Balancing Act
30 minutes
I remember when I got my first video by Mark Eaton. It was at an AFA contest in New Jersey in 1986 or 87, and I bought what was basically the first underground riding video, Dorkin' in York. It was absolutely amazing...not necessarily the quality of the filming and editing (which, though fine at the time, is pretty shoddy by today's standards), but the fact that some kid with a video camera and two VCRs could do this. Obviously, it started a homegrown video revolution which has outlasted the 'zine revolution.
Oh yeah, there was one other thing that made the Dorkin' videos so great: the riding. Some of you younger riders might not know who the Plywood Hoods are (or why such innovative flatlanders called themselves Plywood Hoods), but they helped bring ground riding out of the Stone Age of hopping and balancing tricks. (You could say that Kevin Jones single-handedly invented modern flatland, and you wouldn't be far from the truth.) Jones, Chase Gouin, Dave Mirra, Jay Miron, and Leif Valen are just some of the regulars in Mark's videos, and watching them was always a half-inspiring ("Let's go ride!") and half-depressing ("God I suck!") experience.
Well, the grandfather of riding videos is back with a new video, Balancing Act, which features the above riders and more. The quality of the filming and editing is top-notch, as you'd expect; the soundtrack is decent (the highlights are Man or Astro-man, and Mark's own mixes with old-school LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim). But the riding is unbelievable! And although this video has plenty of ramp and dirt, a true Eaton video's high point is the flatland (thank God some people still put flat in their videos!). I wish the Kevin Jones section was longer, but the stuff he does is amazing — lots of big, no-scuffing, high-speed switches — and always in control. Chase's section is not possible! A lot of his strings are practically impossible...and he does them with NO BRAKES; if he HAD brakes I'd be totally impressed, but brakeless? No way...it must be seen to be believed. The ramp sections have Kennen Harkin, Miron, and Mirra riding, with a lot of footage filmed at Woodward — so you can imagine what you'll see: double backflips, 360 backflip, back & forth barspin 360, 720, tailwhip 360... Balancing Act is a really good video all-around, but definitely a must-see for any flatland rider.
EatonFilm, 211 S. Marshall Street, York, PA 17402
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