Chains - The Movie: Still Alive and Kickin’!

Last year, disc golfers across the world were excited by a trailer for a disc golf documentary simply titled Chains (if you haven’t seen it already, you can check out the old trailer here). It looked extremely promising, well shot on high quality cameras, great editing, and probably most importantly, it communicated the vibe that is present in competitive disc golf. It communicated that people DO, in fact, take the sport seriously and that there is a whole lot more to the game than some hippies throwing around a beach Frisbee in the woods. The trailer showed that the sport is not only taken seriously, but also is cool–even cute chicks can be addicted to this game. The trailer held nothing but promise, but then, we heard nothing.

Also eagerly anticipated in 2007 was the Beaver State Fling DVD, which looked to be the best disc golf tournament DVD to have ever been made. Jen Padham, of DG Flicks, had already proven her ability with her first effort with the 2006 Skylands Classic DVD. Teaming up with Theo Pozzy, longtime staple in the national disc golf community, and adding extra features like player interviews, player commentary, helicopter fly-bys, it really looked to be taking disc golf DVDs to a whole new level. But, due to some circumstances that remain shrouded in mystery, the release date came and went, and eventually Pozzy stated on some internet forums that the DVD would most likely never be released. Many folks in the disc golf community were disappointed on hearing this news–I know I sure was.

Since no official word had come out and no new footage had been seen, people were afraid that Chains was going down the same path as the Beaver State Fling DVD. There were rumors that Chains was still in development, but had just gotten slowed down for one reason or another, but rumors are just that. Thankfully now though, there IS official word in the form of a music video, and the project is still under way. The video looks great, and Chains is looking as promising as ever. If you want to see the video in better quality than YouTube’s crapitude, check out the Quicktime version. Kudos to the cameraman for the opening shot of the video, having done a small amount of disc golf filming myself, I know how tough it can be to keep a fast moving disc in frame through its entire flight. I also appreciate the Derek Hasting’s candor at the end (”Still coming…sometime soon…really”). Been getting a few questioning emails there, Derek?

In any case, I’m really glad to see that the ball is still rolling on this project, and I can’t wait to see more. If you’d like to stay tuned to hear the latest on Chains, you can visit their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/chainsthemovie.