Reviewed: Hypnosis - Visual Intensity

Look deep into my eyes and relax – you will now experience some of the most intense racing footage you’ve ever seen. After waking up from your trancelike state, all you will want to do is ride, ride, ride and ride some more!!
Chapters 1-10
Chapters 11-20
Bonus Menu
It still feels like it was just yesterday when Clay released his first movie The Spectacle – now 3 years later his most anticipated release is finally ready to be experienced! Clay’s goal for this movie was to not only cover all the North American races, but also hit the World and World Cup finals. The idea behind Hypnosis was to make it with a documentary style of filmmaking and give the viewers some insight into the courses, riders and the sport of DH racing.

Visual Intensity
I was expecting to get my dirty hands on this movie before Christmas, but the release date got pushed out – it was worth the wait though! Clay’s movies are getting better and better with every new release, and Hypnosis is no exception. Hypnosis was shot in 2 continents, 4 countries and 12 states. It also features 13 International riders who shares their personal views of the courses and describes other racers riding styles – very cool!

There is a lot of footage of Aussie riders – not because Clay favors Aussies, but simply because at this point in time they are the dominating force in DH racing. Jared Graves, Sam Hill and Nathan Rennie are some of the fastest racers on the circuit right now.


I really like the format of the movie. There are rider interviews and features in between the race footage. Clay tried to include these candid moments in the film because it’s cool to see pros joking around at the races – give you an idea of their personality and sense of humor.

Inspired by Transcontinental, Clay puts a lot of thinking behind each movie and tries to give us as much ‘fresh’ content as possible. What I mean by this is that even if he’s filming the same riders on the same courses as last year – he will do his best to shoot from different angles at different spots. All this so that it doesn’t give you the impression of a re-run episode.


The music selection has also vastly improved. Clay parted with the local band music in favor of more popular bands such as Jurassic 5, Del the Funky Homosapien, Rancid, Rise Against, Suicidal Tendencies and RJD2 just to name a few.

As expected the movie is solid and the racing footage it top notch. Other than some US Open, Angle Fire and Fort William footage, it’s hard to believe all the footage in Hypnosis was captured by one single guy using a hand held camcorder. Additionally, just like The Spectacle, The Second Spectacle and Synopsis, Hypnosis doesn’t feature any cliff drops, carcass hucks, stunts, MX or BMX – it’s all, balls out, mountain bike racing! Although there is one DJ section and a few quarry sessionning sections. In total there’s about an hour and 45 minutes of footage.


Sam Hill wins the prize for the gnarliest drift. While coming down Mammoth’s Kamikaze course; at full click he just lets it all hang out in this long sweeping right hand corner – incredible! One of my favorite chapter is Nathan Rennie’s segment – he sure knows know to manhandle a bike and sure doesn’t let the track take him for a ride! Kirkcalide said it well when asked what he thought about Rennie’s riding style: “He pretty much tells the course what’s UP! Get out of my way, I’m comin’!!” That quote also put a big smile on my face for some reason.

Sam Hill pinned!
Let’s not forget the Bonus section which contains extra bonus footage, including a “Director Commentary” version of the movie. In the director’s cut you have Clay porter, Scott Hart, Duncan Riffle and Shawn Spomer giving you insight throughout the movie.


Clay wanted me to give my personal thoughts - like what I liked, what I hated, etc.. Honestly I cannot fault Hypnosis - this is Clay's best film yet! I liked movie format (e.g. chronological race order, rider interviews in between races, 4x/DS first then DH). I also like the fact that Clay didn't add any annoying scratching effects, no tricks, no hucks, and no lame filling.

The only improvements I could suggest:
1) Cut all the Dirt Jump footage all together (e.g. Needles, Bryn). It’s a race video after all. Or just add it to the Bonus section but not in the main feature.

2) Same for those quarry sections (with Kovarik). I rather see some footage of riders on their DH bikes pinning it on their local trails – not dirt jumping.

3) Sam Hill's section is good - but in my opinion doesn't show how fast he REALLY is. Could have been better.

Cheers!
Hypnosis will be available shortly via our Pinkbike online store – so keep an eye out, you’ll definitely want to add this title to your DVD collection.