The Crash Reel

My email to a friend who recommended the movie to me: Hey, so I just watched "The Crash Reel" and I dunno if I've ever cried that much to a movie.

While this wasn't the deciding factor, it certainly opened up a look into a very scary aspect of life and I would appreciate one on the football side of things, because you don't even need to experience an actual accident to realize the side effects of brain trauma. Football has natural side effects and from the sounds of it, some don't even occur until years later.

I just kept thinking "Nope, my kid's not doing this." I love snowboarding, and I hope they'll want to experience it someday...but that adrenaline addiction is what hurts the most. I think education about addiction needs to be pushed in schools, but...what's scary is...When "Just say no" commercials serve as advertisements for a drug... ...maybe healthy balance should be taught in schools.

Either way, the kid, Kevin Pearce, is a good influence.

All the synopses of this movie stress the rivalry between Shaun White and Kevin Pearce but I felt this documentary had very little to do with White (and the actual "rivalry" seemed very one sided). The footage (quality and volume) is admirable, but I wish the narrative was a little more focused. Is it a documentary about Kevin's struggle? Or about the snowboarding community? Or about the danger of extreme sports? If it's trying to be all three, I really wish they pointed the lens at the real culprit: events like the X-Games that celebrate and instigate athletes to do bigger, faster and more dangerous tricks in pursuit of glory. I appreciated the patience of this documentary, compiling footage over 4 years to follow Kevin's personal arc from desperate to return to what he believes makes him whole, to an understanding that he is not (and never will be) the person he was before the accident. He's an endearing protagonist, so this was a very watchable film.

If you like snowboarding or not I think this is an amazing look into a life of and amazing person with an amazing family. Kevin is a superstar snowboarder when a tough break forces him into changing his entire life. This piece of work is so well done. One of my favorite documentaries of all time.

Absolutely loved this film! I randomly turned it on (on HBO) and was immediately interested, even though I don't know much about snowboarding. It was interesting to learn about competitive snowboarding & how dangerous it is. Clearly there needs to be more regulations in extreme sports- and at the very very least competitors should be covered under their sponsors, the venues or the media's (who's covering them) insurance. I was so glad to hear Kevin's sponsors stuck with him thru out his ordeal.

I feel in love with the Pierce family who are so loving!

Best of luck to you KP in whatever you choose to do now!

I'm a skier and have hitherto always found a certain type of snowboarder a little annoying. I'm not stating this to be confrontational or anything but simply to illustrate how successful The Crash Reel is. Not only is it very well made and emotionally strong but it has instilled in me a new found respect for snowboarding. It tells the story of Kevin Pearce, a snowboarder who was a favourite to make the American Winter Olympic team for Vancouver 2009. He was the main rival for Shaun White – the greatest boarder there has been – and he was slowly picking up trophies and his career was about to go into hyper-drive. It was at this point that he suffered an accident on a half-pipe that left him brain damaged. It's a story that has been told in different parts – firstly as a sports documentary about the rise of a new star, then about a man trying to recover from a brain injury and lastly about acceptance and wisdom gained through experience. In adopting this approach it covers a lot of ground and leaves you with a lot of different things to ponder over, such as the dangers of snowboarding and the importance of the family unit.

In some respects the scariest thing about The Crash Reel was how easily and innocuously the fateful accident happened. It wasn't a spectacular crash but one you could easily envisage happening to any boarder capable of tackling the big half-pipes. It makes you ponder the very real dangers involved in the sport and how quickly everything can change. The tragedy of Pearce is that he instantly became a young man unable to do the one thing he excelled at. But as the film later illustrates he was lucky, as we learn of different boarders and skiers who are actually killed. The film functions partly as a warning about the dangers of extreme sports both physically and psychologically. But it also celebrates the sport too with lots of incredible snowboarding footage. But it's the family scenes that often leave the biggest impression. The Pearce's are clearly a strong and loving family and their many scenes with Kevin, trying to reason with him about not getting back on a board again are heart-felt. It's in these moments that the other star of the documentary emerges, namely Kevin's brother David who suffers from Downs Syndrome. David was often the voice of reason and was an extremely fascinating character. It made me think that we simply never hear the voices of people who suffer David's condition. And judging by The Crash Reel it is a voice well worth hearing.

All-in-all, this is an excellent documentary that scores points in several areas. It made me go away and think about things and that's really what it's all about at the end of the day.