Without question, The Tony Hawks Pro Skater franchise is infamous for bringing back a revival of Street and Vert Skateboarding into the mainstream. Pretending I’m a Superman is a lovingly made documentary by award-winning director Ludvig Gür on behalf of D’Amato Productions and Wood Entertainment. Let’s Ollie into the review with the official synopsis:
Synopsis:
“The skateboarding industry was going through a major crisis in the early 90s, with popularity nosediving and the certainty of the skaters’ livelihoods unknown. But that was all about to change with the introduction of the X-Games, and the debut of one of the world’s most influential video game franchises. In 1999, the video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater shook the world when it sold 9 million copies upon release and changed the skateboarding scene forever.
Complimenting the reboot of the beloved Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 games in 2020,
PRETENDING I’M A SUPERMAN tells the story behind the game that changed lives and shaped a generation. From award-winning Swedish director Ludvig Gür and acclaimed videogame producer Ralph D’Amato, Pretending I’m A Superman is the story of the skaters and developers who came together to create the best-selling gaming franchise, as well as a look into how skateboarding became a part of the mainstream and continues to influence modern culture.
Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with legendary skater Tony Hawk, as well as industry stars Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, and Eric Koston, Gür takes audiences through an intimate yet extraordinary journey, chronicling the meteoric rise of skate boarding’s most famous name.”
The Story of Skateboarding
Pretending I’m a Superman does a great job of providing viewers with a rundown of Skateboarding before the X Games and Tony Hawks Pro Skater franchise. Instead of the usual blanket coverage of a movement’s history, Superman focuses in on key moments and figures within the industry that represent a change or improvement.
The overall pacing of the documentary keeps viewers hooked, providing insights previously pondered about for gamers, skaters and casual enthusiasts alike. Pretending I’m a Superman strikes a good balance between archive footage, new interviews and action shots. This links in with the aforementioned pacing of the film, creating a great starting point for newcomers to research the Tony Hawks Pro Skater franchise in time for the remasters release on September 4th.
Though the Looking Glass of THPS
The production quality is superb. Edits are timed correctly and often leave quiet moments after an interviewee has finished talking. This helps capture the gravity of what’s been said and allows viewers to absorb the vibe of the moment. Establishing shots of all the skaters are subtle which portrays legendary skaters such as Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, and Eric Koston simply as enthusiasts of the movement.
Pretending I’m a Superman never takes itself to seriously, lending it’s approach to storytelling and fact-finding to that of a genuine enthusiast of the Tony Hawks Pro Skater Franchise and the Skateboarding movement. This is thanks to the great team that has surrounded the project over the last two years.
An Honest Documentary
Pretending I’m a Superman gets into covering the initial production, level design and how Tony Hawk got on board with Activision’s new Skate game around halfway through the documentary. This in-depth walkthrough told by the Birdman himself provides a brilliant insight into just how much of a surprise success the first instalment of the franchise was.
Eric Koston states candidly that he thought it was a cheesy move, just like the then-new X-Games and mainstream coverage of the sport. It would take an injury and two months lying on a couch to realise how important Tony Hawks Pro Skater was for professional skaters and enthusiasts alike.
Pretending I’m a Superman doesn’t pull any punches either, giving time towards the end of the documentary to the decline of sales after Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. Whilst Tony Hawks Underground was a fun outing, the original formula had become too bloated. The Tony Hawks Ride and Shred releases were timed poorly for the ‘Guitar Hero’ crowd, claims that are backed up by Tony Hawk himself.
There’s a Place Where Everyone Can Be Happy…
Speaking of Guitars, John Feldmann of legendary American Punk Rock band ‘Goldfinger‘ steps up to the plate to explain what the franchise did for bands that were otherwise at the mercy of record companies and distributors. Of course, Goldfinger wrote the now-iconic track entitled ‘Superman’.
The original Tony Hawks Pro Skater released before the internet caught on, which provided American-Based bands to reach new fans worldwide. This is just one reason why the Tony Hawks Franchise Is held dear by so many people.
Pretending I’m a Superman is a great watch for everyone. It’s honest yet focused content provides a great insight into one of the biggest gaming franchises and extreme sports. Even if you have no interest in either, It’s great to watch how an idea in a small office turned into a cultural shockwave that is still felt today.
Pretending I’m a Superman is out now on all major US streaming services, a UK release date is TBC. Runtime: 72 mins.
Credits:
Director: Ludvig Gür
Ludvig Gür is an award-winning director living in Stockholm, Sweden. He has directed various short films in the horror genre. Gür’s latest work of fiction, The Outsider has been shown at festivals across the globe, winning multiple awards. It was picked up for distribution online by ALTER, a division of Gunpowder & Sky. Apart from his work with fiction, he has mainly directed documentaries, in both short and feature-format. Some of his other work includes a mini-documentary about the legendary punk band Bad Religion and more.
Producer: Ralph D’Amato
Ralph D’Amato has an extensive variety of production experience under his belt. He started in production on the billion-dollar Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game franchise where he was a producer on the first 8 titles. During that time his production tasks included character art, animation, legal, licensing and interacting with the skaters and their sponsors. His responsibility also included the soundtracks for the video games, one of which won the first-ever MTV Video Music Award for Video Game Soundtrack, Tony Hawk’s Underground.
After departing the video game franchise, he went on to become Director of New Media for Tony Hawk Incorporated. There, his main goal was to create an
action sports portal. He did so through a partnership with FunnyOrDie.com and the site became one of the most visited Action Sports websites on the internet, ShredOrDie.com, which eventually became Tony Hawk’s Ride Channel on YouTube.
The Crew:
Austin Droguett – Director of Photography
Since a young boy, Austin has had a strong connection and affinity for photography and the importance of capturing “That Moment.” Austin and his childhood friends would make little films constantly, and he would take his father’s camera with him everywhere he went capturing every little thing he could. Austin graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelors degree in Film and Video Production specializing in Cinematography. After graduating he moved down to
Los Angeles, where he went straight to work in the film industry. Working his way up the camera department, to where he is now, a Director of Photography/Cinematographer.
Jonathan McHugh – Music Supervisor
McHugh has produced over 30 films and TV shows, music supervised over 75 films and produced many gold, platinum, Emmy and Oscar-nominated film and TV show soundtracks.
His experience working in the marketing departments of film companies like New Line Cinema and DeLaurentis Entertainment puts him in the unique position of being able to create as well as market strong visual media content.
As a film producer McHugh produced hit films like Paramount’s “Justin Beiber: Never Say Never,” “Crossroads” starring Britney Spears, as well as the Janis documentary, “Janis: Little Girl Blue” , Morgan Spurlocks “Greatest Movie Ever Sold” and many others. As a TV producer McHugh has helped produce great music-oriented series content like Viacom’s “Sun Records” and Discovery’s “Battleground Earth.”
Sam Young – Sound Recordist
Growing up in Northern California in the 80’s and 90’s, immersed in the skateboarding,
snowboarding and punk/metal music scenes, Sam went on to play guitar professionally in a heavy metal band. Spending time in studios recording music is his passion, but he found that recording sounds in general was equally fascinating. Transitioning across the console into recording and mixing sound for TV and Film lead him to his love of documentaries.
Patrik Forsell – Editor
Patrik has edited more than 40 projects in the last eight years, including features, shortfilms, music videos and commercials. He’s edited films that won Swedish Academy Awards, won prizes and been nominated at festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, San Sebastian, Gothenburg IFF, Clermond-Ferrand ISFF and many more. He’s located in Gothenburg.
