Shot on 35mm film with a mono soundtrack, Bruce Brown's 1971 motorcycle-racing documentary On Any Sunday was a mainstay of the VHS years, its garish clamshell case impossible to miss on video store shelves. For a film so associated with the analog era, it's appropriate that Brown's son Dana's On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter makes use of cutting-edge technologies such as Dolby Atmos and 4K cinematography. Produced by Red Bull Media House and covering many Red Bull-sponsored events — hence the interview scenes seemingly preceded by the direction, "First, put on this Red Bull cap" — On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter looks at modern motorcycle racing and stunt-riding. It's the latter that's most interesting, particularly early sequences of daredevil Robbie Maddison performing some truly breathtaking stunts, while the Erzbergrodeo race through inhospitable Austrian terrain is worthy of its own movie. Unfortunately, for a film toted as a showcase for the Dolby Atmos system, many of the sounds effects are smothered by overloud rock music, making the sequences less emotionally compelling. Granted, the sounds from the various vehicles are probably not all location recordings, and they're surely processed a great deal to achieve the you-are-there sensation. But the added music doesn't help, and it's a shame Brown didn't let his often-astonishing material speak for itself.
Tags: Film
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