Somewhere near the beginning of this film, Tony Magnussen compares Steve Rocco to Adolf Hitler. That's pretty harsh, but it's not exactly shocking that he'd make such a ridiculous comparison; one because Steve has kindof already made it himself (see the Shiloh Greathouse graphic turned movie box cover on the left) and two because when you've been as succesful as Steve has, especially in the way that he has, there are bound to be more than a couple of haters who just might be a tiny bit jealous of how well you've done pretty much on your own terms.
This much-anticipated documentary tells Steve's personal story and, along with it, the story of how World Industries virtually took complete control over the skateboard market in the 1990's, and then what want wrong, and then what went right again, and the hows and whys of it all. Hopefully I don't need to worry about spoiling it by telling you what you already know: from Steve borrowing money from a loan shark to start the company to sponsoring a checklist of most of the influential street skaters who came up in the 90's to more than half of them quitting and fucking over his business to him bringing it back and then finally selling it for millions of dollars - and everything inbetween - if you skated during what some call The World Era you're definitely going to be stoked to be reminded of the history you already know and also to get some answers to questions you might have always asked. Like was Sal Rocco actually as fucked as he came across in Big Brother? Where did the Bong Olympics come from? What's the whole story about Girl Skateboards starting and what does their VP, Mike Carroll, have to say about it? And how does today's industry (collectively interviewed throughout the film) remember the World Industries story?
I've watched it a few times now and I still can't decide if people who don't skate will be able to appreciate it or if it's just a little too inside our industry. It tells the story of a dude who led a revolution but does the world (the actual world, not World Industries) care enough about skateboarding, or know enough about the sport to delve only a decade or so into it's history to get answers about it? The film just premiered at a bunch of festivals so we'll find out if it starts popping up in more theatres, I suppose. If not, no worries; it'll go down in the books as many a skateboarder's favorite documentary, finally closing a chapter of skateboarding history for us with a bang.
The Man Who Souled The World
Directed by Mike Hill
Produced by Whyte House Productions
FEATURING:
Steve Rocco, Rodney Mullen, Jesse Martinez, Marc McKee, Daewon Song, Jeremy Klein, Jason Lee, Mike Vallely, Danny Way, Natas Kaupas, Shiloh Greathouse, Kris Markovich, Mike Carroll, John Lucero, Richard Novak, Bod Boyle and Per Holknekt.
ALSO FEATURING:
Salvador Barbier, Chris Pastras, Jacob Rosenberg, Sean Cliver, Jovontae Turner, James Craig, Ron Chatman II, Pat Duffy, Daniel Castillo, Douglas J Winbury II, Clyde Singleton, Steve Berra, Tim Gavin, Rudy Johnson, Randy Colvin, Steve Hill, Jeff Tremaine, Ed Templeton, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuna, Tony Magnussen, Ryan Sheckler, Colin McKay, Chico Brenes, Brian Lotti, Paul Machnau, Paul Rafferty, Chet Thomas, Per Welinder, Fausto Vitello, Steve Douglas, Matt Hill, Don Brown, Kevin Harris, Luis Cruz, Keith Cochrane, Jeremy Fox, Mark Oblow, Mitsuaki Kizaki, Tom Schmitt (Earl Parker), Rick Kosick, Dave Swift, John Casement, John Kirby, Charlie Thomas, Scott Droulliard, Frank Messman, Socrates Leal, Matt Pritchard, Ron Jeremy, Fletcher Dragge, Johnny Knoxville, Larry Flynt, Peter Hill, Mark Gonzales, Paul Schmitt, Ronnie Creager, Larry Balma, Bill Weiss, Tod Swank, Mike Smith and Ray Flores
