Freefall Extreme (2001)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Mike Slee
Narrated by Kerry Shale

Features:

• Slide show
  
• Bonus footage
  
• DVD-ROM content
  

Rating: NR, suitable for 12+

Anamorphic: Yes

My advice: Rent it

Originally produced as a pair of documentaries for The Learning Channel, Freefall Extreme traces the history of humanity’s struggle with the confines of gravity. Tracing parachuting back to its earliest roots (when most of the pioneers in the field ended up crippled or dead in fairly short order), the film chronicles the progression of parachuting from a novelty, through its development in warfare and rescue operations, to its modern incarnation as the most extreme of extreme sports.

The first half of the feature focuses on an attempt at a record-breaking unassisted flight using an advanced “wing suit,” which allows its wearer to glide at speeds in excess of 120 mph. Between successive tests of the wing suit, the film discusses the history of “unassisted flight” from da Vinci’s early sketches of a parachute to the novelty jumpers of the turn of the century, many of whom unfortunately were killed in their jumps from hot air balloons. In addition to the record-breaking wing suit flight, it also shows the attempt by a group of Swedish skydivers to set a new world record for single-nationality group formation skydiving, with over100 jumpers involved in an intricate snowflake pattern.

In the second half of the program, the focus shifts to some of the more practical applications of the parachute, from smoke jumping to fight forest fires to ejector seats in jet fighter aircraft. It also discusses some of the brave souls that tested these devices in their early stages, including the only man to break the sound barrier while in free fall, who tested an astronaut rescue parachute by jumping from an altitude of over 100,000 feet. His freefall lasted four and a half minutes, and he achived speeds in the upper atmosphere of over 700 mph.

The production values are high for the entire film, and the coverage of parachuting is historically comprehensive. Some of the archival footage is remarkable, and dates back to some of the earliest days of the sport. Watching the two world record attempts through all their planning stages and into execution is interesting and exciting stuff, and gives a good insight into how much skill is really involved in falling out of an airplane.

If you’re curious about skydiving or its history, this one definitely merits a rental. Jumpers themselves might even want to own a copy, as some of the skydiving footage is beautiful, and the discussions of advances in techniques and technology might be educational.