CA
Volume 2:
RED HOT SKATE ROCK – NSA ’85 “BORDER WARS” VANCOUVER, BC – NSA ’86 “BEACH ATTACK” OCEANSIDE, CA
Volume 3:
THE ULTIMATE ROCK & ROLL JAM: HOLIDAY HAVOC – NSA ’85 “KING OF THE MOUNTAIN” – NSA ’87 “RAMP N RAGE DOWN SOUTH”
Volume 4:
BARGE AT WILL – NSA ’86 “EAST COAST ASSAULT” – NSA ’85 “TERROR IN TAHOE”
Volume 5:
PSYCHO SKATE – NSA ’88 “BLUE GRASS AGGRESSION SESSION – NSA ’85 “RAGE IN THE BADLANDS
Some say the new Vision is not the same sort of entity that the old Vision was. Having Duane Peters on the team sure would lend some credibility to that. Bottom line: These DVD’s are no labor of love, but rather a basic transfer of old videos, some worth watching, others not. Reasonably priced and available at a discount as a whole set from the Vision web site.
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