Random Baker Stuff

Are all of my reviews going to start out with, "I didn't plan on seeing this video, but as the premiere got closer, I got more and more pschyed about it?" Well, this one is. Baker has always been a bit more of an "underground" company, when compared to the mainstream, and they've always been appealing to skaters because most skaters can relate to their type of skating, in a way.

Anyways, back to the video... Baker 3 is probably one of the frontrunners for Best Video of the Year. The editing is clean and not too artsy, most of the soundtrack is good (I liked the use of 'Street Hassle' in between each part), and, although I'm not a fan of having so many 'end of part hammers' coming from some of the same spots in a single video (Wilshire 15, Carlsbad Gap) the skating is top notch.

Erik Ellington - owner of one of the best BS bigspins in skateboarding, kicks off the video. His part is a lot better than his part in the Emerica video. He has some real 'steez' (for lack of a better word) in his tricks. My only pet peeve was that he skated somewhat slow in lines. Watch out for the gap to back lip, the kickflip footplant on the picnic table, and his ender down the Carlsbad gap.

Jeff Lenoce - his part was much shorter when compared to the rest of the parts, but what he lost in length, made up for in style. It looks like he's saving a good amount of his footage for the Lakai video, but he still had some gems in here - the three tricks over the fence, the alley-oop BS nollie over the rail, and his switch nose manny fakie inward heel out on the Courthouse stage - he popped so close to the ledge it looked like he was going to bash his nose on the wall. Second best style on the team.

Braydon Szafranski - had a lot of hammers in his part, but he made them look good, so it doesnt bother me. So many of his tricks could have been enders, but some of the standouts were kf bs smith a hubba, cab flip a nine, and the fs blunt bs flip out at the ADP hubbas in Miami. What bothers me about his part, however, was his gear - it was seriously wack as hell! Headbands, muscle shirts, leather jackets - it seems like he's trying to pass off as a Guns N' Roses member.

Antwuan Dixon - could very well become the next big thing in skateboarding. He already has everything that it takes- great style, original tricks, good lines- he has it down. No matter what trick he's just done, or what it was down, it looks like he just did on flatground - yeah, it's that smooth. Some tricks that stood out were the nollie fs shove down a big double set, noseslide nollie bigspin out on a hubba, and the epic third try nollie heel down the Carlsbad gap. This is one kid not to be slept on.

The Friends Section has some good stuff in it- Darrell Stanton's firecracker down Hollywood High stood out in paticular. It also has skating from Eric Koston, but it's still just a 'friends' section.

Dustin Dollin - he's seriously crazy, both on and off his skateboard. His part is crazy, as well - some might argue it to be the best of the entire video. Some seriously sick stuff - channel kickflip wallride to fakie, kickflip crooks down Hollywood High, shot of heavy liquor to first try bs 50-50 a handrail, and his ender – kickflip bs 50-50 down a steep, 14-stair rail. And he caught the board and landed on the rail halfway down the rail, too. It was made much more exciting knowing that he was probably drunk. Also had some nice pool and ditch skating mixed in, as well.

The Kids Section was a suprise to me- I didnt even know Baker had a kids team. These guys are probably flow, or something. The kids are Theotis Beasley and Rammy Issa. Theotis took up most of the section, and he has one of the best little kid styles I have ever seen. Rammy may only be about 12 (I'm guessing), but he can still 360 flip and fs flip massive stair sets. It's hard to believe I've never heard of them before.

Andrew Reynolds - had to have worked pretty hard to film a video part better than his Emerica part. To prevent his part from becoming boring, he threw in a trippy section in the middle of his part, where everything around him is blurry, but he's not. I was totally feeling that. He does one of the biggest shifty flips I have ever seen- down Rincon, when he catches it, his knees are at his chest. And he totally kickflips El Toro- just kidding, but he does fs Flip a 17. Also full cabs down the Wilshire 15 as his ender. Possibly my favorite part.

Terry Kennedy - I was severely dissapointed with Terry's part. I mean, think about it. He has all of the footage left over from his Element part that never happened, and than footage from before he quit Baker for the first time. That's about three years of skating. He talks trash too much, too. I mean, talking trash is okay, but only if you can put out a video part to match it. However, on a positive note, I really liked the gap kickflip manual and the fakie ollie lip on a steep, 14-stair rail. Overall, probably the weakest part of the video.

Kevin Spanky Long - lately, I've been pschyed on Spanky's coverage - it looks like he's really diversified his skating, and his part really showed it. I think he skated about seven handrails in his part. It's a bunch of stuff you wouldnt expect to see in this kind of video. Caveman jump darkslide a handrail, pole jam nose manual, bs 360 kickflip off of a wave thing - it was all stylish and original. Standout part of the video.

Jim Greco - watching Greco fight that black guy in the beggining of his part was one of the funniest things I have seen in a skate video. He skated to 'Chinese Rocks,' by Johnny Thunder. His part has a lot of nice 'hammers,' like a drop off of a roof onto a smaller roof and onto the street (I guess you have to see it), bs tail the trunk of a car from this sidewalk bump, and the ender on the Wilshire 15 (We didn't need to see it three times). However, he had a lot of sketchy landings, and basically no lines in his part. But I liked it anyways.

Bryan Herman - took the honor of last part. His style is so clean - he lands everything perfect, which got sort of boring in some parts. But he does one of the cleanest 360 flips I have ever seen - and it was down a 15-set! The nollie inward heel down the MACBA was sick, and his hardflips are seriously to die for. He catches them so perfectly. His ender was original, too - I'm not going to give it away, but the trick isn't done again in the video. Nice way to end the video.

Ali Boulala and Beagle both had short parts after the outro. Ali's part was pretty funny, and had good stuff as well, like an fs boneless down 14 stairs, and an iceplant fakie on this insanely tall quaterpipe. Beagle's stuff was sick, considering he's a filmer. Nollie shove to firecracker was my favorite trick he did, but overall, his part's nothing special (compared to the rest of the video). Overall, Baker 3 is a pretty good buy, if you want a mainly 'hammer' video. It's fun to watch, good skating, and isn't short - it's about an hour long. I wasn't feeling the lack of bonus features, however. See if your shop will play it for you if you think you might not like it, but otherwise, go for it!