First Watch: 'Return to Earth' by Anthill Films
Note: I have previously done freelance video work for Anthill, so this is by no means an unbiased review, I just wanted to share a few quick thoughts.
In 2019 we’re absolutely spoiled for mountain bike video content. Each day here on Pinkbike we’re treated to the latest and greatest from riders and filmmakers around the world... but there's still a mystique about feature-length movies. It’s like listening to one song versus an entire album.
Return to Earth is Anthill Film’s sixth movie and, at this point, you know what you’re getting with an Anthill production: world class riding, stunning cinematography, and great tunes. The film’s stated goal is to motivate us all to get off our phones, to get our heads out of the clouds and return to earth. It’s an inspired idea and one that’s carried throughout the film by a gravelly-voiced narrator.
RTE sees the Ants looking backward, borrowing music cues and the cedar tree logo from their days as The Collective. The soundtrack features an all star Dad rock lineup, with songs by The Band, The Beach Boys, Steppenwolf, and The Mamas & The Papas, among others. It sounds like someone at the office raided the jukebox of a 1970’s FM station.
Stand-out segments belong to the usual suspects: Brett Rheeder showcases why he’s the defending Red Bull Rampage champion, riding some of the most stunning snowboard-inspired builds we’ve yet seen in Utah; Thomas Vanderham and Ryan Howard’s stylish dissection of Quebec’s foliage is another highlight. The ending segment is an instant classic, bringing nine riders together to ride a gorgeous Hawaiian mountain top, culminating in a tightly choreographed crossover jump with multiple riders in the air at the same time.
Anthill is rightly famous for their Whistler Bike Park segments over the years and Return to Earth is no exception. My favourite segment in the movie features a gaggle of groms, aged 10-15, from Squamish and Whistler including Max Wittenburg (son of director Darcy Wittenburg), Jackson Goldstone, Dane and Jakob Jewett, Anthony Shelley, and Mateo Quist. These kids ride the bike park just as hard as pros twice their age and watching this segment is guaranteed to put a smile on your face - as well as making us jealous we didn’t have bikes like this at their age. The future looks bright.
Anthill’s last effort Unreal pushed the conceptual limits of what a mountain bike film could be, each segment featured an outside of the box concept and complicated logistics. Return to Earth is much more modest in its scale and ambition. It seeks to inspire us to step away from the screen and go ride your bike. Who can argue with that goal? Watch this film, then go ride your bike.
You can buy Return to Earth on Apple, Vimeo, Google Play, and Amazon Prime. The 4K Apple Store version is $14.99 CAD.
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From a studio that is known for producing hits & levelling up the standard that they had set from their last film, it feels very lacklustre and leaves you disappointed.
Call me critical, but here is how I see it.
- To say the film is 47 minutes isn't right. It is closer to 37 minutes + long credits with bloopers.
- It's bitsy. The film doesn't flow very well, with very fragmented sections.
- The concept isn't clear when watching. I know it is meant to be about disconnecting, returning to earth, and paying attention to what is around you in nature, but you loose site of that idea when watching. It feels like a glorified shredit.
- The soundtrack sucks. The cinematography is great, but some tracks make you want to turn the film off.
1) the only thing that didn't flow for me was the whole Patagonia segment. A lot of "disconnecting" from the world, but the rest of the video was basically edited and shot for the songs they picked. Shreddit style, but the cinematography was amazing.
2) the songs they picked were different, they start with a dope new-sound type of track, then throw it back to the 70s tracks, which worked really well for what they were shooting (in my opinion)
I loved the whistler segment along with the hawaii segment, they were just plain freaking cool. Seeing the kids shred harder than anyone I personally know was really neat to watch.
My opinon is skewed because personally, I love 70s music (even though I'm a professional DJ by trade), it just has a good vibe to it, especially paired with world-class riding and cinematography. I never considered your insight before but after reading your comment, I have to agree on a few things, but just disagree on a few others. Thanks for your input and getting the conversation going!
While I LOVED the segment with the kids in Whistler, my biggest gripe with the video is that it really felt like they made mountain biking about the jumps and tricks rather than what most of us do when we go out for a ride. For a film about Return(ing) to Earth, they sure seemingly spent a lot of time and energy modifying Earth to make that Rampage-esque trail. I would have thought there would have been more focus on Singletracks rather than Slopestyle courses.
I get that footage of people climbing isn't exciting (unless it's Chris Akrigg), but a little footage of riders struggling up something instead of just ripping down would have been welcome.
Where's the footage of the guy or girl who's just gotten out of the office and is riding alone in the forest to decompress from the work day? That certainly would have felt more of a Return to Earth to me than Rheeder riding off the side of a cliff.
www.ted.com/talks/albert_laszlo_barabasi_when_in_life_are_you_most_likely_to_succeed
But then again it's very hard to top that masterpiece, so maybe I'm just spoiled.
The riding is still amazing though.
It's on my program for this or next evening after reading all these comments though.
Corny 'Life Cycles ' esque voiceover (Life Cycles was nearly 10 years ago!!) No real standout wow section. Classic pop music I like but didn't fit with riding in my opinion.
Unreal was cheesy but at least done in a tongue in cheek kind of way and with some real wow sections and amazing locations.
Gamble was just total fun , cool places, riders and a jokey theme with raw DH action.
I'm pretty disappointed after all the waiting and all the hype
But I always pay to support these films.
Return to Earth was the exact opposite of these scenes. It was a glorified shredit of slopestyle-esque scenes with no story or human connection whatsoever.
Think unreal probably did a better job of the same story line?
There is some gold but you might have turned the film off by the time it gets there.
Frankly, I tried to watch the last 50:01 edit, and a bunch of bros riding the same 10 lines in a bowl while some unknown (to me at least) hip hop played in the background. I got through five minutes and moved on. I can appreciate the talent and progression, but its just not very entertaining. (This is sort of an apples/oranges comparison, but I digress)
At least with Return to Earth there was some real cinematography, original music and a concept. Plus the final scene with all the riders flowing behind the lead bike was really well done and original. Also the grom scene was tugging at my heart strings as a father, and the R-Dog/Vanderham scene just made me want to go ride.
Would I spend some amount of my income to own it, probably not, but I really don't spend any money on movies. Was the $10 I spent at the theater worth it? Absolutely. I got a bitchin' XTR shirt, some nice Pro bar end plugs (like six sets) a cool poster, a bunch of stickers my three-year-old has plastered everywhere and a big dumb rubber band for my phone. Plus a beer, an evening out and I enjoyed a great 37 min biking movie.
Bloody love me some RedBull TV \m/