The history department over at Frozen in Carbonite made a timely observation that Trilogy turns fifteen-years-old this summer. We are not qualified to dwell on the finer points of this video’s impact upon release (Photosynthesis on the other hand…), as we were not yet skateboarding when it came out. Those of us who started skating after 1998 unfortunately know Kareem Campbell more as a video game character than the guy in Trilogy. Hopefully, the internet’s prevalent cult of Menace nostalgists will seize this anniversary to write something substantial about what the video meant in 1996. It has held up remarkably well, and though much has been said about skate videos becoming more disposable over the past several years, only a few artifacts from the “golden age” of VHS have stood the test of time well enough to inspire nods from the modern era.
The only full, online edition of this video is on Google Video, and the quality is awful. It has been on there for almost four years without deletion. So we’re hoping the folks over at Dwindle do not mind us putting a better quality version online. (Seriously, if you have anything to do with the ownership of this video and you don’t want it here, please e-mail info *at* quartersnacks.com, and it’s gone.) Unicron has the three DVD World Industries box set for $39.99, and mentions that the set is recently out of print. It’s like a Criterion Collection release, but for skateboarders. Buy it while you still can.
Here it is, in Vimeo faux HD. Even with a correct aspect ratio. Watch it, study it, hope Kareem Campbell called back Pat O’Dell to get the Menace episode done, and enjoy the first weekend of the summer. 80 on Saturday, 80 on Sunday. “Where’s your footy at ‘Reem?”
geeee-nooo iii-aaa-nuuuu-ccciiiiiiii
thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve watched Trilogy.
101 section is amazing.
Looking back to 1996, I had the choice of “welcome to hell” or “trilogy” for my 13th birthday. I think my life would be different if I had chosen “trilogy.
Thanks for doing this. Still watch the Gino section on an old VHS copy to this day. I think it’s fair to say that there’s no one like him and there probably never will be, shit I’m getting nostagic!
I was 17 when Trilogy came out and remember the era pretty well. LA picnic tables, Pier-7 lines, Lavar, KCKs – this video pushed all these things into the spotlight. It also helped push skating in general more towards ledge skating, in a good way.
Thanks for posting. I don’t even have a vhs player anymore so this one just sits on a shelf collecting dust. Glad to watch it again in good quality.
This post and the “Classic Covers” section of the August issue of Thrasher (with Quim’s Nov 1995 cover) both make me feel old.
I distinctly remember hanging out in Sub Zero skateshop in Philly, and hearing someone going on about Kareem kickflipping a trash can off of flat ground in this video. The video must’ve just came out at that point. I was already a few years deep in skating, so yeah – I feel old right now!
To this day I havent really seen the video. I think at the time I was too caught up with Welcome To Hell, Non-Fiction, etc etc
Word