In less than two weeks, one of the most anticipated games of 2020 will be released. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remaster is out on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 4th. For many, the announcement of the games’ re-release back in May was a beacon of hope in the apocalyptic setting of 2020, providing nostalgia and care-free distraction from the real world in equal measure.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater continues to be one of the biggest selling franchises in gaming history, but how did it all come to be? To celebrate the remaster and tell the story of its inception and rise to become a mammoth of incredible importance – in both the video game and skateboarding worlds – Swedish director Ludvig Gür (The Outsider, Clean Colored Wire) brings us Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story.
Documenting the many rises and falls in popularity skateboarding has seen since the late ’70s/early ’80s, the decline of vert skating and the emergence of street skating, the film highlights just how much the Tony Hawk games have impacted the sport. A huge cast of legendary skaters (Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Jamie Thomas, Aaron Snyder, Scott Pease, Mick West, and Cara-Beth Burnside to name just a few) share their stories and experiences of skating in the last four decades. The iconic Bones Brigade, Rodney Mullen’s Rubbish Heap, Cara-Beth Burnside’s struggles with sexism, all provide an insightful background into the sport, leading up to it becoming a household name in the late ’90s thanks to the game.
The X-Games’ formation in 1995 wasn’t happily received by all skaters, as it seemed a cheesy and over-the-top representation of the sport, and many worried the Pro Skater games would follow suit. Instead, they “brought the complexity of what [skateboarders] do to the general public,” as Rodney Mullen says, with Bob Burnquist adding that it “showed our world to kids”.
It’s not just skateboarding that has been positively affected by the game, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack has become as famous as the game, and in Pretending I’m a Superman (the title itself from Goldfinger’s single “Superman”) we hear from Larry “Ler” LaLonde of Primus, John Feldmann of Goldfinger, and Jay Bentley of Bad Religion how the games made their music more accessible to people all over the world. Feldmann remembers how Goldfinger played their first European tour in support of the Bloodhound Gang, and nobody cared until they played “Superman.” He shares: “The game completely changed the trajectory of my band.”
From a younger generation of skaters, Aaron ‘Jaws’ Homoki and Elliot Sloan tell how the game inspired them to skate after spending countless hours playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Newer skaters Keire Johnson and Jordyn Barratt discuss how Kareem Campbell and Elissa Steamer’s inclusion in the games showed that skateboarding was accessible to everyone, no matter their race or gender. The Birdman himself adds that many of the tricks skaters are doing today originated in the games.
This documentary is a super positive and enjoyable look at just how much the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise has made an impact on skateboarding, and why Tony Hawk will always be THE poster boy for the sport. It can only keep going too, with the remaster on its way, no doubt spreading its influence even further onto a new generation of skaters – whether that’s on screen or on the street.
Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story is available on most VOD platforms now.
All photos courtesy of Wood Entertainment via Scott Motisko Public Relations.
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