DVD Review: Downunder the Horizonline

DVD Review: Downunder the Horizonline

Reviews - DVDs

Independent DVD review: Downunder the Horizonline – Skippy Films

Featuring

Adrian Kiernan, Colin Furmston and Jez Blanchard. Apart from the three main characters, there are also appearances by Sean Boz, Ben Earle, Kelsey Thompson, Jimmy (the kiwi), James Thorpe, Liam Corr, Chris Darlington, James Rowlinson, Spencer Cook, Jason Craig, Anthony Yapp, Jussi Tanskanen and Steve Fisher.

Title

Skippy Films presents Downunder the Horizonline, a movie by Adrian Kiernan, Colin Furmston and Jez Blanchard.

About

This is a movie which was made by three Australian mates with the intention to prove that one doesn’t need a bulging bank account to live the dream and kayak in some truly amazing locations across the globe.

Content

The footage is shown in three broad sections to cover what each individual experienced over a year of kayaking. Various characters are met along the way while some top class creeking and play boating is shown. The footage is of a good quality and some awe inspiring drops are run. There are a couple of beatings and errors shown and this comes as a welcome relief as the trend these days is for a movie to cut right when a boater is about to come short.

It must be mentioned that this DVD was made with zero sponsorship and without fancy video equipment. So does that mean it is rubbish? Definitely not! If I had bought this DVD, I would have felt well satisfied with my purchase and would easily recommend it to anyone else. While it may not win over the most hardcore of movie buffs, the footage and quality of kayaking is right up there with the best of it and surprised me quite a bit.

R.I.P. Ben Earle. Ben was sadly taken from the kayaking community on 1 June 2008 while paddling a river in British Columbia:

http://goboatingaus.blogspot.com/2008/06/kayaking-tragedy-le ssons-learned-and.html

The locations range from Canada, USA, Norway and a rather unusual destination, Australia. This movie promises more Australian footage than anything before it and also showcases the awesome creeks of the small island, Tasmania. I particularly enjoyed the fly-in segment of an expedition on the Stein River in British Columbia.

Music

The music is good with a couple of songs that made me want to get out there and huck something, and fast. It is a varied mix and where local footage is shown, local music is experienced. While not every song will be a winner for most viewers, I felt it was overall of a high standard and can’t complain.

Conclusion

The intention of this movie was to encourage the creators’ mates to go out there and experience what they had experienced through the visuals shown. It was not created for the intention of making money and even though created on a shoestring, Skippy Films have created a really great DVD. This is one kayaking movie which I will watch again and again, for a long time to come.