- Kiteworld Magazine
Peter Trow takes us back in time to the good old days in California when all there was to worry about was catching waves and hanging cool. This time there's a twist - everybody's gone kiteboarding. Pete takes soul by the scruff of the neck, twists it until every last drop had seeped from every one of its pores, then delicately spreads it like pate' throughout each section of this movie. Pete is a California kid at heart and his film is all about his roots. This guy never shelved his directional, so what did you expect? This isn't a video, it's a movie, shot in beautiful 16mm film to produce an intriguing colorful journey in search of waves, wind and soul. The soundtrack is deep, rich and faultlessly hooked up with the action that should be playing at the Odeon.
Kiteworld Magazine Jan - Feb 05
SBC Kiteboard, Spring 2005
Home Theatre
Soul Fly - four stars
Peter Trow continues his record of producing high-quality watersports flicks with Soul Fly. From the cover art to the opening scenes, the video has an undeniably surfy feel.
Of course, everything looks better in 16mm, but the editing, footage and music choice make this one to own. Opening with a Dick Dale -esque tune, the video takes us along the Californian coast from Central to Baja, with a section from the Velocity Games and the Caribbean.
The Footage of pro-surfer-turned-kiter Josh Mulcoy riding monstrous waves will get you stoked. And with a long section of Aaron Hadlow's handlepassing technical riding, it.s not hard to see why he.s the current world champ. Through he's only 17 years old and the majority of his moves are strictly technical, Trow infuses Hadlow's style with the soul of a veteran. Ammy Naff is no slouch either. There's ample footage of her tearing up the coastline.
If you're one for lame plots, weak storylines, Jackass-type antics and some choice T and A, then you're going to be disappointed. But if you want something to get you stoked before a session or when the wind aint blowing, Soul Fly's a no brainer.
Stance Magazine, Spring 2005
Thanks Peter
Peter Trow has obviously given as much attention to the footage and editing of this production as he puts into his neat off-the-lips. Even if a video directed by Peter Trow is obviously waveriding focused, with a directional board, some wicked footage of Aaron Hadlow will deliver the highest level of freestyle expected on a modern video and will contribute to the feeling of perfectly balanced editing. The soundtrack maybe doesn't have the strong hardcore personality of some other productions, but it will surely please everybody, just because all the action and footage smoothly fallows the sweet flow of the music, like one of these long peeling right handers swept by the appropriate cross off shore wind. The only negative point with this video is that we see so many perfect surfs, so many lips hit just at the right time with the right spray that we feel quite miserable afterwards.
A beautiful tribute to kitesurfing in 35 minutes
Flyin' High
The Premiere of Peter Trow's Kiteboarding Film Soul Fly
by Felicia M. Tomasko
Surf movies are an essential part of our culture, particularly in SoCal where surf is not only an avocation, but a vocation and way of life. Since we embarked on our collective Endless Summer, through the more recent surf-film releases that reinforce the common groove, big waves and the athletes who ride them fill us with inspiration and soul. Now kiteboarding - a relatively new, fast-action sport riding our shoreline's waves - is embarking on an endless summer of its own with the movie Soul Fly.
Santa Barbara filmmaker and world-class kiteboarder Peter Trow filmed, produced, and edited Soul Fly, an in-your-face, comprehensive take on the sport. From the beginning montage, Soul Fly sucks the viewer in to the waves and wind while introducing us to the beach-chillin' lifestyle of those who live to kiteboard. Soul Fly is not the first kiteboarding film produced, nor is it Trow's first movie, or even his first kiteboarding flick, but its rich colors, kickin' action, and killer soundtrack have reset the kiteboarding-film bar.
Trow put this background to good use in Soul Fly, which showcases this wave-riding art by portraying kiters who repeatedly catch waves with both grace and acrobatic flair. Soul Fly delivers the excitement again and again, through elegantly executed aerial spins and flips as well as water-pounding wipeouts. Images of whitecaps, bodies dipping around the waves, and kites soaring through the air are interlaced with dogs lazing beneath a boat's shade, skateboarders rolling down an empty highway, and kiters buying fish at the end of the day.
The film stars 2004 world champion Aaron Hadlow, cool kiteboarding chick Ammy Naff, pro surfer-turned-kiter Josh Mulcoy, and Trow himself. Locations include the Central Coast - plenty of familiar beaches, too - the Caribbean, Baja, NorCal, L.A., and a competition scene from the Texas Velocity Games, where the wipeouts are grand. Hadlow is stunning to watch, flipping mid-air and grabbing the kite bar again behind his head. His moves are even more impressive when you realize the British kid earned his title at the age of 16. Naff proves that kiteboarding, like surfing, is not strictly a men's sport as she carves through waves with hypnotic grace.
Filmed on 16mm film as well as digital video, Soul Fly paints a richly colorful portrait of the emerging sport that's slowly taking over, worth watching over and over again. See it first this Friday at a benefit for the Surfrider Foundation, with musical inspiration courtesy of DJ Zac Pike and the reggae band Cornerstone.
bayareakiteboarding.com
Soul Fly - A Kiteboarding Film by Peter Trow
Review by Zeev Gur
3.7.2005
The review:
Peter Trow delivers a great movie about one of the best aspects of this diverse sport. Note that I did not use the term video - this is really more of a movie, which attempts to capture the magical quality of wave kiting. Peter, who is a ripping wave kiter, delivers a 16mm film, which makes for a very high quality product. If you have friends who don't kite and wonder why you chance the sick conditions, have then over for a few beers and pop this movie in. You will need to add a bit of commentary, but if they know anything about nature and wind powered sports you can focus on supplying the cold beers.
At the risk of being non politically correct, I will compare this movie to, errr, adult entertainment. In my opinion, the sport of wave kiting happens to stimulate the same part of our brain as the other stuff does. This movie does not waste time with a complex plot line, goofing around, discussing different types of gear or other filler. It gets right to the action and delivers the best action possible: my only wish is that it was longer. It's wall to wall epic kiting. The locations are insane. The film gives you a bit of the freestyle and contest scene to show the multiple dimensions of the sport but does not linger on this..thank god, once you've seen one handle pass, you've seen them all. Like with good porn, it then quickly returns to the best stuff possible - the eye candy of epic wave kiting.
Peter being a California bro, has a keen nose for the scenery that really impresses. I wish I had a big screen TV to see this sweet movie. The North and central CA shots are my personal favorites, as I've seen most of these places in person. Just beautiful. You can smell the ocean in some of those shots.
My personal favorite is the heavy day at Scott's creek where only Josh is out on the water. I was at Scott's the day the footage was shot. I did not have the testicular fortitude to go out: it was just too big and heavy. The sound of the water from the cliffs above Scott's creek was intense. There is a good reason that Josh is the only kite out there. The fact that he makes bottom turns and smacks some of those massive lips is truly amazing. His fluid style, refined over many years of professional surfing - check out the bonus sections of the video - is very evident in his kiting style. The quality of the footage is really impressive: as the light condition of the day was less then optimal.
Speaking of style, this movie captures what I consider to be the most fluid type of kiting. Hard charging bottom turns - to the point where they go so fast that there is slack created in the kite lines - the hand dragging in the water and the sick off the lip smack.
It takes a long time to get the timing right, to get the right kite control and to combine all of this with the wave shape/speed. Like all pros, these guys make it look so easy. Trust me, it's not.
The movie makes you feel like you went on an epic trip with your good friends. My only wish is that the movie was longer and I got to travel to the sick spots where this film was shot. Great product. Give us more!!!!
Real Kiteboarding Reviews
'SoulFly', a Peter Trow film easily lays new standards for kite cinema. You ease into this video like a fresh early morning sunrise session and before you know it, the action is on! Just imagine long smooth lines of Baja waves, huge Northern Cali waves, an insane ocean session with Aaron Hadlow, and breathtaking scenery all crafted smoothly together.
With all of the hours it took to put this video together, Trow encompasses a quality viewing, and real look into the kitesurfing scene exploding on the west coast. Relax, sit back and get ready to be impressed. - 'SoulFly' is a top shelf video. - JD.