Film Review By Evan J. Stafford
There is a reason Teva and Red Bull or whoever spring for helicopters to film these guys. It probably has something
to do with the size of the waterfalls they run and it probably has something to do with the amount of separation they
achieve from the wave when doing aerial tricks, but in the end I believe it comes down to style. And not just their
collective paddling style, though they certainly aren’t lacking in that department. There is a shot of Evan Garcia
tossing his paddle on a biggin’ and then coming away throwing the horns that will blow you away. Anthony Yap just
owns it, throwing combo moves with an undeniable snap and launching so far off the wave that his tricks attain
the visual satisfaction of snowboarding or skateboarding tricks, sports that have visually inspired an entire
generation. Their style shows in their paddling, but more than anything it comes through in the presentation.
Source is obviously meticulously edited, is backed by a fresh and fitting soundtrack and not a
single frame is wasted. It comes in at a perfect length of about 30 minutes. The editing is so tight that
the second time I watched it I found myself sub-consciously trying to find a “bad” shot. Let’s just say that
if there are any you’ve got to search pretty hard for them. They cropped it down to only the most cinematically
attractive and certainly only the biggest. No shortage of waterfalls in Source. In fact it may be the largest
collection of drops over 50 feet ever assembled. But instead of just showing them back to back there is a decent storyline that weaves the bigness together and gives you a partially open window into the minds of these paddlers on the forefront of the sport.
The Young Guns have put together a piece that is certain to entertain, and not in the boring kind of way that
tends to plague kayak films. You come out of a showing looking at your friends with glazed over eyes saying,
“well, that was pretty entertaining…” Basically like saying, well there was kayaking on a big screen, so that
was cool, but the attributes of a truly well rounded and inspiring film were noticeably absent. This is the best
film since 7 Rivers. In a different way they manage to capture a disgusting amount of whitewater that most
paddlers would never consider running, without losing the spirit of kayaking and the essence of why we paddle.
These youngsters aren’t leading the charge on the expedition front lines, though they are right there in the mix
in California and Mexico, and into uncharted regions such as Vietnam and Quebec. They can safely leave the
unbelievable expeditions to the TDub one day descents and the more experienced. They are however leading the
style charge as they continue to push the limits of freestyle airdom and the heights at which waterfalls can be
run cleanly and in control. And if there’s not enough in the 30 minutes of Source, there’s an hour of bonus
footage to keep you entertained when the water runs dry.
Check out the trailer for Source HERE. Be sure to head to one of the upcoming Colorado premiers and especially the Colorado Kayaking sponsored event
in Fort Collins at the Lyric Cinema in old Town on May 20th at 7pm. Click HERE for more details on the Lyric.
To purchase a copy head to www.younggunproductions.com.
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