eKIRMES: Der DVD
www.ekirmes.de

For about the last five years I have found myself not watching that many coaster-related videos.  If I did watch something on amusement parks it usually had to do with park history as opposed to hours of POV footage.  Looking back on things this is an interesting change because as a kid I planted myself in front of videos like America Screams and Roller Coaster Weekends I & II for hours on end.  I guess part of the mystique left after I started traveling around to different parks and could see these attractions on my own.  

Therefore, I was a bit surprised when I first saw advertisements many months ago by eKIRMES for their new video and felt a strong desire to purchase the DVD.  Of course, I could not view it at home because my player only read NTSC and this was distributed in PAL only.  This problem was solved after I had to buy a new computer about 4 weeks ago and figured that I might as well get one with a DVD player.

After purchasing my new disc I eagerly awaited its arrival like I used to check the mailbox for my latest issue of Inside Track (before it turned into a bi-yearly publication).  I had seen some of the videos taken by this same crew at AmusementRides.De and felt that if it was anything like those shorts it had to be time well spent.  eEKIRMES: Der DVD finally came last week and I popped it into my computer as soon as I could. 

Those of you who have read my ramblings for some time know that I am a large, if not larger, fan of flat rides than roller coasters (and humbly worship at the alter of the Top Scan).  Therefore, I was happy to get some good flat footage in my small amusement video library.  eKIRMES delivered in ways I never thought possible.  The sheer volume of rides here is incredible.  There are 11 roller coasters and 60 tower & flat rides, each of which have a minimum of two minutes of footage and usually more.  Some of the highlights for me included:

Flat, tower and water rides:

-Huss Booster: Great footage, both on and off this ride.

-The 6-turntable Huss Breakdance: I believe this is Kinzler’s and I am amazed at how beautiful this thing is.  The footage of this ride is great.  For instance, during one part the screen split into four parts and riders see shots from the edge of the platform, on-ride, under the platform and from the top of the backflash.  The cameramen and the editor both worked their asses off to show off the pure excitement of the ride combined “technical” shots of the Breakdance in motion.

- Maurer-Söhne Power Tower 2: Ewald Schnieder has a beautiful ride and again the editor has carefully worked with the shots to put together a collection of views that show the ride from as many angles as possible.  However, it is important to note that they are not afraid to hold a shot for a long time to get the spirit of the ride across.  With Power Tower 2 they kept a shot from across the midway to show almost the entire cycle that the ride goes through, which is a lot more than just rising to the top and dropping.  Here again they go for a few seconds of a four-way split screen.  This one shows a close-up of the rig, the tower from a medium distance, the tower from far away and a shot looking up the structure.

-Top Spin “Fresh” and Jumping: These rides, owned by Zehle and Distel respectively are captured very well.  The Jumping looks amazing at night with its combination of strobes, neon and fog.  The shots of Top Spin Fresh show it flipping more on one rotation than most parks have theirs programmed to do!

-Old School Equipment: With all of this new stuff there is plenty of footage of the “classic” German fairground equipment like Dehner’s Huss Rainbow, a Huss UFO owned by Peters and a red, white and blue Huss Ranger whose owner I do not know.  The Rainbow sports its great light package in some engaging night shots.

-Wild Wasserbahn: This ride, owned by the Löwenthal family, shows off the mammoth thinking of German showmen.  This Mack flume is gigantic, bigger than some park models I have been on, and the POV footage showcases the ride’s unique support system.

Roller Coasters:

-Olympia Looping: This is fantastic on-board footage of this sick and twisted Schwarzkopf/Stengel masterpiece.  I wished I could have seen it running with all five trains, but I am sure the only way they could film POV was with the low lines of an early afternoon. 

-Alpina Bahn: Lots of great shots showing the layout of another Schwarzkopf/Stengel creation owned by Oscar Bruch.  I was surprised at how unique and intense this thing appeared.

-Dueling Wild Mice: This impressive Maurer-Söhne set-up, owned by Münch, was fun to watch.  The camera does a great job of catching the rides (and riders) interacting with each other as tons of cars speed through the course.

If there was any disappointing footage I would have to say it was of the Mondial Inferno and Top Scan.  The footage wasn’t really bad per-say, but the music and editing failed to capture the energy of the rides.  This is nitpicking, I know, but it honestly stood out a bit to me.  I was surprised that two of the world’s most exciting rides came off a bit flat. 

After hearing me gush it will be no surprise that I really enjoyed this DVD.  The camerawork is top-notch, the production for an amusement-related video is excellent (I would say the editing here is on-par with anything I have come across on Discovery) and the music is the typical German fairground pop-electronic stuff.  It runs the gambit between good and cheesy, but is always fun and representative of the German fair sound.  With the flat ride videos, the coaster videos, a huge slideshow of photos and bonus video of things like Barth’s Drier Looping being set up there is no end to footage.  In fact, you’ll probably have to do what I did and turn it off for a little while because watching this DVD is like being on a fairground- the senses are overloaded. 

Roller Coasters Featured: Schwarzkopf/Stengel Olympia Looping, Bruch/Giovanola/Stengel Eurostar, Schwarzkopf/Stengel Alpina Bahn, Maurer-Söhne Xtended XC 2000, Mack Wild Mouse, Maurer-Söhne Dueling Wild Mice, Schwarzkopf/Stengel Wildcat, Super Railway, Reverchon Gliding Coaster and Reverchon Crazy Mouse.

Click here to buy this DVD.

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