Has everyone seen Prime?

Just curious how everyone is feeling about the video. Kilgus film are always highly anticipated.

Personally I loved it. I loved the way it was formatted to not just be long individual sections. My favorite section was Josh and Trever riding doubles. They did an amazing job, and the risk level was super high. The section ends with a crazy crash. I thought Shota's section was incredible. So much energy and life in his riding. He goes HUGE!

Third favorite was Dowdy Vs. Harley. The level of riding was intense. I liked what they had to say about each other, although, Dowdy made a comment that made me feel like he's not a fan of many riders, unless I just misinterpreted it. Anyone know what I'm referring to?

I felt the opposite, major build up then let down. Too many repeat tricks, there just was no "wow". Likely because the bangers were either already shown elsewhere, or they just aren't bangers like they were when they were landed. Dowdy said he doesn't respect/like but a few riders in the industry, Harley being one of them. Didn't realize his attitude on everyone else. I have to wonder what Kilgus will do next film now that Drones are so popular, no need for all the helicopters and footage of them.

I personally would not recommend purchasing this video.

I did mean to say that Harley and Dowdy's riding, as well as the Twelker section were impressive, but nothing more than the web edits have shown.

Are they going to be putting this movie up for rent on Amazon or ITunes? I haven't seen it yet and won't be buying it, but would throw a digital download rental at it.

Originally Posted by trayson

Are they going to be putting this movie up for rent on Amazon or ITunes? I haven't seen it yet and won't be buying it, but would throw a digital download rental at it.

You can preorder it on iTunes now. I believe it will be released around 12/9...

I thought the quality was amazing.. besides that there wasn't to much that impressed me.

The movie was really slow and didn't give me a stoke to go ride.

I also really did not like the 3 to 4 different angles on one trick in slow motion all the time. Here and there would have been ok.

I'm a fan of Kilgus but this one didn't do it for me...

Yeah I was a little let down. The riding was phenomenal and the film quality was great but way too much slow motion and I didn't like 80% of the music. As stated above, it didn't make me psyched to go ride.

It was ok, didn't bring the wow factor that defy did. I liked it overall better than defy but just expected a lot of new hammers and didn't see them.

Man I'm not sure what you guys are looking for in a wake movie?! Insane camera angles, the best riding in the industry and a variety of it at that, and excellent editing. I thought they killed it, I can't think of a video that can come close to comparing personally. The riding really did it for me though, there's tons of style tricks and then there's tons of double flips and 1080's from multiple riders too not to mention everything is huge!

Just out of curiosity for the guys who didn't like it what do you think is better? (Serious question, just curious)

Originally Posted by fizzz

Man I'm not sure what you guys are looking for in a wake movie?! Insane camera angles, the best riding in the industry and a variety of it at that, and excellent editing. I thought they killed it, I can't think of a video that can come close to comparing personally. The riding really did it for me though, there's tons of style tricks and then there's tons of double flips and 1080's from multiple riders too not to mention everything is huge!

Just out of curiosity for the guys who didn't like it what do you think is better? (Serious question, just curious)

It was good but I liked Al Sur better

If people stop buying full length videos they will cease to exist. I worry that while cable videos will be on the rise, films focussed more on boat riding will be on the decrease. For all the hard work the riders and filmers put into these projects, to pay $12 or whatever to own it seems crazy cheap to me.

I haven't seen prime yet but Al Sur was an excellent video too.

Originally Posted by 501s

If people stop buying full length videos they will cease to exist. I worry that while cable videos will be on the rise, films focussed more on boat riding will be on the decrease.

People watch cable vids?

I also like Al Sur a lot.

Al Sur was awesome, but it had more of a core riding feel. I love that too, but there's also something attractive to me about the big budget production. The different angles, the quality of the shot, the cinematography etc..... I like both types of videos.

I didn't notice a shortage of "bangers" I thought the riding was insane. True, there wasn't much that we haven't seen before, but what do you expect? With social media and short films, there is very little delay between the time that something new goes down, and us getting to see it.

What makes a great film for me is the FUN factor and fresh ideas. Like Trever and Josh riding doubles....charging the wake at the same time, both in the air, landing one behind the other, knowing that if something goes wrong, they're both going to pay big time. They almost did! I thought that was amazing. Trever alone brought a lot of life to that film. The guy is always so happy and positive (unlike most people here), and fired up on life. Maybe since I know these guys it was a little more personal to me.

Shota also was super fun to watch. I'm assuming that he hasn't landed many ts 1080s judging by his celebration. It was cool to see him be so stoked after that. We've all been there. I appreciated that it wasn't just the same line up of Kilgus' favorite bros (except for danny of course). Derek Cook KILLED it. His riding looks miles apart from anyone else. I felt like the video brought a lot of fresh riding and ideas.

Originally Posted by behindtheboat

I have to wonder what Kilgus will do next film now that Drones are so popular, no need for all the helicopters and footage of them.

I personally would not recommend purchasing this video.

I doubt anyone will be attaching $100k RED cameras to drones any time soon.

And in my opinion, this is one of the best wake films out there. What more do you want?
Way better than Defy in my opinion.

I personally get way more stoke by watching old movies like spray, hit it, and everything pre 2010. I enjoy seeing one rider sections that showcase a riders full ability and individuality. Combined sections only really show the riders top 8 or so tricks.

Also in regards to the quality of imaging and breaking the angle mid trick back and forth the whole time, I feel like just because the technology is there doesn't mean it should be used. I made it almost painful to really follow the whole trick. Too slow and too many angle changes.

I agree with Jason. Maybe its just from growing up watching snow/wake vids with individual sections, but I just cant get into videos that throw everyone together. I think it takes away from the individuality of the riders.

They actually do make drones for RED cameras but I do not think helicopters will disappear any time soon.

Originally Posted by seth

I agree with Jason. Maybe its just from growing up watching snow/wake vids with individual sections, but I just cant get into videos that throw everyone together. I think it takes away from the individuality of the riders.

This. And like Jason said.

I used to watch, and rewatch, snow videos the night before we would go ride, to get us pumped... but the wake videos the last 5-6 years do not have the same effect. Speaking of effect, The Butter Effect and LF's The Truth are 2 videos off hand that I absolutely loved. Also, Randall's section's in Transgression....

I preordered Prime and got it this week, watched it on blue ray... WOW!! the quality is unmatched, truly, amazing. The level of riding now is just insane. So many double flips and 10's, from a lot of different people. It just didn't have the stoke factor, or whatever, that I expect.

Twelker and Trevor's section was really fun, watching them ride and JD on the west coast... best part of the whole movie.

I think the music was absolutely terrible. my opinion.
The first couple minutes of the video after you select "play", is terrible. Has a little section of Harley speaking. I thought I made a mistake and accidentally selected the bonus section or something. The video did not come out swinging, and never really got going for me.

I am just old, I think. I like full rider sections, with their own songs that match their style of riding, has a good mix of fun, stylish tricks, a good vibe, finished with a banger line or just hard hitting banger after banger at the end, with the tempo of the music matching the tempo of their riding/edit.

The Truth did this well, Transgression is definitely more of an artists approach, but still with a good video layout.

With that said, I bought it because I want to support and encourage full length big budget videos. The helicopters and their camera angles were amazing. I loved how there were 3-4 angles on one rider every trick, and how they cut and spliced the trick sequence getting a few angles. It was very impressive. The helicopter pilots are amazing, how close they got, and to have the riders able to concentrate and ride with them flying so closely. The video is a good length, so much riding, not a whole lot of lifestyle or fillers... just riding.

I love music, and I think if I would have liked the song choices, then I would have liked the film more.

I def suggest to buy it. For the cinematography and riding level alone. AND that xstar wake looked really good most of the time.

Yea don't get me wrong from my post.. as it was not my favorite I've ever seen, I will still continue to buy full length movies to support the sport as everyone should.

I thought it was great. Both quality of riding and the cinematography.

I wish I could see it in 1080p60 rather than the 480p24 DVD. It's nice I got a Blueray disk, but it's useless to me without a Blueray drive.

That's my one criticism -- besides the DVD, I'd like an option to download a higher quality digital version. I'd actually just choose a digital download instead of the DVD. I know it's available on iTunes, but not everyone lives in Apple's f*ing walled garden.

Originally Posted by ak4life

I thought it was great. Both quality of riding and the cinematography.

I wish I could see it in 1080p60 rather than the 480p24 DVD. It's nice I got a Blueray disk, but it's useless to me without a Blueray drive.

That's my one criticism -- besides the DVD, I'd like an option to download a higher quality digital version. I'd actually just choose a digital download instead of the DVD. I know it's available on iTunes, but not everyone lives in Apple's f*ing walled garden.

I first watched the DVD on my laptop, then I watched the Blu-Ray at home with my 5 year old... huge huge difference for sure. Blu Ray all the way.

I watched it this past week and really enjoyed the high quality shots and unique angles. That being said the video didn't really get me stoked to ride. I felt like Dowdy's comment was either misconstrued or he really said it with the "young kid/too cool" mentality which seems a little odd to throw into a film so many people will see. I wasn't very impressed with the rail riding. I definitely DO NOT mean these guys aren't good rail riders but rather the shots that were picked for the movie seemed like odd choices. I also watched Define Odyssey this week and was much more pumped.

I had a lot going on the week that i received Prime, so it took me a couple of days to actually sit down and watch it.

After Defy, and the Prime trailer that was released, I had set the bar pretty high for this film. It did not disappoint for me at all. I thought the Lake Ronix sessions were amazing, the Delta crew section was off the hook. I have always had crazy respect for wakeskating, but the Battlefalls section just brought that to a whole new level. The slow motion, for me, was a great way to show just how difficult the level of tricks these guys are throwing actually are. Watching these guys ride in person, sometimes its difficult to see exactly what goes into landing some of the tricks the riders are throwing. Honestly, I can't think of a part off the film that i didn't enjoy......

If you haven't already, make sure you watch the Bonus features on the disc as well.

Overall, I am really stoked on Prime, and I would definitely recommend picking up a copy. I manage to find something awesome that i missed every time i watch it, i think I'm on the fourth go around now ;-)

Glad im not the only one who felt the same way as johny did. The footage was incredible and quality was amazing but the music didn't do it for me. I've sat down to watch it twice and fell asleep twice before making it to the end. It has a slower feel to it than other movies. I liked it better than defy and def better than the old school movies with crappy rap demos playing in the background though. I'll always buy these videos because even if they arent exactly to my liking, they're better than nothing. I'm curious if anyone else really liked the soundtrack? I know I'm getting older but I can't say I know anyone from 13-60yr old who would like it. I'm also in ca so maybe it's a regional thing?

Originally Posted by hrwboarder

I watched it this past week and really enjoyed the high quality shots and unique angles. That being said the video didn't really get me stoked to ride. I felt like Dowdy's comment was either misconstrued or he really said it with the "young kid/too cool" mentality which seems a little odd to throw into a film so many people will see. I wasn't very impressed with the rail riding. I definitely DO NOT mean these guys aren't good rail riders but rather the shots that were picked for the movie seemed like odd choices. I also watched Define Odyssey this week and was much more pumped.

Define Odyssey? What's this? I googled it and came up empty

Mitch Langfield and Chris O'Shea Film - Odyssey---->

Personally i thought prime was pretty good, but some parts were kinda of a let down. i think its just sean kilgus's editing, his editing is just really slow and simple. i feel like his editing has slowed down over the years since to the butter effect. Although for films like this it works because the quality of the footage is so good that just small things slowed down look epic, but it can get repetitive (which it did).

Some of the sections had a really fast song but the editing was the same pace. For example, the delta area song was super fast, yet the editing was slow and there could have had wayyyyyy more tricks. another example, mike schwenne was only in the film for 3 hits!!!! what?!!! all the way to mcclure for 3 hits! wow! i can't image how much extra footage there is. also why did they even use the footage from the boat quality? switching back and forth from that and the chase boat was weird, like what Mike D was saying changing of the camera angles. The footage from the boat wasn't great, so why use it?

Thought the music choice was a lot better in comparison to defy. If you go back and rewatch each section individually its better than trying to watch the whole thing. sections i really liked was the west coast section, shota/steel,rusty/bob/etc(favorite), and bonnie doon. In the end i think its pretty good but you HAVE to watch it in blu ray, i just wish sean would speed up his editing ever once in a while.

I guess I'm torn. I'll reiterate what most of you guys didn't like.. Movie was slow. Yeah there were bangers but changing the camera angle doesn't do much when it's the 6th time we're seeing the trick in the movie, let alone having seen in in web clips and shorts from a while ago. Music wasn't for me either, it fit the movie and I think that's the problem. I was actually really put off by Dowdy's comment about not respecting riders and liking even fewer of them. I don't think it was out of context or anything, and it's hard to imagine that would make the film if he didn't mean exactly what he said. More power to him I suppose.

On the other hand, quality was incredible. Seeing all the spray and sunlight shining through the droplets was super cool. Shota's riding was my favorite, everything he does is massive and he just plain has fun wakeboarding. I'll always love the way Dean charges those rolls... When he rides there's really no need for a title or a headshot, it could be filmed with a potato from the bow and we'd know immediately who was riding. Harley's sections were absurd as always, but it was really refreshing to see him do a bunch of 1's and airs out into the flats. Sometimes I have to be reminded that he's not a robot hahaha. I thought the Battle Falls and Lake Ronix stuff was pretty cool, it's crazy what those guys are doing on wakeskates and in/out of the bi-level. The giant wall is both terrifying and awesome, but we can safely chalk the amount/quality of rail riding up to the fact that most of the movie was boat-oriented riders.

Ultimately, all of the riding was impressive, but the west coast guys stood apart from the rest. Call me crazy but I'd venture to say that they're the best wakeboarders around right now. All the double rolls and switch whirly 7's in the world won't beat the poked out stuff that those guys bring to the table. The talk of progression at the beginning of the movie was in reference to all of the doubles and giant spins that went down the past couple years, when really I think the greatest progression right now is returning the focus to style vs. tech. Just IMO.

Does Steel seriously not have a board sponsor?! Still?!

I liked the riding. The Delta/NorCal section was sick, those guys are killing it.

I felt the soundtrack was lacking, but then again I've never really loved the soundtrack to any of Kilgus' films. I think the soundtrack also added to some people saying it felt slow

Boombox changed my life.


This is a great video, but just another one that will collect dust on the shelf. I still have mad love and respect for the full length film, but with the craving we all have for instant gratification movies a few years in the making are old news by the time the hit the self.

Great post Jordan.

Originally Posted by andy_nintzel

Boombox changed my life.


This is a great video, but just another one that will collect dust on the shelf. I still have mad love and respect for the full length film, but with the craving we all have for instant gratification movies a few years in the making are old news by the time the hit the self.

It's hard to disagree, however there were other full length films this year (last 3 or however long it took Prime from start to finish) that are well worth purchasing and that won't collect dust. The Prime formula isn't working, and hasn't for a couple, but no one is listening and wants to bank on boarders just buying and supporting it because.

Just watched. Have been reading these posts leading up to watching it today. Felt a little slow but tricks were sick obviously! Music wasn't the greatest but music is like anything else, all about preference. Compared to recent films this year it is in the middle of the pack. Actually none of the films this year really got me that amped i would say al Sur is the only one that did and simply because of randall harris at the end or Delta Force at the beginning.

With that being said I always have in my mind what a film should look like and to be honest a mix of Al Sur and Prime. I think the grittiness and Music of Al Sur, with the section layout of prime. With that being said I love the classic video section dedicated to one rider with a song that matches the tricks, rider environment. Group sections are cool i like how dowdy and harley were grouped, steel and shota, and delta force. the riders should match each other in style and the music should relate. I like a bit of lifestyle shots in there too like Al Sur and maybe some monologue type interviews like in Prime. (I did not like define odyssey how they should a bunch of partying and drinking then they complain they don't get paid enough money). These monologues should be about what riding means to them and what inspires them and what riders they like to ride with. - Dowdy's comments were pretty disrespectful i thought. He spoke his mind and thats fine but it seemed like he considered himself above most riders.

Overall Pretty good film I hope for the future kilgus uses better music and a faster pace when necessary - match the music with the rider

The best song to rider ever was when Rathy section was put to Marilyn Mansons Dope Show. I forget the video off the top of my head, maybe Global Warning???

Man that song fit that section perfectly!

Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pretty sure I just bombed my microeconomics final because I couldn't stop watching it.
You almost forget how gnarly some of this stuff is when you just see it in slow motion.
but then there's a clip of Harley's double tantrum and you remember what's up lol

I really enjoyed it as well, does anyone think the Debut was better? Two very different styles for sure !!

There was a ton of hype but I thought it was refreshing to see this type of video again.

I never appreciated how long riders go without the handle on Blind Petes until this movie.

Enjoyed the video and no doubt will watch it quite a few more times in the coming weeks.

What I liked:
1) Thought the Cinematography was GREAT, a usual per Kilgus
2) Liked the collection of riders a lot of favorites
3) The Full Length was nice
4) Some great style from the West coast crew, SHOTA going big, and a collection of some of the biggest hammer tricks around today

On the other hand…
1) Nothing we haven't seen before… maybe more clear, different angles… but nothing we haven't seen before.
2) The Debut made me rewind and rewatch sections and tricks over and over again and Al Sur (yup… jumping on the bandwagon), I felt, gave more style and brought me more stoke to ride.

In total: this film bring the shiny, production value, and a lot of the big names we like to watch. As far as showing the masses how wake boarding (boat specifically) looks in its best light and showing the core things most of us who really dig into our "wakeness" value, I think Kilgus' last two films, DEFY and PRIME really accomplished that.

To borrow a music parable: Prime gives you that Top 40 hit. The Debut gives you that Top 40 hit for Cable riding and also brings in the deep cuts of style that only experienced riders with an eye for it would appreciate. A rare hybrid hit. Al Sur, in my opinion, has the most appeal to those of us who like the "deep cuts" style of riding.

Consider this a plug for Al Sur….

i woke up this morning and watched the movie from start to finish before going to work and my evaluation is "mehhhhhh". The cinematography was beautiful and the editing was great but in the age of immediate satisfaction and rapidly dropping online edits, there wasn't one new trick in this film. Harley's section felt like watching his pro tour competition run with less technicality and honestly a little less style. The Dowdy section was unfortunately cut short because he only filmed for a couple of days before blowing his ACL. The mega ramp shots were weak and the tricks were way less tech than the live competitions we have gotten to witness on the mega. Rails were blah and zeach was heavy (I understand that these rails were pretty damn technical and you couldn't pay me to hit one but i'm not a pro wakeboarder). JD to me rode really sick and it is a shame that Red Bull dropped him. I would have loved to see Phil, Bob, and Rathy in the video I was hoping to see some new secret tricks that hadn't been released yet. Style wise, the california section with Maur, Cook, and Twelker was well beyond anyone else and they also incorporated every technical spin everyone else did (and I have never been a WSR supporter). I loved that it was an hour long but was sad that there wasn't a crash section. I give the video a B- to B.

I was a bit worried after reading some of the reviews, but I just watched it last night and liked it. Better than Defy IMO. Really clear footage of solid grabs, etc. with some good angles. Helicopter junkies rejoice as they are included as background scenery in many, many shots! I agree that riding wasn't anything better than you see online and I hated all the cutting up of each trick (especially when they don't show the whole trick), but definitely worth the iTunes price of admission...

Did not like it, Found it very over edited and disappointing, quiet please was much better.

Hard for anything to follow drop the gun really...

I liked it but pretty much of the same similar to Defy but obviously image quality and shot or background and locations were pretty cool..

OH yes I agree with Benax westside section was pretty cool of the less known riders with huge tricks chocked full of mad style..it was my favorite section..