Supastars

by Andy Lawrence
available at ebodyboarding.com

supastarsI didn’t have very high hopes for Supastars. With the amazing wealth of bodyboarding talent in Australia, it was a given that the surfing would be sick. But I was worried about other things: careless editing, questionable music taste, and the dreaded skits that were bound to accompany a video featuring four spandex-clad bodyboarding "supastars" and a koala on the cover. Ozzie vid makers have a tendency to ruin good footage with bad editing and cheeseball music, so I was prepared for the worst.

Thankfully, Andy Lawrence surprised me, making a damn fine video with decent tunes, spot-on editing and some of the most advanced bodyboarding ever caught on tape. Mind you that I still haven’t seen any of the Tension vids, but I won't hesitate to say this is the best Aussie-made flick I’ve ever seen.

Before I go further, I have to warn anyone who isn’t into hip-hop to stay away from this vid. The soundtrack is almost completely rap. For the most part it works well because Lawrence picks some good songs that range from underground to mainstream and old school to new. I’ll dock some points for cutting off half of Biggie’s verse on "Mo Money Mo Problems" but give a big bonus for including the amping NWA and Mobb Deep cuts. There is a little punk rock to balance things out, but for the most part Supastars is hip-hop all the way.

Lawrence does a damn fine job editting the surfing to fit in with the music. Moves are synched perfectly with the beats and slow motion barrels coincide with mellow parts of songs. The graphics aren’t in Stoker’s league, but they’re not terrible or distracting either.

The skits… well the skits are pretty gay. What the hell do you expect when you dress up pros in spandex? Some stuff is kind of funny, but in most cases the jokes are taken way too far and for way too long. Luckily the boys (Hubb as Spiderman, Virtue as Superman, Hardy as The Incredible Hulk, and Keegan as Batman) are able to redeem their lost dignity with their superb riding.

Here’s a rundown of the highlights of Supastars in no particular order:

1.) Ozzie vid-maker Chris White attempting a ridiculously huge ARS, eating shit, and getting pushed up against a scary looking rock shelf in the movie’s opening sequence.

2.) The first two sections are a sick mix of riders pulling into kegs and boosting off deadly sections. Lawrence mixes various hip-hop beats together while the world’s best destroy perfect waves all over Australia.

3.) Virtue. The guy is amazing. Highlights include a mental tweaked air forward and a gigantic air reverse on a hell wedge. Virtue and Hubb are definitely the riders pushing the limits of air maneuvers today.

4.) The frickin’ disgusting waves these guys get. Tons of scary reefs, amazing North Point and a mysto desert left reef that looks like Indo. No wonder these guys rip.

5.) Mitch Rawlins only gets a few waves, but he kills it. The Stewart influence is definitely showing, especially on a few of his combos. Watch out for him in the years to come.

6.) Hardy and Hubb ripping with completely different styles. Hardy shows why he is in the running with Skipp for the smoothest bodyboarder alive. Hubb proves the haters wrong by consistently busting bigger than anyone else out there. The message board shit talkers need to open their eyes and realize that just because his style is different doesn’t mean it’s bad. If everyone surfed exactly like Hardy the bodyboarding world would be a boring place.

7.) Winchester, Rose, Lester, Ben Player, Brad Hughes, Joel Taylor, and Skipp all kill it.

In the end, Supastars is a winner. Andy Lawrence made a great video with good tunes, quality editing and amazing riding. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to see why Australians are ruling the bodyboarding world right now.

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