Focal Point DVD Review

Getting videos to review has been kind of a blessing and a curse. On one hand it's cool to get videos for free, on the other hand if someone sends me a totally horrible video I'm going to feel bad being honest about it since they are obviously stoked on my site enough to want me to review it. Luckily that's not the case with "What" the new DVD from Focal Point BMX out of Australia.

( Note: Watch this trailer before you read my review to get an idea of what the vibe of this video is like. )



The video starts with a solid part via Cooper Brownlee. It's a long one, 2 songs worth, but he shows pretty good range, all on street with lots of barspins, grind variations, rail moves and he finishes the part with a solid predator grind ( double peg to over double peg ) on a handicapped rail. Next is a mix section edited to The Doors showcasing a lot of talented kids shredding street with some good park footage too. Then Chris Matthews turns in another solid part full of creative street lines and ends it with a burly jump over smith grind.

Fourth section goes to Dean Johnson who does some ill backwards manuals, good icepick grind lines and a couple of barspin bomb drops. He finishes with a crooked grind down a kinked rail too... not bad. Next Troy Jackson seriously kills. He does ridiculous street lines all with awesome style. Big kinked rails, perfect tailwhips and impressive street prowess. Lou Reeves puts together a solid part next. There are only so many ways for me to say "does really good tricks on street with good style" but that's what this video serves up, pretty consistently.

Daniel Johnson gets final part duty and he handles that responsibility well. Hang over tooth picks both ways, crazy grind variations... he is noticeably riding on a higher level than the other riders in the video and his style is dialed too.

I'm struggling to find anything negative to say about the video. The soundtrack is pretty good and kind of All Day-esque meaning a lot of good hip hop joints mixed with some soft / classic rock and I think that works well for the video. It has a noticeable Animal/Voices-esque vibe to it and while it lacks a stand out part comparable to Tom Blythe's part in Voices or Steven Hamilton/Edwin's sections in Can I Eat, the video as a whole is better than the vast majority of videos coming out these days. Each section holds its own and it's probably 85 percent street with some quality park footage thrown in, which I think is a good ratio.

I haven't had much time to delve into the bonus section yet but I'm watching the "World Tour" part now and it's solid, plus I noticed that each rider has an alternative edit too which is a cool idea.

Overall I'm really impressed by this and recommend you pick it up. They sent me a copy of their magazine which they put out themselves too and that's also pretty rad so you might want to grab an issue of that while you're at it. You can check out their website here.

You can comment on this entry ( and probably get any questions you have for the guys in the video answered ) by clicking here.