The new Danny MacAskill bike freestyle film looks like your typical Scotland tourism video until the 34-second mark when he does an aerial front flip off a wall at Edinburgh Castle.
Yikes!
After MacAskill's original video went ballistic on YouTube about two years ago (it currently has 21.5 million views), his new sponsors at Red Bull asked him to make another video around his hometown of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
The video, released Tuesday, already had over 200,000 views by Wednesday night. Entitled “Way Back Home,” it could also be called “Don't Try This at Home.”
Home ground
The former bike mechanic in Edinburgh, MacAskill teamed with his original filmmaker, Dave Sowerby, and Mark Huskisson to shoot this video on the island where he grew up. They used a few spots in town for stunts, but mainly used locales around the countryside for his amazing tricks.
There's the spillway of a dam, concrete bunkers on a hillside and an old fortification. MacAskill also toys with a bridge railing and the top of a bright red phone booth. He appears to pretty much defy gravity and some other laws of physics in most scenes.
In a Q&A, MacAskill said he scouted out the best locations by Internet and on foot while he healed from a broken collarbone.
Made of rubber
He also said that he got his start as a young kid doing bike skids and wheelies. It takes a long time to progress in freestyle, but he just kept at it to be at the level he is today.
The Red Bull website has the transcript from the Q&A, a short interview with scenes from the film, and a preview of some locations. I enjoyed the quote from his father:
“He's got to be made of rubber of something to sustain this.”
If you have 7 minutes or so, you'll enjoy this video; also the music from Loch Lomond and The Jezebels.
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