Earthed 3: Europa reviewed

Like any good wine, Alex Rankin’s movies only get better with time. Earthed 3: Europa could easily be compared to some of the world’s finest Bordeaux by using such terms as 'finest', 'traditional', 'enjoyable', 'Balance', 'Quality', 'addictive'...I don’t think Alex needs any introductions – he’s been around for a long while and has produced, what I think, are some of the best MTB movies to date. Sprung, Fundamentals and Earthed are all his master creations. Like I’ve mentioned before in previous articles, Alex always comes up with some of the sickest racing footage ever to hit your television screen – he just knows how to pick the perfect angles and what “filler” footage to weed out.

Chapters

Eve time a new movie is announced by 4130 Publishing – I get all excited because I pretty much know the new installment (or new film) will outclass the previous one – and let me tell you, Earthed 3 didn’t disappoint!

Earthed 3 isn’t available in the US or Canada yet – but Alex and Mark @ 4130 was kind enough to rush me a copy so I could review it here. The copy is in PAL format, which is a TV format used in most of Europe, most of Africa, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, North Korea, and other countries. Most DVD players here in North America will only play NTSC – but that doesn’t stop you from watching it on your Laptop/desktop :o) But I digress…

Fabien Barel
Unlike Earthed 2, which has racing footage from around the world, Earthed 3: Europa focuses on the Euro riding scene – e.g. Euro World cups and Euro riding locations. No footage from North America on this one! It’s kind of refreshing to see guys riding on their local turf – like Peat and Page ripping their hardtails in England, Chris Akrigg pulling some of the sickest trials move I’ve ever seen in Whales or Guardia and Vasquez shredding it in Spain. Immediately after watching Earthed 3 I started thinking to myself: “maybe it’s time for me to do a Euro Bike trip soon.”

Steve Peat
The movie starts off with this funny bit which has Rob Warner “blowing” himself through town onboard his bike with this large propeller contraption on his back – which he calls “Blow Air Mountain Biking”. LOL! You can tell Alex has a good sense of humor – after watching the Alpe d’Huez Magavalanche chapter, you’ll know what I’m talking about!

I can’t even find the words to describe the balls-out riding in this video – simply astonishing!! Whether it’s racing footage or just blokes having fun riding their bikes: They all push the limits of their bikes. A few times you’ll see riders trying to hit corners as fast as they possibly can, just to wash out or come close to smashing into a tree. Simply amazing and motivating to watch!

Earthed 3 (50mins main features + 37mins extras) is a bit shorter than Earthed 2 82mins main features + 25mins extras), but it has less filling and more ripping – e.g. no bloopers, no long transitions – all riding baby. I would also like to point out that all the non biking footage like fiddy, moto, etc… has been moved to the Extra sections.

Chris kovarik
I can’t tell you what my favorite section is since I like it all – even the Extras has sweet footage. The soundtrack is very diverse with music from The Pretenders, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Stereolab, James Brown and Motorhead - just to name a few!

I can finally give my copy of Earthed 2 a much needed break! Earthed 3 is in for a long run! I simply can’t stop watching it - It’s permanently attached to my laptop and follows me everywhere. I’ve been watching bits of it every single day since getting my copy. I know movie reviews are subjective, but I urge you to get Earthed 3:Europa – you will not be disappointed!

Extras
Again – mad props to Alex and Mark at 4130 Publishing Ltd for sending me a copy from the UK! You guys are the best!

Now I need to go out and ride!


Be the first to get E3 once it hits our store. We are taking pre-orders: Pre-Order Earthed 3:Europa here

Alex Rankin's personal site
Earthed 3:Europa site
4130 Publishing Ltd