As British Skate flicks go, Heel Toe Magic has to be the most eagerly anticipated video to come out this year. Any video with Andy Evans name attached to it turns into skate gold, and following the trailer, it seemed as though this film would not disappoint.

The video starts off promisingly with a typical Andy Evan’s-esque domino train of DVDs, DV tapes and some other unusual stuff. Following this, we join the famous Skate Relic Hunter Marc Churchill on his hunt for the magical Kingpin. This sequence is low-budget production at it’s best and had me laughing out loud.

After meeting sir Bob of Bobbington, we’re treated with a section from the UK’s rising star Ben Raemers. This section is filled with some bowl and ramp based madness and some street bangers on some decent sized handrails. It’s also worth mentioning that the last trick in the section is amazing, a great opening to the DVD. Following this is a montage from a whole bunch of skaters, with cameos from Joe Lynskey, Marc Churchill and Tom Penny to name a few. Slightly larger sections of this montage are set aside for Joe Moore, a Works local with a crazy bag of flip-in flip-out manual craziness, Kris Vile, who gets massive pop, skates fast and does it with style and Ross McGouran who has come a long way, doing difficult tricks over big stairsets; along with one of the most stylish nollie inward heels over a set I’ve seen in a good long time.

After a bizarre look into the history of Skateboarding, we’re taken to have a look inside the freestyle room. In this section, Darran Nolan brings the ruckus with a range of flip-in flip-out ledge and manny tricks along with some downright crazy flatland flip trickery. For most of this section I actually felt as though the slow motion wasn’t slow enough to see what was happening. Accompanying Darran once more is Callum Bowran, bringing his old school freestyle tricks to the party. Next up is a full section from Greg Nowik, whose section seems to have come straight from the early nineties; clearly he’s been messing around with the Time Machine he developed in This n That. As you could expect, this section is filled of later-than-late shoves, benihanas and a whole host of coping tech. There’s even a brief cameo from “Street Nowik”, so there’s something for everyone here!

Jeff the Ffej Hedges is up next, continuing the 80s comeback Claus Grabke had started in a typical comical fashion; also giving us the greatest skater the world has ever known. Following this is a full section from Stevie Thompson section, which is full of some pretty shocking tricks on a range of unusual obstacles. The most enjoyable thing about this section is just how relaxed the skating is; which left me wondering just how his mind works! After this is a montage featuring Rupert Antoine, James Kilpatrick and Matt Ransom who all have some pretty amazing tricks, Matt having an amazing kickflip wallride which was one of my personal favourite tricks of the whole film. The main attraction of this section however was Aaron Revell, who managed to bust out a huge array of late tricks over a hip, still managing to throw in the odd massive stairset trickery.

Up next is another montage featuring Amir Williams’ fast and fluid tricks, Louis Cooper with some nice street skating; including a smooth hardflip 5-0 midline, and Ollie Smith who has some pretty cool tricks and an awesome final trick. As with the Andy Evans’ previous projects, this video features a contests and demos section with all the best tricks from loads of events across the past few years. This section is a great testament to the standard of skating that gets put down at contests from UK based skaters, the Manny Mania footage from Craig Smedley, Avi and Mike Wright (to name a few) being downright outstanding. There’s also some footage from UK legend Andy Scott and some demo footage from a whole bunch of international pros, including Sheckler, Haslam, Lutzka and many others.

In spite of a whole host of impressive demos, the secret is that shoe sales are still down. The solution, it seems, is simple; an intergalactic skate tour led by Mark Munson and a size 5000 D3! Upon his glorious return, he found the time to get a good amount of footage for his section in this video, with some good old-fashioned pool and bowl shredding. Next in the montage is Pete King with some miniramp and ledge tech, followed by Carl Wilson, who begins his part with a massive blunt, which sets the tone for the rest of his footage. Finally, there’s some footage from Adam Howe, who skates some massive rails and gaps, mixed in with a bunch of insane park footage.

Another montage is up next, starting with Tom Knox and James Gardner who throw down some smooth stylish street footage. This is followed by some Chris Oliver footage, which is always a treat. For this section, he seems to focus on specific items at Pioneer and Bay 66 skateparks and just tear them apart. Closing up the montage is UK vert champion Sam Beckett, showing us just how he has managed this, his section including the first 720 performed by a UK rider; very impressive stuff.

Finishing up the video is a full-length section from Mike Wright who has recently started riding for Almost Skateboards. After his hilarious first meeting with the “Messiah”, a legendary skateboarder who keeps everything right in the world of skateboarding, Mike sets about destroying Hebdon Park and the Works with some lateflip madness and massive airs. This is easily the high point of the video, his section featuring 270 ollie underflips over hips, flatland tech and a line with both a later varial flip AND a flip bs smith on bench midway through! I personally had to watch this section through several times to get to grips with it, simply outstanding! As the video winds down, we’re also treated to a closing montage of slams, silliness and various other bits and bobs that didn’t fit in anywhere else.

Overall, this video is downright fantastic. On top of the main feature, which is over an hour in length, there are a bunch of extras including a whole second section from Mike Wright and an extended Manny Mania video; all of which for just £5. This film is great value for money and a great watch start to finish. While some of the footage is recorded a little strangely, it’s easy to overlook this, as the quality of the skating is so high. It’s a mostly park based affair, but there’s also a load of incredible street skating too, so it should be worth a watch for anyone into skateboarding. It’s also worth mentioning that this DVD is fantastically funny for all it’s silliness and will undoubtedly have you laughing out loud. Andy Evans has managed to put together what will no doubt be a timeless classic that you’ll be able to watch over and over again.

Review by Fozzz

As the third official instalment of the Flip video timeline, Extremely Sorry has an awful lot to live up to. Does
this unruly mob still have the golden touch? Will Tom Penny produce a video part that stands up to his legend? Will Lance Mountain ever have his eyebrows plucked?

To kick things off, a tribute to the late Shane Cross, who whilst no longer in the realm of the living has a great part filled with lots of clever little animated touches that give this tribute an otherworldly appeal. A seam of clay-mation introductions and a bespoke dj soundtrack, which will polarise viewer’s opinions hold the rest of the video together. Personally I like them, they make Extremely Sorry distinct in a market full of HD tracking shots and reversed loops of pigeons and flowers set to the tones of last yeas indy hits.

Geoff Rowley, who at this time needs no introduction follows Shane’s more than respectable array of tricks with a glut of interesting, creative and down right suicidal manoeuvres, without wanting to give away the tricks too much; the ollie impossible seems to have staged a full comeback throughout the duration of Extremely Sorry.

Next we move on to Louie Lopez, who is the first of the Flip uber ams to come under our scrutiny, with an impressive array of block technicality and filthy street gaps and stairs is certainly a bright hope for years to come!

Following Louie’s impressive debut is Rodrigo Tx, Brazilian foot mathematician and former The Firm rider. Rodrigo sets the bar high for switch stanced trickery so high that I wonder if there is even a point in him having a dominant stance anymore. Super hard tricks done in lines and a pop that is not to be sniffed at adds another point to the tally of this videos high points.

Now, after a court jester like claymation segue comes the infamous Ali Boulala, who comes equipped with an awful lot of silliness and some outrageously scary antics set to a sleazy rendition of the pink panther theme, possibly a match made in heaven.

Bob, Bob, Bob, just what have you done to skateboarding? This isn’t an accusation of selling out; it’s a question of disbelief as Bob Burnquist simultaneously destroys his mega-ultra-hyper ramp and every brain cell used to calculate the sheer lunacy and difficulty on display. Simply unfathomable.

Luan Oliveria comes correct with a part that could stand toe to toe with PJ Ladd at his peak and come off the better. A flawless, interesting style storming through combinations and lines that would give lesser men a headache followed by an awesome-induced heart attack.

Sadly Luan’s obscene dexterity flows into possibly the weakest element of the video – Bob’s canyon stunt-work. Whilst visually impressive, it adds nothing to the video except a longer running time. But don’t let this put you off finishing the video.

Curren Caples fires off a segment of shorter sections, each of which impresses, a special mention goes to Willow’s laser flipping skills and Ben Nordberg’s casual lip tricks.

Rune Glifberg should be superfluous to proceedings due to the carnage seen in Bob’s part, but instead what we have here is a work of balls-out concrete park fun, a very different take on transition skating and entirely welcome!

Tom Penny, the man, the myth, with an insurmountable legacy, this part whilst entirely good and peppered with some good transition and manny combinations would never ever live up to the mystique cultivated over the years.

Lance Mountain has a part that is unlike anything from the last decade, filmed entirely in one pool and made to look like it has been shot in a single day it harks back to a perceived better time of the golden era Powell-Peralta videos. Whilst the skating is top notch it is the overall feel of Lance’s part that really leaves an impression.

The previous Flip efforts both had a common trait that Mark Appleyard’s parts were a highlight. This is no exception, Appleyard has a balanced slice of street action with a variety of stunts being laid down on all manner of objects, with the same natural casualness no matter how intense it gets.

And with the closing curtains we have David Gonzales who chaotically and compellingly shuts down every spot he takes with an unconventional but never forced feeling trick selection, his part is truly impressive as it leaves you feeling that he is truly capable of anything and that whatever comes next surely won’t be what we’re expecting. A part full of solid fast curve-ball skating and a fitting way to close a fine video. I can only finish this review buy saying that if you want to see it, then buy it as it is truly worth your hard earned cash, a well presented showcase of an alarming level of talent that never takes itself overly seriously, it can only be winner.