Finishing the film only a couple of days back, I cannot help but notice how it sometimes has to look like an infomercial. But then again, it’s only mere minutes so it’s doesn’t really kill the appeal and that can be left for some other discussion. The sequel to the successful On Any Sunday which was filmed back in 1971 and starred by a stellar cast which was led by none other than the King of Cool himself – Steve McQueen. This is one of the first departure points of the sequel. It is led by a much wider cast and everyone is leader as the film dissects the inner workings of the human fondness for motorized bicycles.
The film’s first few minutes are nothing short of amazing as it gives the audience a 360-degree view of the motorcycle culture. It exhibited the likes of motocross, in freestyle, MX and even sidecarcross which is very popular in countries around the globe. It’s quite an educating experience to have since the film feels deeply researched and really intends to show the scope of how much we use motorcycles and the catch? This is only about 20 minutes into the film.
Going back to the initial point, the film contains a cast of the who’s who for that year of motorcycling – Robbie Maddison who just set a new world record for jumping the length of a football field from his dirt bike, Marc Marquez who was then a rookie in the MotoGP and was the one who eventually took home the World Championship for that year and there are also powerhouses in the sport such as Travis Pastrana, who is no stranger to anyone in the world of motocross and Ashley Fiolek, who despite being deaf is one of the greatest female motocross racers there is. This contemporary cast is even backed up with legends in the field such as Roland Sands and Kenny Roberts.
The meat of the film is mostly about the various industries that work inside the world of motorcycling. Some use it for sport, some use it for charity and some even see it as the lifeblood of their country. The differences in the various ways people use motorcycles are amazing. As illustrated in the film, every single discipline is interconnected, for example – flat track racing has been honing future MotoGP riders over the years and this has even resulted in four MotoGP world champions! The interviewees in the film also stress the same fact and the audience can easily see this as they are shown flat track racers taking in turns at a hundred miles per hour and then blazing through the straights at 130. Other fields include racing in the snow over a lake that has frozen over the winter and some outrageous stunts such as jumping over valleys, the Arc de Triomphe and mountains upon mountains.
I think the film is not just about the many things we do with a motorcycle. It’s also about the culture and the community that we have allowed to grow within the field. The film reiterates this sentiment as the audience see riders just casually hanging out and talking to each other be it in a normal riding day or an actual professional race day. In the last parts of the film, we see this coming to a close as they enter a race track wherein nobody is above the other. They are all equals and they all share the same passion for taking their motorcycles out for a ride – as the title says, on any Sunday.
Film: On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter (2014)
Director: Dana Brown
Starring: Robbie Maddison, Marc Marquez, Travis Pastrana, Roland Sands, Dani Pedrosa, Ashley Fiolek, Kenny Roberts, Doug Henry and James Stewart Jr.
Words By: Keith Perena
Photos Supplied By: Red Bull Media House
