Hella Crazy I & II

Beyond Home Entertainment

R4 DVD

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

I can’t help thinking that this series was inspired by “MythBusters”, but was one of those “hold my beer and watch this” things rather than a serious but lighthearted investigation. There is no “what happens if I set fire to myself and jump off the roof?”. They just go and do it, without any preparation or thought for safety or the consequences. It’s more like an amateurish version of “Jackass” for less mature kids. The antics (it’s hard to call many of them “stunts”) are so completely pointless and downright stupidly dangerous that initially I wasn’t going to lose two hours out of my life watching them. They are the sort of irrational behaviour that features so much on YouTube, and usually ends up with someone getting seriously hurt. Then I realised that many of these ARE the ones on YouTube. Probably against my better judgment I kept watching, to find out what sort of people would do this..

First, the theory behind the action (or as the cover puts it “daredevil-like stunts”) is that it’s cool to do something suicidal even if you have no idea of what's going to happen. It’s even cooler if you hurt yourself. Coolest of all is broken bones, and attendances by ambulances or police. It takes a particularly strange individual to see this as “cool”, but the Gaboff Brothers, the main talentless idiots in the show, apparently think this is so. They are basically mindless fools who swear, fight, and do really stupid things.

The genuine stunts on BMX, quad bikes, or motorbikes show that some members of the team have real potential and talent. The two DVDs show what happens as they develop their skills – not all the trial runs are going to be successful, and the crashes are often spectacular. Some of the skateboard stunts finish in disaster, too, but at least they are not totally without merit. Executed well, they can be quite spectacular. Its just that the DVDs concentrate on the spectacular crashes.

The discipline and balance of the riders contrast with the utter stupidity of the Gaboff Brothers. Is it a stunt to run off the roof of your house and jump into a tall tree some yards away? And have your mates follow you, until one has nowhere to go but down onto the ground (and serious injury)? Is it really a stunt to shoot fireworks at an unprotected member of the team until, inevitably, he gets burnt? One member, who calls himself “Bobby Pyro”, specializes in pouring petrol on people and setting them on fire so their “stunt” will look more spectacular. These silly little children (most in their late teens) are aided and abetted by their equally mindless overindulgent parents who feel that the boys are old enough to know what they are doing, and actually seem perversely proud of them. Thankfully the kids haven’t discovered guns yet.

The second DVD is even more incoherent than the first. The soundtrack is louder, the participants less rational, and the Gaboff  Brothers seem to revel in their newfound public coolness. There is an undue concentration on the crew’s appearances in public, lapdances and lightly clad girls. It’s one of those giggly juvenile things. About twenty minutes into this I gave up and turned it off.

There is a positive side to the DVDs. Some will complain that it will encourage their kids to jump off tall buildings after setting themselves on fire, and this may be true – the Gaboffs were once (and probably still are) weakminded silly children too. On the other hand, perhaps the sight of the blood , injuries and pain may convince kids that this sort of silliness is not really cool after all, and to think of the consequences of their acts. For adults who have outgrown this sort of thing, it's a lot of fun to watch a bunch of morons hurt themselves. It's one of those "thank heavens it's not me" movies.

I just don’t know if I could recommend this for a bit of light viewing or not. If you have had a few beers and want something to watch, “Actiongirls” has a better plot (and it has none at all) and good looking women. It’s probably safer not to let the kids see this one. With luck, the Gaboff brothers will kill themselves before they breed. Or make a third DVD.