Destroying America (Skateboarding Film) [VHS]

This attempt to elevate a skateboard video to an action-adventure film nearly makes MTV's Jackass look like Masterpiece Theater, but that will probably be its greatest appeal. What little plot there is concerns two skateboarders who ride into and over just about everything in their path in a battered van that has miraculously escaped the junkyard. There are some other characters, including two women who seem to have wandered over from the set of a porno film while busting out of their tiny nurse's uniforms, a young Asian woman (played by martial artist Ming Tran) in a schoolgirl's uniform who kicks (and kicks and kicks) the hell out of what she terms a "dirty white guy" who tries to lift up her plaid skirt, and a vengeful cop played by none other than Erik Estrada of CHiPs fame. Skateboarding champion Tony Hawk even turns up to play a drunken pizza delivery guy. As if that's not enough entertainment, the skateboarders drive their malicious white van through a Christmas tree stand (they don't murder Santa, but sure mess up a lot of trees) and a sidewalk cafe (though, in fairness, they were provoked). A cop car gets made into a skateboard ramp, which seems like a huge deal to Estrada's character until the car is later attacked with a pickax, doused with gasoline, set on fire, and blown up. None of this makes much sense, but there's a lot of raucous music, plenty of very nifty skateboard tricks, and enough bizarre visuals to thoroughly entertain those who find themselves in the right frame of mind. Extras on the DVD include a featurette on the film's premiere, where fans celebrated by tossing a lot of stuff at the van and the cops came to cool things off. --Robert J. McNamara