B.I.K.E and Wired to Win

I watched two bicycle related movies this week. Wired to Win, and B.I.K.E. These movies are very much on the opposite end of the spectrum as far as production goes. Wired to Win uses the Tour De France as a backdrop for a movie that is essentially about the brain. But since the brain is such an amazingly complex phenomenon the short IMAX movie is in no way capable of delivering any sort of comprehensive message about the brain to its viewers. The only thing I seem to remember about the message of the movie is that "the brain learns something every day." Not exactly breaking news there, Bubba. What stays behind however, are the great shots from the race it self. But since I inherently expect these great shots from an IMAX movie, I was greatly disappointed to see shots, that had the potential to be amazing, but were out of focus! In short, Wired to Win would have been better if they skipped the brain stuff and just "focused" on the race. Warning Spoilers.... B.I.K.E had impeccable cinematography, even though the budget for the movie was probably about 1% of the Wired to Win budget. The excellent cinematography is a bit surprising in the light of the rough shape the shooter is in at times, and the circumstances. But that movie misses it's mark, much like Wired to Win. Perhaps it is labeled in the wrong way. It's supposed to be about the main character's (and filmmaker's) infiltration into the Black Label Bicycle Club as an investigative documentary work. I did not feel this was what the movie was about at all. I think it's more of a coming of age - self search kind of a movie. I don't think that Anthony the main character was really trying to infiltrate Black Label in the end, he was trying to join them, to become one of them. He seemed to loose track of his goals and the best thing that happened to him was that the Club did not allow him to become a member. The movie's production, editing and cinematography is excellent though, and a testament of Tony Howard's and Jacob Septimus' professionalism as filmmakers. Verdict: Both movies are worth seeing, but both of them could have been done better.