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FIGHTING GRAVITY DVD

Anyone who is a hardcore RC jumping and bashing fanatic knows about Slap Ma Fro. Their videos are awesome and in our opinion, unchallenged. Sure, many have tried to copy what they do but SMF continues to raise the bar (or raise the jump) to stay ahead of the pack.

SMF started back in 2002, about the same time as Beat Your Truck. I have to say that it has been very enjoyable watching both web sites become "little monsters" on the RC Internet.

PACKAGING: The packaging looks nothing short of Hollywood. A solid case and cover art protect and dress the awe inspiring little plastic disc inside. We received our DVD in a nice, padded envelope which did a great job in keeping its contents safe and secure during its journey to us.

VIDEO CONTENT & EDITING : The DVD is broken down into various sections like the 70 meter (that is about 210 feet for those who are challenged by the metric system) Olympic-style ski jump (no, that is not a typo....remember we are talking SMF here), snow bashing, barn bashing, gravel pits, race tracks, etc. The DVD menu makes it easy to get to the desired section of RC carnage. The SMF boys did a great job finding lots of different places to bash and strange obstacles to conquer. We especially liked the Monster Truck Racing chapter. It features great footage, editing and music. Well done SMF.

The content itself is classic SMF (BIG air and BIG damage) with many, nice new video effects and twists sprinkled on top. It is fast paced and does not leave you waiting for something "good" to happen. Put simply, It is RC truck beating at its finest. The beginning might be a little slow but it does not take long for everything to get rolling at SMF speed. We also liked the bits of humor placed throughout the video. One of our favorites was the "Good Jump, Bad Jump" chapter. It is hilarious!

As a comparison, if you have seen the XXX Main Monster X DVD, we like the SMF DVD better. In our opinion, Monster X had too many slow motion video shots of trucks driving around and not getting beat. That is not the case with SMF Fighting Gravity. After watching about 10 minutes of it you wonder where SMF gets all their money for RC replacement parts!

The editing is good and is well timed to the background music. Granted, this is not a George Lucas film but the editing will stand up against or beat any other RC video / DVD we have seen.

We do not want to let too much out of the bag with what you will see. Just know that this is a DVD made by Slap Ma Fro. Do we have to say more? Here are a couple of Fighting Gravity movie trailers you can check out:

- Movie Trailer 1
- Movie Trailer 2
- Movie Trailer 3

VIDEO QUALITY : The video footage is great. Good camera work and lots of incredible action shots. The majority of the video is DVD grade however there are a few older shots that have been put it the mix; the quality of the video (we are talking video resolution) is lower but the action is still there. We actually liked that fact they mixed in a little "old" stuff. "Good Jump, Bad Jump" was made years ago and SMF makes special note of how far they have come. Very true!

MUSIC: SMF did an excellent job finding some "unknown" hard rock / metal bands for the audio on the FG DVD. Heavy RC bashing deserves heavy music. There are some very good tracks on this DVD. Good enough that I will probably go out and buy at least 1 CD from a band played on the DVD. Let's face it, Fighting Gravity would not be the same with Bach or Garth Brooks. The music is timed well with the video and the specific events happening on the screen.

COST / VALUE: The Fighting Gravity DVD sells for $20 and has 1+ hour of content on it. The value is there without a doubt.

THE VERDICT: As you may have noticed, we had to adjust our standard review categories to fit a DVD. Interestingly though, just like an RC hop-up, it all comes down to value. Is that bumper worth $20? Is this DVD worth $20? You better believe it!

Brad and the guys at SMF obviously put a ton of hard work (and RC replacement part dollars) into this production. A copy of Fighting Gravity should live in every RC bashers DVD library. We loved it and look forward to watching it again and again and again. It will be especially loved when it is too cold and too wet to go outside and bash. On days like that, we can watch this DVD and say "yeah...I could do that with my truck (yeah right)".

Visit the Slap Ma Fro web site to get your copy today!

Tell them that the guys at Beat Your truck sent you!