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Disney's ESPN X Games 3D: The Movie--A Review
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Disney’s ESPN released the first extreme sports 3D film in theaters for a week on August 21, which thrilled everyone—both sports and non-sports fans.
X Games 3D: The Movie, directed by Steve Lawrence, had an audience of kids, sports fans and regular adults of all ages with their eyes glued to the screen, being awed with how far professional players could go with their sport: on skateboards, motorbikes, snowboards or in a tiny race car. You might have heard about this film on Power 106 FM during their promotions. Promoters from this station made the audience excited by throwing free T-shirts, posters, stickers and other freebies at a private screening for this film, with kids screaming for their turn—with loud rap music in the background.
Once 3D glasses were on, the film immediately took the audience to the athlete’s point of view at the 2008 Summer X Games, experiencing what they saw, heard and felt, made possible by 10 3D cameras. The extremely loud sound of a motorcross bike could convince that you are actually there at the scene—in the middle of nowhere surrounded with dirt roads and dirt hills. The caption “These performers are trained professionals who are under strict supervision” appeared on screen—warning that anyone should not try their stunts at home, which explained the PG rating—for extreme sports depiction and injuries.
Six featured professional medal-winning athletes: Shaun White, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way , Ricky Carmichael, Bob Burnquist and Kyle Loza—were sports celebrities signing autographs on kids’ faces, helmets, posters and books, known for their extreme sport stunts.
“There’s always next time,” some of the athletes would say on a bad day after they got hurt or made a bad stunt during the Games. For example, Kyle Loza, a Trabuco Canyon resident, practiced to perfect his motorcross stunts including “the Electric Doom” on a huge foam pit in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road on a hot day. He hoped that he’d win the Gold at the Games, which he knew would only provide dirt, not foam for him to safely land on.
The film also introduced Travis Pastrana, who changed the world of freestyle Moto X (motorcross) with his double back flip in 2006, which granted him fame. Pastrana also was known to skydive without a parachute, according to the press release sent by Disney. One of the Acts in the film talked about how Pastrana coached his friend Jim DeChamp on Moto X but DeChamp ended up in the hospital since of a small mistake with his stunts. Pastrana also participated in Rally Car Racing—which he did not luck out without injuries as he did with Moto X—he ended up having many broken bones from his mishaps in the car. Yet, he won at the finish line at the X Games in 2008.
“If you do not push your sport, the sport will die. This is why the X Games has hosted Tony Hawk’s “900” and Pastrana’s “double back flip,” all the six athletes said. Being in the snow with 22-year-old Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, the film allowed the audience to fly with him up in the air without any respect for gravity. White has been a snowboarding prodigy since the age of 6, who also is an expert at skateboarding, including vert skating—perhaps because of his residence in Carlsbad . The film also took the audience to a breathtaking height, standing with skateboarder San Diego native Danny Way on the Mega Ramp, and allowed the audience to take a risk jumping over a high bar in the sky with Ricky Carmichael. At this point, the audience was in awe with how large the Mega Ramp was, even compared to the famous Great Wall of China where the event took place. Way created this event himself, and managed to partner with skateboarder Bob Burnquist, one of the four athletes who competed at every X Games, to jump over the largest man-made boundary. Both Way and Burnquist won the event at this spot.
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