The Bottom Line
This powerful film by director Josh Aronson holds and unflinching eye on a unique world that few people get to see. Unlike many other docs on bull riding, it does not shy away from showing what make the best bull riders tick. From the camaraderie to the deep religious faith that many of these riders hold.
This film is worth your time and you need to take the ride.
- $1 of DVD purchase prices goes to the Resistol Relief Fund for cowboys.
- Some of the best slow motion action I've seen in a bull riding film.
- Gives an accurate portrayal of the brotherhood that is unique to this sport.
- Great cinematography give this film a rock video quality.
- Great interview with Tuff Hedeman talking candidly about the legendary bull Bodacious.
- Justin McBride's surgery is graphic and might turn off some viewers.
- Bull riding injuries are not pretty, so be warned.
Description
- BULLRIDER
- A Josh Aronson Film
An Off The Pier Production - Features Mike Lee, Adriano Moraes, Justin McBride, Rob Smets, Mossy Oak Mudslinger, Little Yellow Jacket, and more!
- Special Features include:
Behind the Scenes Interviews
The Man and the Bull
Amazing Slideshow - Rated PG
- 90 Minute Feature
45 Minute Bonus Material - © Off The Pier Productions
All Rights Reserved - http://www.bullridermovie.com
Guide Review - BULLRIDER - Film Review
BULLRIDER takes viewers deep into the 2004 Professional Bull Riders season. It begins as a solid 'here-is-the-sport' style documentary but soon delves into deeper and more dramatic territory.
For the bull riding purist, the action and excitement of the original extreme sport remains, but one gets the sense that the filmmakers were looking for something deeper, something more meaningful than bright lights, pyrotechnics and the iconic myth of 'the cowboy'.
In trying to understand what makes these athletes tick, BULLRIDER doesn't fear to engage an often taboo subject in our modern age, that of religious faith. The film lays bare the meaningful faith of many of the riders, which should come as no surprise in a sport where the possibility of death looms with every opening of the chute.
The film features beautiful camera and slow motion work, with a musical score that gives it a rock video quality that younger viewers will appreciate, yet still captures the traditional essence of the sport.
The film also beautifully answers the ridiculous animal cruelty argument with the simple words of a stock contractor who clearly loves his bulls and chokes up every time he has to sell one.
But it is in the interviews with the bull riders themselves where the film moves out of the realm of pure sports documentary into a sort of philosophical treatise on life. It touches on profound questions, such as how many of us would we be willing to risk death to fulfill our calling?
These men, who embody a simple complexity, answer with an authority born of experience and truth that can only be described as enlightenment. The truth of BULLRIDER does not solely lie in the bull riding alone, but in the human stories and wisdom that surround it.
The passion, faith, and courage exhibited in BULLRIDER is something that everyone can learn from. Not just cowboys or their fans.