There has always been something in the psychological makeup of men, particularly those in the United States that just loves watching stunts being performed. In the fifties there was a series called ‘You Asked for It’ where viewers would write in and request some crazy stunt or another. Usually they were fairly tame by current standards requiring jumping a motorcycle over a car or through a flaming hoop. Now, with such incredible stunt work present in every action flick the bar has been set much higher than any time in the past. Back in the mid sixties one man’s name became synonymous with being a daredevil, Evil Knievel. He started his career doing little shows in small towns jumping boxes filled with snakes or mountain lions. Soon he escalated to more dangerous stunts with one of his career highlights being a jump over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho a distance of almost a quarter of a mile. He has also jumped his bike between sky scrapers in New York City and over a dozen buses. Knievel did not do this alone. He had on his staff a crew of professional stunt coordinators, mechanics and, of course, medical personal. The last was needed since he often broke bones and at one point even broke his spine. These stunts were planed out in minute detail by professionals and still there was always a change of serious injury or death. Now, a new group of daredevils has come around. Actually, using the term daredevil is more than a little bit misleading, these guys are idiots. They collectively go by the name of ‘Jackass’ which in it self should gtell you something about them. Usually they warn viewers not too try their stunts at home. Many think that anyone who wants too emulate the Jackass crew should do so thereby taking the less intelligent portion of the population out of the gene pool. This crew should win a lifetime achievement Darwin Award.

The latest of these stunt shows to hit DVD is ‘Jackass Presents: Mat Hoffman's Tribute to Evel Knievel’. This is a series of stunts based on some of the more famous ones performed by the late great Knievel. The Jackass crew was never known for their preparations for their stunts. Instead of the team of highly trained professionals employed by Knievel the Jackasses usually got drunk and/or stoned. This was really a two edge sword. It may have helped in coping with the inevitable pain typically resulting from their stunts but also was most likely being stoned was a major contributor to their stunts going wrong causing those injuries. During the filming of this tribute one of the Jackass regulars, Johnny Knoxville, miscalculated a jump and received some serious injuries. In fact, on the DVD box cover Knoxville is depicted lying in a hospital bed. Does any one else out there see something inherently wrong with these guys trying to do this tribute? The man with his name so prominently displayed on the cover is Mat Hoffman. He is considered one of the best BMX bike stunt performers in the world. Besides his association with the Jackass bunch he has worked as a stunt consultant on several feature films.

Hoffman’s tribute to Knievel is hosted by Johnny Knoxville. Also included in the cast is Travis Pastrana, Allan Cooke, ‘Harley’ Jeff Schneider, Davin ‘Psycho’ Halford, Scott ‘Plamer’ Palmer, Trigger Gumm and Midget Mike. Cooke is another BMX rider. Pastrana is a well regarded motocross rider and X games participant. Schneider is a professional stunt rider. Halford is another well known BMX stunt man as is Palmer and Gunn. These are men who make a living out of risking death on a regular basis. The film opens with Knoxville interviewing Hoffman about his relationship with Knievel. He respected and admired him greatly and always wanted to do a tribute to the man. They have a little montage of some of the more notable stunts that Knievel has performed including a rocket ride and his famous school bus jump. Hoffman tries to emulate how Knievel lived hard facing death to give value to his life. The stunts that Knievel did with the motorcycle Hoffman has tried, at least in spirit, to do with his BMX bike. Using only the power of his legs he is the undisputed champion of the vertical ramp. This is a curved ramp that goes almost straight up. One time Hoffman put a weed eater engine on his bike to get a little extra lift on the ramp. The result was a crash that resulted in an injury to his spleen and being clinically dead for a few minutes.. In retrospect he admits to Knoxville that he probably should have put a little more thought into the whole thing.

For some of the stunts using BMX bikes they are initially tethered to a motorcycle to get them up to speed. The cable is let loose and the bike flies through the air. Sure it is crazy but there is a certain fascination to watching these stunts. The goal for many of the men here is to honor Knievel by breaking as many worlds’ records as possible. The stunt coordinator for this project was Spanky Spangler. He has over 22,000 stunts under his belt. Going for the distance record on a BMX bike is Psycho. After being towed by a motorcycle he makes some sixty seven feet. He did get to 88 feet but crashed and landed on his head. One of the strangest and most incredibly dumb stunts is when Palmer jumps from an airplane without a parachute. Even Knoxville had to laugh at this one. The plan is to have two experienced sky divers swoop down and catch him mid air. The plans for this were discussed at a topless bar one morning. There is nothing like a place without distractions so the men can fully concentrate on the task at hand. Palmer has never attempted anything like this and more importantly neither has the men doing the catching. To even think of this you might think the guy has to have a brass set; actually I go more for some form of brain damage. Palmer jumps wearing only a bathing suit; you don’t want any clothing to create drag and slow him down. After Palmer shows off with a few flips and turns he drifts over to one of the sky divers and they hook themselves together.

There is more talking in this DVD than any other Jackass presentation. Mostly it is Knoxville chatting with the men about to perform the stunts and the modicum of planning that is shown on the screen. It is certain that a lot more planning has gone into these stunts than was shown otherwise this would have been more of stuff flick. Like most MTV productions the DVD is distributed through Paramount Home Video. This is a compilation of some of the most amazing stunts ever shown. Unlike the typical Jackass faire it is not so much stupid as it is dangerous and crazy. At least no one was intentionally hit in the groin. The film is only 47 minutes long but they make up for with the extras listed below.