Hey Neighbour – Bjørn Enga
That electricity is gone.
Numbed by video games and youtube, the audience of today has seen it all. We’re bored and jaded, chatting and texting our way through action sport film premieres – but it wasn’t always thus. Bjørn Enga and Christian Begin used to generate huge stoke at their premieres. Kranked III at Richards on Richards in Vancouver sticks out most in my mind. The audience was rapt and the cheers that erupted for big moves, especially Wade Simmons’ wizardry, were thunderous and genuine. I bought a VHS tape on the way out and played it over and over again once we got home. This may have been the beginning for action sports movies – but the early Kranked vids were legit.
Bjørn, along with Christian, also broke trail for Derek Westerlund of Freeride Entertainment and Jamie Houssian of The Collective – both of whom got their start on early Kranked movies. And yet the segments that are the most iconic to me, The Coastal Crew from Kranked 8 and Ryan Leech’s Rypods from Kranked 6, are from the later years. Those pieces hold up incredibly when compared to today’s movies, making it clear that Bjørn’s artistry has staying power.
Mr. Kranked is no longer scouring the globe for the shot. These days he’s running his Kranked empire from his beautiful Sunshine Coast home, exploring new trails and embracing life as a family man.
Will we see more from Radical filmmaking? Here’s hoping, but the Kranked legacy will live on regardless.
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Hey Neighbour - Bjørn Enga from nsmb.com on Vimeo.
Do you have a favourite Kranked vid? Fave segment?
Comments
uncle duke
9 years ago
the cable cam in this vid is amazing.. i don't actually nerd out vid to vid but i have seen his machine and it is pretty cool.. personally i thnk this is the best 4 minutes in mtb film making ever produced..cable cam filming action here and there..
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asdf
9 years ago
The seed! Thank you.
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Thingy
9 years ago
That was great. Gotta go back and look at that early Tippie head cam footage with the rock counter weight.
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Vinay Menon
9 years ago
Radical Films KRANKED me into riding!!
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Cr4w
9 years ago
That was really good.
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uncle duke
9 years ago
i saw the kranked 3 premiere at richards on richards. awesome nite,!
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Cam McRae
9 years ago
So memorable. I remember everyone just catching fire after one of Wade's drops in Rossland. Stoke at 11!
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uncle duke
9 years ago
as i recall it was kennie's dropper off the sign board that got the venue most jazzed.. hahah thats been debated for years!!
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uncle duke
9 years ago
then steve chalmers and i rode our bikes back up to east van..he crashed on his bmx doing some peg slides or whatever the eff thats shits called. chipped some teeth as i recall. so many moons ago…
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Pete Roggeman
9 years ago
It would be funny to have a reunion from that night. So many people were there that I know now, but didn't know then.
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