• Pist-n-broke BITS III: CKD
• £21.99
• Paligap (www.paligapltd.co.uk)

Just the name of the third title in Pist-n-broke’s Back In The Saddle series might lead you to suspect that it’s nothing more than a piss-take – CKD stands for “Collectively Krankin’ Up The Disorder”, a somewhat arch reference to, you know, all those other MTB films. It’s more than that, though. It’s not really a pastiche, it’s not really a homage either. Rather it’s kind of a combination of something in the middle of those two things mixed in with some elements that are very much its own. Plus what appear to be odd refugee scenes from Jackass, but we’ll gloss over those.

There are a bunch of elements clearly “borrowed” from other films, of course. There’s the top-to-bottom filmed runs, there’s a brief return visit to Jordie Lunn’s backyard, there’s some Adidas Slopestyle stuff that you may have seen before. But it all manages to stand on its own feet – you’ll nod knowingly at a few scenes if you’ve seen Roam/Kranked 6/NWD7, but it won’t detract from your enjoyment.

We like the fact that there’s a healthy mix of well-known, less-well-known and virtually unknown riders, pretty much all of whom manage to impress. Of course, there’s a degree of “expectation management” there – a less famous name doesn’t have to do anything nearly as bonkers as one of the “premier league” riders to look good, simply because you always expect the famous ones to go bigger than the last film you saw them in. That certainly doesn’t mean that the lesser-known riders aren’t far more talented than the majority of the viewers, of course…

Unlike the films it references, CKD isn’t really trying to make any kind of artistic statement. Nor is every move trying to outdo every other for sheer outrageous bigness (although there’s no shortage of jaw-droppers). It’s just good, old-fashioned, fun on bikes. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Positives: Rises above its concept, lots of fun, some great scenes, plenty of variety

Negatives: Good fun but may not blow you away

Verdict:
We rather like this. Inevitably, you’re not getting stunning innovation either in filming or riding. But CKD is eminently watchable, very entertaining and certainly doesn’t feel limited by its influences – it manages to end up as its own film in the end.