Magnetic Documentary Review

I am no movie critic, however, I would consider myself a sports documentary addict. Even before "The Last Dance" I spent much of my time watching sports documentaries and pondering all the things they had to offer. There are many thrilling things in sports including highlight reels, mixtapes, and storylines, but there might be nothing better than getting and inside perspective on things. "Magnetic" (on Netflix) isn't your average sports documentary.

This post and documentary are for all the extreme sports junkies out there. I would not consider myself to be one, however, I have the upmost respect for the people who love extreme sports. The sheer athleticism that you have to have to do extreme sport is BLASPHEMY. I highly recommend this documentary as it is something like you have never seen before, you can find it on Netflix. I'll give you the inside scoop story by story.

My biggest fear in life is probably drowning or falling off a cliff. The first part of this documentary deals with quite literally the LARGEST waves in the world. Waves so large that you have to take a jet-ski out to be able to surf them. The people who go out on these waves are absolute MAD MEN. You basically are riding a 90ft demon into certain death, yet these people escape it every time. If you don't understand me correctly, YOU RIDE A 90FT wave that is headed directly into the cliffs of Portugal. 90 feet. I cannot exaggerate this. I am certain it is already hard enough to surf. I can't barely surf on the back of a boat let alone surf the ocean, BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WAVES THAT ARE SKYSCRAPER TALL. This has to be the most thrilling part of the documentary.... dudes literally risk their live's to get a natural high of riding a fat wave.

I mean this doesn't even look real, but it is a photo straight from the movie. That wave has certain death, flesh eating sharks, and death-by-drowning written all over it.

The documentary heads over to the next extreme sport in Chamonix, France where a couple of Shawn White looking men shred the gnar of the western alps. You don't get to see much actual skiing in this part of the documentary due to inclement weather, however you have to be a special kind of crazy to want to ski this bad. No ski lifts, only helicopters. And these dudes ride it like they are riding the easiest mountain of their lives.

Some of these mountains don't even have a slope. They are just a 90 degree angles that lead you to the mother of all concussions, but even more likely death.

The kite surfer in Turifa, Spain is the next location. This is one of the most physically fit humans of all time. He is by no means a body builder, but he definitely has the lean and fit body you HAVE to have to be able to do any of these extreme sports. This kid was made to be better than the average human being. He is ripped to the core and doesn't seem to do anything but kite surf and workout. I probably couldn't even get out of the water on a kite surf board (or whatever you call it) let alone throw around some backflips and spin around while flexing on the camera below.

Next, we go to Samoens, France. Where a couple of dudes just like to bike. I mean by no means could I do anything in this documentary... but really all these dudes do is bike up mountains and do flips. After watching the kite surfer.... these dudes don't impress me all that much. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't do 1% of what they do, but really, I could probably bike up a mountain. It would take me about 10x longer, but not that exciting. I entered this doc expecting to see things I have never seen before... everything they did is something I have seen go viral before.

We then head to Pakistan where we see some more insane skiing. These dudes wake up in the middle of the night to start climbing mountains just to ride down in one eighth of the time. I mean the cost really doesn't equal the pay-out. It's kind of like hiking Mount Everest. You do one of the hardest things humanly possible for what? Bragging rights? Not worth it. These adrenaline junkies are similar to the first group that we saw in the fact that they just ski down impossible mountains just for the thrill of it. In my opinion I wouldn't do it even if I knew how to ski cause you have to kill yourself to hike for eight hours just to ski down for about an hour and a half. Although, I will say if you could hike a 14er and then ski down, that would be much more fun.

The documentary then takes you to New Zealand where a couple of dudes paraglide. Again, this is something I would never try. If I could have any super power, I would fly. If you told me I could fly but have basically two strings that helped me escape crashing right into the ground, I wouldn't take your deal... but these two dudes just go full send every time. They do flips, and glide inches from the ground, and do other crazy shit like that. These dudes might also be in love with one another. They talk about the intimacy of what it takes to fly together. I have been on many aircrafts in my life, yet I never hugged each passenger, the flight crew, and the pilot and tell them I love them when the flight comes to an end.

We then head to Northern Hawaii where we meet yet another "made to thrive in a very niche craft" type human named Zane Kekoa Schweitzer. The only reason I remember his name is because he sounds like he could be a German soccer player. Other than looking like a Pacific Islander and a ripped Demi-god, this man is nothing short of Maui from Moana. Like Maui, he does it all. He does it all so much so that he doesn't even have one sport that he is good at: he just is listed as a "waterman" they should just call him Merman. All I could think about with this dude is if Maui from Moana and John Paul Jones from the bachelorette had a baby, it would be this kid.

HE EVEN HAS MAUI'S HOOK AS A NECKALCE. He is moments away from telling me "you're welcome for the tides, the sun, the sky". His father is 18-time world champion wind surfer, and his grandmother created the sport. Talk about child prodigy. This kid was made to be part fish. I wouldn't be surprised if he has gills hidden under his trunks. He swims in the ocean and does workouts underwater for fun. Not to mention he surfs, wind surfs, and "hydrofoils" amongst many other things. I couldn't have even told you "hydrofoiling" was before watching this... I'm not even sure I can explain it now, so go ahead and watch the documentary to find out.

Lastly, we meet Zane's friends in Tahiti. This is basically a fraternity of surfers. Nothing too special about this group in all honesty. They are just beach bums who surf in beautiful Hawaiin water day in and day out.

Through and through it isn't all the behind-the-scenes stories that 30 for 30's give you, but it is still pretty cool. Basically, it is just one really long go pro commercial with insights to sports we've never seen. I would say you could skip around the documentary and enjoy the hour and half in about 25 minutes or less and learn the same amount as before. I'd give it a 6/10 as you get things out of the normal Big Four sports that we love.That is the biggest problem but also biggest strength. It is something so unfamiliar that it is intriguing but also they don't explain the basics of some things so it's almost hard to comprehend.