Nitro Circus: The Movie

I have to say that I was somewhat intrigued when I first came across this docu-movie. I had mixed thoughts to begin with before I watched it - to be honest extreme sports and stunts have never really been my thing. But I thought - you know, why not - looks interesting.

I absolutely loved it! It gives a good story of the crew, including their past, and has a lot of gob-smacking moments - stunts which will make you laugh, cringe, and admire. From start to finish it was thoroughly enjoyable, even if you aren't in to extreme sports to begin with.

Before I came across this I never even knew who Nitro Circus was, or what they did. Now I know what they do, and how they do it. I simply have one word to describe them... Awesome.

Definitely worth a watch - you won't be bored or disappointed. That's a promise! - Just keep an open mind. My only negative was that I never watched it in 3D to begin with. I wish I had have done, and if you can, maybe you should too. You might even enjoy it more than I did.

Everyone in my office agrees that Nitro Circus: The Movie was definitely no Jackass, but I had fun with it none the less. I think it would have been a bit more successful if they had put a few more of the familiar gross out Jokes in or perhaps designed a couple of stunts to go wrong on purpose, but this movie is good in it's own right. The stunts performed are truly dangerous and the few bloopers that do get to see are sure to excite sum laughter. I didn't watch the 3D version in theaters since they're always so packed, but since I rented it from Blockbuster at Home through DISH I beat the crowd and it was waiting for me when I got off work.

This is the first time I have given a film a 10! OK, it's not an adaptation of a Steven King novel, or a special effects laden Sci-Fi epic, what it is, is a group of friends living the dream.

Each 'character' is introduced in a witty and entertaining way, followed by insane stunts. Nitro Circus doesn't have the same cringe factor as Jackass and there's less of the mundane nut shots and basic jerking off that Jackass has, which makes it more appealing to Extreme sports enthusiasts as well as the general public who have grown weary of the Jackass boys trying to out do themselves.

The story is a journey to the live show in Las Vegas, which is explained well enough to keep the viewer entertained and involves 'us' in the excitement and anticipation of the climax of the film.

As mentioned in the title, this is the first film I have given a 10/10, I understand that if you're not into X Games or extreme sports this film may not appeal, but then, it might open your eyes to what some people are prepared to do for your entertainment as well as giving them the adrenalin rush some of 'us' need to live.

My advice is to turn out the lights, grab a few cold beers and enjoy the lunacy.

Action sports are great, literally death-defying stunts even more so! I've been a lifelong fan of this stuff, so I was hooked right away when Nitro Circus came on the air in the mid 2000s. It was like a more extreme stunt-based version of Jackass made by crazy professionals with unbelievable levels of skill in their field (well at least some of them).

The movie version despite some fun set pieces that gave me vertigo, was a letdown. It just feels like two or three episodes of the show built around advertising their live show, held together by a barrage of talking heads. Hey, it's cool you get to hang out with Channing Tatum and I'm sorry you had to hang out with Rob Dyrdek but as a viewer this is not interesting to watch and it doesn't connect at all to the spectacle. There's this constant focus of how noone believed in their live show and that it couldn't be done, but now they're going to change the world and it's so inspiring blabla. Sorry guys, I'm sure the show is fantastic but there have been stunt shows for decades, air shows with a much higher risk factor starting way back in the early 20th century and even in the action sports world you had the extremely successful (and oddly similar) Boom Boom Huck Jam before that.

All this doesn't kill the movie, it's a nuisance. What ultimately drags it down is the lack of structure, rhythm and creativity. It meanders aimlessly from stunt to stunt and there's too much downtime between them. So much footage of our ragtag team of daredevils just standing there like badly programmed NPCs in an elder scrolls game. The stunts are impressive as ever but nothing you wouldn't see in any random episode of the show and there are too few of them to hold the movie together. There's no noticeable escalation of their ideas that would necessitate the existence of a feature film. Also I always find it really comical when someone tries to be badass, hardcore and ooh so metal and then all curse words are bleeped. I never got America's obsession with that. I understand that you don't want Bambi dropping f-bombs and quoting NWA lyrics but I think a teen can survive it.

One more point, which admittedly comes down to personal taste but I find it important to mention: The Nitro Circus team is highly entertaining when they are doing stunts and completely uninteresting and borderline unlikeable outside of that. The greatest strength of the Jackass members was how distinct and relateable they were. They seemed like a big, weird dysfunctional family. Through their bond you could vicariously live their misadventures like you're hanging out with old friends you rightfully ditched long ago for constantly talking you into doing something stupid. With Nitro Circus they all seem like self-centered dudebros (and one oddly invisible dudette-sis) who love themselves. To be honest I have real trouble telling them apart or noticing any real bonds between them that I could relate to.

This was watchable, but I recommend just skipping everything but the stunts.

Never would I have thought that I could sit through anything that had to do with extreme sports but these guys are amazing. There is a small amount of background given to each personality in the Nitro Circus crew and you quickly become attached to these guys. This raises the excitement factor considerably when they do a major stunt. You can feel the energy, excitement, fear, and even sometimes sadness that's going on at the stunt location. I recommend the full 3D experience on as big of screen as possible with volume cranked up. Never thought I would say that at my age. The is mild adult language for a film like this so I would still recommend watching with your teens.