Just watched the first ten mins of my screener copy of Lifecycles. Wow! It looks stunning. This isn’t just a shameless plug for the tour. The film was definitely made to be viewed on the big screen judging by what I’ve seen so far. Not having a Blu Ray player, looks like I’ll have to wait for Thurs to see the full thing. Interested to know what people who have seen it think of the film? Is it as good as it promises to be?

Cheers

Sanny

Actually quite dull.

Surely not as bad as follow me. That was disappointing.

Still, I am looking forward to Thursday all the same.

Does anyone know if they are selling copies on the night?

dave

I’ve seen admittedly in a packed bar in Whistler everybody was blown away .I’ve ordered a copy .

Dave

No copies to sell on thursday night I’m afraid. I only got my screener copies last week. The cinematography is stunning. I watched the first few minutes on an HD TV and it made me want to go and buy a Blu Ray player. Not sure who the first rider is but he banks hard through a corner with his bar skiffing the dirt. It’s the little things like that which made me smile.

There will be some free tyres and things being given away on Thursday night courtesy of Carl at Bike Love. 😀

ach well, maybe santa will be kind to me 😉

Looking forward to it anyways…

chees

dave

I have been waiting for months since I bought the Blu-Ray.
Apparently they are having problems with the menus or something.

the duplication has been a complete f*ck up and there have been lots of people ranting on bike forums about the delays and the fact that a sizeable number of people (including me) were charged for their “pre-order” on Pinkbike

I paid 3 months ago for my HD Blu-Ray copy, have nothing..and no delivery date in site

good job!

Hi folks

There is a statement on the site about the delay re the Blu Ray copies. The orignal delivery date passed as there were problems with the menus on the Blu Ray discs and the packaging supplier significantly underestimated the time they would take to deliver the final product.

I know it has been incredibly frustrating for Derek and Ryan at Stance films as they held back on a release of the film as they had wanted to make sure everything was good to go for their original delivery date. Unfortunately, they have been the victim of circumstances beyond their control and this has been a major headache for them. They are doing everything they can to get the DVDs out as quickly as possible and are just as frustrated as those who are waiting to get them.

I only got my screener copies last week after much running about by Ryan to get things sorted so things are moving in the right direction. Keep an eye on their site for an updated delivery date.

Hope this makes sense?

Cheers

Sanny

Just out of Glasgow screening. Visually stunning and almost felt like I should wipe the mud from my face at some bits. A bit over keen on the slow mo button though

Vast was much more upbeat.

Well organised again Sanny.

A bit over keen on the slow mo button though

+1

A bit too style-over-substance for my liking. Visually stunning so top marks for that, but ultimately lacking in substance. I think the makers got too excited about their new HD kit and forgot about the rest of what makes a film good. If you want to see a 50 minute long slow-mo’ commercial for HD movie making, go see it. If you want to see top riders pushing the limits of what can be done on a bike, stay away.

Interestingly the second film they showed – Vast – made me want to ride my bike much more than LifeCycles.

Vast is a great flick
My 15 week old little girl loves it. Bright colours and good tunes!

Vast is great, but I watched the new Danny Mack vid before so it made the berlin section look well tame.
Still waiting for my BR Lifestyles to arrive.

Was at the Sheffield showing last night. Thought Lifecycles was incredible. Beautifully shot and really well made. Vast on the other hand I thought was really really dull. Some really mediocre looking riding wasting the great settings.

I loved life cycles, made me want to ride, I loved the cinematography but also the slo mo for me showed what happens on and with the bike and the effort and movement required to ride like that, trails looked amazing too.

A brave attempt at not producing the usual movie.

vast in contrast I thought was dull, each to their own, I loved Seasons, my mate thought it was dull, I thought Follow me was ok, he thought it was awesome.

I was at Sheffield last night too.

Beautifully shot and really well made

I can’t argue with that. To be honest I thought Attenburgh’s Planet Earth was dull too. After 5 minutes of being wowed by the new HD cinematography, I generally lost interest until the last 15 minutes where they actually explained how they did it all. I felt the same with LifeCycles, except there wasn’t a good bit at the end.

There was nothing extraordinary about the riding in either Vast or LifeCycles, but the I felt that seeing riders at normal riding speed in a big setting was more inspirational than endless slow mo’ close ups. I could draw an analogy with makers of “special interest” movies but I would know nothing about that 8)

me? – i loved ‘life cycles’ – i’m an aging radio4 listener, i appreciated the gentle pace, lack of thrash metal, modest/accessible riding, and beautiful scenery.

vast was good, but much quicker paced, i struggled to take it all in if i’m honest – and got bored as a result.

that’s not a criticism of the film, more of a confession of my inability to keep up.

So how did the screening itself go? I guess the place was packed out? Anything I could do to enhance the screenings?
Cheers
Sanny

I was just going to comment on that actually. After the poor quality of the sound and vision for both the Seasons and Follow Me showings in Sheffield I was in two minds as to whether to bother with this one but decided to go anyway. I’m so glad I did. They got it pretty much right this time. There were still a couple of slight problems with the sound in places during Lifecycles but they were momentary and not a real problem. The visuals were spot on though.

Much better showing that the last two.

Cheers

The screening was good sanny, packed out as usual, nice setting etc. I think the showroom have done enough of these now to get the bike films showing fairly sorted.

Life cycles does seem to be dividing peoples opinions. There just wasn’t enough riding in to for me and while it was very pretty I’m in no rush to watch it again. I thought Vast was good and it made me want to go and ride, thats what I want from a bike film.

steveh, thanks for summarising my thoughts more succinctly 🙂

Cheers for the feedback guys. It’s always good to get it as it means I can make improvements for the future if necessary. It’s funny how films can polarise opinions. When I first watched Seasons, I was a little bit disappointed. However, I watched it again and rapidly changed my mind – the music, the riding, the narrative structure just clicked and now it’s one of my favourite bike films. Go figure! 😕 I guess that I’m just bloody fickle! As for the sound and visuals, HD is definitely the way to go and I’m hoping that all future films will come on this format. The reproduction on the big screen is noticably better than from a normal DVD source and is as good as film stock.

Cheers

Sanny

It’s funny how films can polarise opinions. When I first watched Seasons, I was a little bit disappointed.

lol. Conversely I really enjoyed Seasons. I loved having something more to it than just the great riding i.e. the interviews.

i want to watch it 😯

so so much.

the teaser trailer online literally gave me shivers down my spine… i’m a complete sucker for HD slow motion and nature photography.

double edged sword though as i’d love to get back into filming and have a play with filming bike stuff… but the money i’d need to invest in getting anything close to the quality i now perve over… kinda stops me in my tracks 🙁

I too was at the Sheffield screening last night.
I thought lifecycles looked beautiful, and benefited from having an attempt at a narrative- it might be corny the old guff about the life of the bike and how it all returns to the earth etc, but it gave the film some sort of a story.The bits of narration helped with the “story line” too.
I liked the section where a bike was stripped and re-built, but then maybe that’s just me!
I thought some of the visual techniques were repeated a bit too much- the scenery changing colour from green to gold etc. I was a bit bored by that.
The riding clearly was awesome, dude. You have to admire the technical ability of the riders, and the film makers for capturing it so well.

I left thinking that it just wasn’t really an original enough idea.
Pleased to have seen it on a big screen though, colours and detail all superb.

Vast on the other hand seemed to be some fairly average riding in stunning locations.
It did make me want to go and ride though- because it looked like the sort of riding I might be able to do.

I guess it depends what you want from a film, something to look at and go “wow”, or something that makes you think- “that looks like fun, I think I’ll have a go”

I watched the screening last night too, very nice visuals but as steve said lacking in actual riding, the early scene with the dude ripping along a singletrack was mint!

Vast was much more realistic riding(for me!)and as it was in europe seemed attainable.

Don’t know whether it’s my short attention span, but I got bored with both films. I think filmmakers seem to think that these things have to run to nearly an hour to make it a ‘money’s worth’ for punters. Personally I’d have preferred a seriously edited down version of each film running no longer than 30 mins. Think I would have been left wanting more rather than bored and uncomfortable.

Watching it on saturday night. 5:15 meet at Nant-yr-arian for a night ride beforehand. Get back to cars and then watch two film with food and beer in the Forestry Centre at Bwlch Nant-yr-arian :o). Going to be a good night :o)

Just found out it has been cancelled until December 11th 🙁

watched it last night too and i actually nearly fell asleep

Saw it in Sheff, thought Lifecycles good but why do we have to have cod philosophical ramblings? They don’t add anything. Vast was entertaining but in a holiday programme sort of way e.g. trying to recognise bits of the Alps you have been to.

why do we have to have cod philosophical ramblings?

it was telling that the opening line – “life is like a river” – brought a ripple of giggles to the auditorium

There seemed to be a lot of yawning and negative moaning throughout Life Cycles. It was a shame, I really enjoyed it.

stilltortoise – Member I could draw an analogy with makers of “special interest” movies but I would know nothing about that

That was exactly my perception, except I’m perhaps coming from a slightly different and more positive angle.

By the way, on the off chance he’s reading, the chap at the Sheffield showing who whooped and shouted YES! when Vast came to a close, that’s one of the funniest bit of obnoxious behaviour I’ve ever seen. Totally unacceptable of course, but totally brilliant. I could almost hear his fist hitting the air.