There have been several excellent skateboarding documentaries: Dogtown and Z-Boyz, Waiting for Lightening, Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator and Bones Brigade: An Autobiography to name but a few. I’m not a particular fan of extreme sports but there’s something about the whole world of skateboarding which is fascinating. These documentaries generally seem to follow the rise of a skater or team, and Eddie Martin’s All This Mayhem follows a similar trajectory.
Tony Hawk is undoubtedly the most famous name in skateboarding to any outsider. Clever marketing and a shrewd business brain may have cornered the market in terms of merchandising but at one time there were two Australian brothers who gave him a run for his money and then some. Tas and Ben Pappas were two young self-declared “bogans” who only cared about skating and having a good time.
The young Pappas brothers went to America and took the sport by storm. At the time when they were the best in the world, drink, drugs and injuries sent their lives spiralling off in different directions. Eddie Martin has amassed an impressive amount of archive footage which is full of great moments and cinematic gold. Tas Pappas is also an entertaining and frank narrator and there’s a colourful array of contributors to keep the tale flowing.
All This Mayhem is released on DVD by Koch Media on October 27th.
