Earthed 2 Review

[Scott]

Earthed 2, Dirt Mountain Bike Magazine’s second edition of their much famed, much praised Earthed series of Mountain Bike videos. So, is it what it’s cracked up to be? Read on.

Check it out here (http://www.farkin.net/page.php?p=c4d503).

[andy73]

I've got some thoughts on earthed 2.

First the positives:
1. I actually like the soundtrack. It feels quite British as opposed to the thrashy stuff I'm used to from most MTB flicks. I like the feel this gives - it very much separates it from NWD et al.
2. Stand out rider to me is The Don. I love his riding in this film - big and fluid. It really put him in a different light to me.
3. The section with the Don, Athertons and Fairclough(?) was killer. The way they rail those corners is great and I find it great to watch.
4. Love the race footage as well.

Negatives:
1. Sound on the interviews. Soooo poorly mixed, I can't believe it! I still have no idea what Gee Atherton says after winning a World Cup round. This is a basic skill error and is a bit weak.
2. Minaar's section is boring as. They call him Greg "Big Air" Minnar, yet all he's seen doing is hitting a pissy tabletop (the same one from Fundamentals) and multiple slo-mo shots of him hitting a hip - dissappointing.
3. F**k Huckers. I guess CK is entitled to his opinion (he's a racing legend afterall) but why the fark are we promoting that kind of division in the MTB world. I saw a Stinky Supreme with that motto stuck to the frame at Granton and rolled my eyes. Found myself wondering if the owner considered himself a better rider than Wade Simmons...hmmmm. :rolleyes:

To be honest, for me, the positives outweigh the positives and, having spent most of my mtb vid time watching NWD, Kranked etc, I find the more DH nature of the Earthed films a great change. As I said, I also dig the tunes. Fix the laziness in postproduction and I'd be a lot happier.

[Wattsy]

alex swore that in both vids, no footage at all has been sped up, its all fully sick riding, but yer, minaar and laguna were bit boring.

also, what bout rennies big no helmet huck? i thought that the size of it was bit stupid to not wear a helmet on.

[Scott]

Updated the review a little. Just reworded my comments on the 'sped up' bit, to make them a bit more tactful. Whilst I think a couple sections are sped up I still could be wrong, in which case I'll eat my words and publicly appologise to Alex.

I also noted that although I don't like the soundtrack its typically a personal preference thing.

[ridemotocross]

i love it!!!

such good riding, it's just as good if not better than the 1st one

[Dale666]

also, what bout rennies big no helmet huck? i thought that the size of it was bit stupid to not wear a helmet on.

That drop is 20ft to landing, he looked at it for about half an hour b4 going fuck it and just rolling off no helmet or armour at all. Nutter. At least theres a second of me in the vid, not riding(grrr) just drinking coke on the back of the ute.

[MikeT]

ahh mick hannahs such a bogan haha but such a champ, and i love his little slalom watchamajigger track. Poor jill getting ann ear bashing from sam on her first race.

[Wattsy]

Poor jill getting ann ear bashing from sam on her first race.

and sam runnin down the side after bryn scream "GOOO PICKELSSSS!!!"

agree with you scott on the soundtrack, some parts were just a bit wack, but that WC section with the final runs
and peaty crashing and the piano bought a tear to my eye, it was so emotional, then straight to cedrics crazy antics.

and yer, hannahs pump track is sick, more bout em Here (http://leelikesbikes.com/Stories/041205/)

[Daver]

Another vote for a whacked soundtrack- what was Alex smoking? The first song ("Boredom" or whatever) made such a cool section seem bad, and again the English pinner and friends bit was exceptionally bad, while other bits (WC in Austria, Finals, World champs, and Renwa's parts) seemed awesome. Consistancy would have been a good idea. (And just quitely, how spewing would Alex have been over the similar music that Clay Porter used in Synopsis, even down to Ballroom Blitz...?)

The editing was good, but i hated the names swinging down at the start of sections (especially Cunny and the Don's), while others seemed to be fine.

Filming was, as always, top notch- (the only repetition i picked up on was in Minnar's bit), and the racing was filmed really well.

But my favourite bit was in the bonus, with more of Sam Hill's profanities (including "Randopholus") as well as Steve Jones- that guy is seriously funny.

I agree though, i thought Earthed and Synopsis clearly outshone Earthed 2, but it was still an awesome video. How long until Clict and Drift 3 are out?

[toodles]

Got my copy last week and I've watched it 3 or 4 times. It's got some great stuff in there, but I'm just not loving it as much as the original Earthed.

I'm with Scott on this one though. Some of the footage seems a little screwy. Either it's sped up, or they're riding in gale force winds all the time (look at those jerseys flap around in the wind). Some of the spectators caught in frame move a bit weird too so I'm not sure what's going on. Nevertheless, I reckon it's worth checking out just to see some of our Oz trails feature in a UK vid.

[bazza]

sound track seemed wayyy too much like that from sprung. got to the annoying point after a while. would of been sweeter to have some more interesting tunes rather than the similar thing over and over. but i still love the movie. more antics would of been rader. blowing up stuff etc.

[DOM]

Got my copy last week and I've watched it 3 or 4 times. It's got some great stuff in there, but I'm just not loving it as much as the original Earthed.

I'm with Scott on this one though. Some of the footage seems a little screwy. Either it's sped up, or they're riding in gale force winds all the time (look at those jerseys flap around in the wind). Some of the spectators caught in frame move a bit weird too so I'm not sure what's going on. Nevertheless, I reckon it's worth checking out just to see some of our Oz trails feature in a UK vid.

Yeah I was always under the impression of footage being sped up in Earthed 1 ... I havent seen 2 yet.

That scene where Sam/ Rennie / Bryn are riding Whistler ... seems sped up.

It could be when they are converting the dvd's to which ever region .. maybe it is causing some footage to look sped up ? I didnt see the problem in Synopsis or Second Spectacle.

If Alex claims it isnt sped up .. then Im beleiving him .. Im putting it down to the vid format or something.

[tinto]

I've only watched this through once, but ended up using skip-scene button a fair bit when it got repetitive (that seems to be the race footage mainly).

The music drove me nuts the first time through - maybe its like a good album where you've gotta sit through it a few times and then you start liking it...
no pain no gain etc :p

-mg

[DYJK]

I my opinion the footage is excellent, but the downhill is speed up a little to much for my liking...going at that speed and pedaling like on some parts is a bit rediculus...

[Muz]

Sped up?!?! You guys have to be joking!

Firstly, Alex has made the claim that none is sped up. And why do some of you look at the spectators moving around and jerseys blowing in the wind just to try and justify that footage is sped up? Maybe the riders are the best in the world and simply go damn fast? Its not like comparing to how your mates look when they are absolutely killing it down a track, these guys are professional racers, they get paid to be the fastest out there, when u ride with them they really seem insane. I think its quite an insult to Alex and the riders to claim some of the footage is sped up.

On a lighter note, i reckon the dvd is awesome. Good to see the aussies hitting up aussie terrain. Cool that alex and crew came all the way to this end of the earth.

Only issues i had with the dvd was as stated by others, the interview audio's were a bit dodgy (as with synopsis) and the soundtrack has its bad bits (minnar's segment and some others).

P.S. Anyone see me doing 1 jump in the extra's? nah, didn't think anyone else used slow-mo to the same extent as me. When rennie said he'd only been jumping for 5 mins its true. He started flipping 5th run through the trails. Nuts.

Can't wait for Earthed 3!

[I-AM-TEH-FASTEST-11]

Yeh you can't speed up, or slow down footage through transfer from dvd-tape-mini dvd-avi or any transition. they are all in either Pal which is 25 fps or NTSC which is 27.9fps, from memory. Basically if anything changed, everything would. Sometimes fast, or slow stuff can look a wierd speed because of the frame rates. If something is recorded in 60 fps (or whatever)it HAS to be played in either pal or ntsc, on dvd. It is not actually moving faster, but our eyes aren't adjusting properly and we see the frame movements. this can cause us to see things that aren't there. It is possible he wasn't using a gaussian blur,or alike, on some sections and this causes the frames to look jumpy, thus making it look sped up.....

without seeing it I couldn't know

[DYJK]

i didnt mean to offend anyone especially not about the footage, i think this is an excellent video, its just that the speed of the past DH rounds i have seen (with pro riders) in videos e.g. spain round #1 and have never seemed to go as fast. But anyway i really enjoyed it, so again it just looked as though it was sped up because they were so dam fast... ;)

[bradh]

pursuant to I-AM-TEH-FASTEST-11's ( :rolleyes: ) tech-oriented comments, i believe that alex de-interlaces his footage.

[crozza]

the vid was mad i loved the bmx super cross

[ajay]

i didnt mean to offend anyone especially not about the footage, i think this is an excellent video, its just that the speed of the past DH rounds i have seen (with pro riders) in videos e.g. spain round #1 and have never seemed to go as fast. But anyway i really enjoyed it, so again it just looked as though it was sped up because they were so dam fast... ;)

It looks sped up because we mere mortals cannot comprehend how they go so fast, all the dh videos ive seen the riders are all going stupidly fast - Drift, Inertia, Synopsis, earthed (1) even the NWD series - Alex is a great filmer too, so he can film in such a way that captures the real "speed" of down hill racing.

All in All - the best racing flick to date, love the Brit riders sections with Neil Donahue, Gee and Dan, Brendan Faircloe - these guys are seriously talented and IMO will be the rivals of the Juzzos, Hills and Atkinsons...

[S.]

It looks sped up because we mere mortals cannot comprehend how they go so fast, all the dh videos ive seen the riders are all going stupidly fast - Drift, Inertia, Synopsis, earthed (1) even the NWD series - Alex is a great filmer too, so he can film in such a way that captures the real "speed" of down hill racing.

All in All - the best racing flick to date, love the Brit riders sections with Neil Donahue, Gee and Dan, Brendan Faircloe - these guys are seriously talented and IMO will be the rivals of the Juzzos, Hills and Atkinsons...

I'm 99% sure some parts in Inertia are sped up (particularly evident in the Jenson Woodcock section, which is a shame cos he really is a friggin fast rider).

[ajay]

I'm 99% sure some parts in Inertia are sped up (particularly evident in the Jenson Woodcock section, which is a shame cos he really is a friggin fast rider).

well that burst my bubble hey :o

I didnt pick it.

I hope the 1% of uncertainty is the true bit :)

[I-AM-TEH-FASTEST-11]

i believe that alex de-interlaces his footage.

Right, because most people don't do that?

[bradh]

Right, because most people don't do that?ahh, no. i believe not.

[MrCove]

the sound track's top
very Manchester and UK indie
The Fall, The Cure, Joy Division etc

[Tomac Boy]

Great vid, love everything about it. Cept the music some tracks suited the style and were cool, but others certainly didn't.

Sorry Alex but "Ballroom blitz" doesn't have any place in and MTB film, and detracts from the film. Earthed 1's music was a bit different but still worked well and i think really added to the aspect of the film.

Synopsis and Spectacle suffered the same fate in my opinion.

Where's the METAL? Isn't the music supposed to amp you and make you want to ride? not go ballroom dancing(or to sleep)? Watch any good MX film and the energy filled hard metal gets you into it and makes you want to hit 150ft kickers.

Drift and most of the Disorder series i think have music that works well. It doesn't have to be metal either, remember the 1st scene in drift 2 where it had the helmet cam on dirt jumping? The scratching worked really well and added to the scene.

Sure music is always going to be personal preference, and what people play on their home stereos is going to differ from person to person. But some genres will just never work well in an mtb film.

Bring back the Metal.

[Quintin]

Yeh you can't speed up, or slow down footage through transfer from dvd-tape-mini dvd-avi or any transition. they are all in either Pal which is 25 fps or NTSC which is 27.9fps, from memory. Basically if anything changed, everything would. Sometimes fast, or slow stuff can look a wierd speed because of the frame rates. If something is recorded in 60 fps (or whatever)it HAS to be played in either pal or ntsc, on dvd. It is not actually moving faster, but our eyes aren't adjusting properly and we see the frame movements. this can cause us to see things that aren't there. It is possible he wasn't using a gaussian blur,or alike, on some sections and this causes the frames to look jumpy, thus making it look sped up.....

without seeing it I couldn't know

a little OT

dude... what the HELL are you talking about. you can record at any rate fps and playback at any rate fps. the editing software you use either discards or adds frames to ultimately make final production at 25 fps for PAL.

if you are recording at 60 fps its because you want to slow the footage down about half. those cameras arent usually digital and are "captured" if they are edited on a computer. likewise if you record at 25 fps digital or not, interlaced or full frame it makes no difference. if you want to speed that up all you have to do is tell the editing software to play it at 200% then it will cut out half the frames (still be 25fps)

i could go on forever..... anyway - pfft!

[binner]

....yeah like he said!!! Q is smart.he helped me with my vids

[powermutant]

My first impression of Earthed 2 was that it was good but not a scratch on Earthed and Synopsis. However, after a handful of viewings, I'm now finding it to be quite a magical film. It has a quality that makes it hard to stop watching once started. Why? Because of a consistently good mix of riding in widely different locales. This variation from segment to segment keeps the viewer's interest continually piqued, with the "just one more segment" syndrome<sp>. Even bits which at first I thought were repetitive or were sloppily edited I am now really appreciating, the Laguna Seca segments for example.

For me though, what really makes Earthed 2 stand-out is the actual filming. Alex's angles, panning, and zooming make fast and exciting riders feel fast and exciting.

Detractions? The sound track. One of the things that I have found a real benefit is turn the sound down. No soundtrack distractions, just riding. I'll have to try watching Synopsis this way also. I like both the soundtrack to Earthed 2 and Synopsis, but neither seem to capture or suit the spirit of the riding. As a general rant, one thing that I would love to see in mtb movies is sound from the actual event. The clanking chain, the compressing suspension, the skittering rocks, the grunting riders, the yelling spectators; all integral parts of riding bikes, and they don't deserve to be drowned out completely.

Cheers,
Doug.

[stinkytodamax]

It was good to see Australia featured in the new earthed and the quiality was as good as the first.

My problem with the film is that earthed 1 set such a standard that earthed 2 just didn't stack up for me. i loved the first earthed and I quiet like the second but the sound track killed it.

All credit to Alex Rankin for putting something different together rather than the common thrash sound tracks of other vids. The sound track is a personal thing that just didn't work for me.

Can't wait till earthed 3

Cheers

[I-AM-TEH-FASTEST-11]

a little OT

dude... what the HELL are you talking about. you can record at any rate fps and playback at any rate fps. the editing software you use either discards or adds frames to ultimately make final production at 25 fps for PAL.

if you are recording at 60 fps its because you want to slow the footage down about half. those cameras arent usually digital and are "captured" if they are edited on a computer. likewise if you record at 25 fps digital or not, interlaced or full frame it makes no difference. if you want to speed that up all you have to do is tell the editing software to play it at 200% then it will cut out half the frames (still be 25fps)

i could go on forever..... anyway - pfft!

that is what I said, btw plenty of digital video camera's record in 60 and 80fps..maybe you should re-read what I wrote...actully I just did and I can see where it may of mislead you...anyway...my point was teh same as yours.

[wtr]

Maybe it was the beer, or maybe they are just riding on fire... Sound tracks didn't flower as well as the riding, but genuinely loved the bmx and Cowan sections though.

[bazza]

when does the scott shooting begin? hahah...........dont ban me.

[MIKEY B]

It did it for me, But hey-Id sell me kids if it meant getting to hook up with any of the DIRT crew for a while.
I do agree that the soundtrack is a little wack in parts - Nu Wave of Nu Wave and all that but overall it all ties in pretty well.
Stand outs for me-

*Sam Hills shenanigans
*The contrasting styles of Mr slickness "THE DON" and the white trash antics of CUNNY in the same segment.
*Mick Hannah - This guy rocks, riding a bike that a lot of pepole would snob their nose at & still riding at a level that most of us can only dream to achieve.

Anyway, thats what I think.

[bradh]

finally getting around to posting in this thread...


whilst rankin's music in earthed (1) rocked, he kinda missed the mark with this one. having said that, although the abundance of new wave annoyed me on the first viewing or two, i think it's growing on me now.

the most frustrating thing about the film is the audio mix, which is SHIT. why even bother including the snippets of interviews if the interviewees can't be heard over the music track?

the footage is excellent in parts, but kinda forgettable in others. mick hannah's cool, and that gap is amazing, but there's not enough footage of it. and his dropping-off-rocks section is rather revolting—there's other videos and riders that do gaps and drops much better than that, so its inclusion in the vid pulled the quality down a bit, in my opinion.

in short, i reckon the film's great, but just not as good as the first.

[Gripper]

I haven't seen Earthed 2 yet but......I have just seen Earthed 1............

It ain't that crash hot either.....there's lotsa filler in 1 too.

Guess that's hype for ya!

[Jezza1006]

I thought it was sick for a background movie while playing a board game or reading a book or magazine as it gets really boring when you watch guys doing crazy ass shit and wishing you could do that or where the hell is that I want to go there
For some people its different like some guys can watch a movie straight and really like as I can only watch a 30-45 minute vid without getting bored
I know that Earthed 2 is a more proclaimed DVD but I prefer "Drop In" a 30 minute show on Fuel at 8.00 Mondays
Its way better than the really long movies