Movie Review: Icy Riders |
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Author: Mike Werner Location: Normandy, France |
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 Our friends at Choppertown Nation  , you know, the guys that made the great motorcycle documentaries Choppertown: The Sinners and Brittown amongst others, are distributing another motorcycle documentary. This one has got nothing to do with choppers, or even motorcycles in the USA.
racing guys (in fact I didn't see a single female racer, but I'm sure there are female riders) that consider summer to be boring, and look forward to those cold snowy winter months. The DVD follows Per Olof "Posa" Serenius , a Swedish biker who can be considered the Valentino Rossi of ice speedway racing. In a sport dominated by the Russians, he's a multi-time world champion of the event, and despite his 50-odd years, he's still competing. Ice speedway racing consists of 4 motorcycles, some 500cc, going around an oval track for 4 laps. The motorcycles have two speeds, go and go faster (no brakes). But they make up for it by having 3 centimeter (2.5 inch) long steel spikes in the tires. Those steel spikes give them an incredible grip on the concrete hard ice track. But for many, it doesn't give 100% grip, since many, including the hero, crash in the DVD. And when they crash it is spectacular, since the speeds are high, and the spikes come dangerously close to human bodies. When the camera crew visit one of the crashed riders at the hospital, they ask him if he's going to race again. His answer "of course"... Posa goes to Russia to compete in the Mecca of ice speedway racing, from Moscow to Siberia. If you think the Rossi of speedway has a luxurious life, think again. Just watch the movie. Racing in Siberia must be an incredible challenge! They need to use a blow torch to unthaw the shock absorbers and cylinders on their bikes before they can race... that's how cold it gets. The DVD shows a world you never realized was there. It also gives a retrospective of the biker scene in Sweden in the 70's. Most of the DVD is in Swedish, with English subtitles, though some English is spoken (and Dutch, Russian and German). It's a very interesting documentary, were I was spellbound in front of the TV watching it. It's such a strange and different world. It's worth buying it. Have a look at the DVD teaser below to get an idea. Price: US$24.95 Click here to buy the DVD . Icy Riders Teaser (1 minute 3 seconds)
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