When Robert 'Evel' Knievel died in November of 2007 he left behind him a legacy of insane daredevil stunts that influenced countless kids who grew up in the seventies and early eighties and which continues to amaze spectators through the marvels of home video to this day. While it might be hard to believe now, those of us who are old enough to remember Evel Knievel-mania while it was in full swing can absolutely attest to the fact that the man was a genuine phenomena. To honor the man and his storied career, BMX superstar Mat Hoffman assembled a team of stunt riders in the wastelands of rural Oklahoma to try and beat a few world records and try a few Evel style stunts. You'd expect something like this would be performed in front of a large crowd at an auditorium or coliseum but the only spectators here are the cast, the crew, and Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame who serves alongside Hoffman as a commentator and sometimes participant.

In between various stunts, the performers share stories about meeting Evel Knievel and what he and his work meant to them as well as how his pioneering work as a professional daredevil paved the way for their current work. A few amusing stories are shared as is much sincere admiration for the man's efforts but the real reason to check out this brief forty-seven minute feature is for the stunts.

Stunt riders such as Travis Pastrana, Scott 'Plamer' Palmer, Allan Cooke, Davin 'Psycho' Halford, Trigger Gumm, 'Harley' Jeff Schneider and a little person who goes by the handle 'Midget Mike' all line up to perform a few different stunts. Tandem jumps and flips, BMX jumps, Harley flips, back flips and an insane free fall from an airplane without a parachute (courtesy of Palmer) are all performed to varying degrees of success and while they guys do manage to set a pair of new world records, Hoffman insists more than once that what's important here isn't the numbers, it's honoring Knievel's spirit of determination.

Knoxville plays his usual charming goofball self as commentator but it's when he decides to attempt a couple of motorcycle stunts of his own that Hoffman's credo becomes manifest. Towards the end of the feature Knoxville (either very bravely or very stupidly) attempts to back flip a motorbike without ever having learned how to ride one. His first attempt fails fairly miserably but it's his remarkable second attempt that lands the bike on his going and sends him to the hospital with a ruptured urethra, pissing blood all the way there.

While this just barely qualifies as Jackass material (at one point Knoxville is joined by Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine pops up now and again but don't expect to see Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Bam, Steve-O or any of the others), it is a fitting tribute to the late Evel Knievel by some gents who very sincerely cared for the man and appreciated his efforts. On top of that, it's also a solid collection of quality stunt footage.

Video:

For reasons unknown, this feature is presented in non-anamorphic 1.85.1 widescreen that hasn't even been properly flagged for progressive scan. With those two major strikes against it, the disc looks alright otherwise. This material was shot on DV so it doesn't have the depth or clarity of something shot on film and on top of that it wasn't shot under the most ideal conditions. The material is completely watchable, however. Color reproduction is decent and there aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or print damage. A little bit of edge enhancement and shimmering is noticeable but it isn't overpowering.