No pro’s skateboard did not reach the level or fame of Tony Hawk. However, nothing destined him to become a legend. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Offoffered on Crave, looks back on the exceptional journey of the star of the Bones Brigade who, since he was a weakling, has persisted in proving – and proving himself – that he could be the best.
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Nobody would have bet on the fact that Tony Hawk would one day become a dominant athlete in a field. As a child, he was not good at any team sport. He was so skinny when he took up skateboarding that, again, he didn’t seem to have the makings of a champion let alone the showmanship of a Christian Hosoo.
However, he had one thing that others did not have: a steely determination. Tony Hawk was not overflowing with self-confidence, but never backed down from a challenge. “I was ready to hurt myself along the way, but I did not visualize myself hurting myself, he explains in the documentary Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off. I always said to myself: it will work, I will find the solution. »
It’s this attitude that led him to invent dozens of new things and become, at age 31, the first skateboarder to achieve a “900”, that is to say an aerial figure made of a rotation of two and a half turns. This feat, he succeeded in 1999 after training for years and – this is not a detail – after having failed nine times in a row at the same public event.
Tony Hawk’s strength lies precisely there, says in the documentary Stacy Peralta, who recruited him as a teenager into the Bones Brigade: every time he tries something new, he tries and tries again, he is more and more concentrated, he tightens his technique and refines each of his gestures. Until triumph.
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off of course recounts the career of the American icon by focusing on his obstacles and his victories. In just over two hours, director Sam Jones also recounts the emergence of skateboard as a professional discipline, its culture and its troughs.
It is particularly touching to hear Rodney Mullen talk about the sport and his connection to Tony Hawk.
They were both part of the legendary Bones Brigade, a small group which also included, among others, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain and Mike McGill. Except that he and Tony Hawk have never been in competition: Rodney Mullen was a freestyle ace, not the ramp. And one and the other had to move away from tournaments to keep the pleasure of riding. Different but the same, summarizes Stacy Peralta.
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off is not, however, just a film about the skateboard. First, it’s a documentary about a man who for much of his life sought validation. It is about his conflicted relationship with his father, loneliness, the dizziness of fame, the intimate cracks of a champion and the damage he inflicted on himself.
At nearly 55 years old (at the time of filming), Tony Hawk continues to put himself in danger where others stop.
He no longer counts the concussions, the fractures, the cuts he has suffered. Is it healthy to keep pushing yourself like this? Many, starting with Stacy Peralta, think not. Others refuse to pass judgement. Rodney Mullen, the sensitive philosopher, understands. “A skater, he says, expresses his essence. So how do you force someone to deny himself?
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off may not have the depth of those documentaries that can reach beyond convert circles. However, it offers a very interesting perspective and gripping scenes that will grab any teenager or adult who has one day sprung on a skateboard dreaming of arriving at the sole of one of the idols of the Bones Brigade.
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Offoffered on Crave