Dying to Live, constructed by Zero and Jamie Thomas himself is hands down one of the best skate videos ever made. Dying to Live is what every other video sets out to be. Although some of the earlier Zero videos weren't initially impressive, Dying to Live has progressed Zero to an even greater team. The video itself showcases Adrian Lopez, Matt Mumford, Ryan Smith, Ryan Bobier, Jon Allie, John Rattray, Lindsey Robertson, Chris Cole, and the man himself, Jamie Thomas.
One thing that caught my eye in this flick was the friends section. It was very exciting to see such a great group of people all skating in the same video. There hasn't been a friends chapter this exciting in a skate flick to date. Zero went around the world filming Dying to Live and has some especially good footage from Barcelona.
Jon Allie starts things off and is in my opinion the best rail skater out there with an unbelievably great style. John Rattray came in second and he has one of the most fluid, original styles I’ve seen in quite sometime. Next comes Matt Mumford and boy does he have a well-rounded part. Mostly consisting of pool skating, he finally brings it back to the level it needs to be. Pool skating is now making a comeback and it was great to see such a great deal of it in this video. Bobier teed off fourth and had things going in a hurry, while having progressed a lot since his last video appearance. Adrian Lopez is up fifth and has greatly stepped up his half-cab board slides.
Lindsey Robertson is next with a very unique first video part which was quite mind blowing, throwing down some of the most amazing things you will ever see. Ryan Smith is up then with some hardcore hammers and is definitely representing in the U.S. Chris Cole came in with what I saw as a really breathtaking part in this video. Chris Cole is improving in so many different aspects of boarding as well. All these skaters have such spectacular parts in Dying to Live that it's hard to point out different things to look for. That leads us to… Well, Jamie Thomas. What can you say about Jamie Thomas? He's always said that he will never ever beat his part in Welcome to Hell. In some ways I think he is only going to get better, so that would make his statement somewhat false, but yet, that part will be hard to beat. This is without a question, hands down, one of the best parts in the history of skateboarding video. After it all boils down, Dying to Live is one of the craziest videos to ever market skateboarding and everyone deserves to own it. The title of the video lives up to every element important in skateboarding videos and is a must have.
After the credits end, you get a little montage of the team laying down some bails and having a good time. Not only will fans of handrail skating really love this video, but everyone else will love it just as much. There’s enough great skating in Dying to Live to satisfy anyone and contains amazing footage from Spain. Dying to Live belongs in any skater’s collection and is instantly a classic; I recommend you go buy it.
Features
- Adrian Lopez, Matt Mumford, Ryan Smith, Ryan Bobier, Jon Allie, John Rattray, Lindsey Robertson, Chris Cole and Jamie Thomas.
- Special edition includes Zero Skatepark footage, Jon Allie’s sponsor me video, unedited team log, alternate angles, slow mo section, and a slideshow.
- Music featuring The Who, Slayer, Proclaimers, Queen, Neil Young, Bob Marley, Jefferson Airplane, Nirvana and more!
