New Movie about Carl Boenish - The Father of BASE Jumping

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Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 19, 2015 - 11:03am PT
New Movie coming out in May called Sunshine Superman about Carl Boenish - The Father of BASE Jumping

Trailer here (it only worked for me when viewed in Safari) - http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/sunshinesuperman/

Movie Site Here with Showtimes -
http://www.magpictures.com/sunshinesuperman/

and more ways to connect

http://www.facebook.com/Sunshinesuperman

http://twitter.com/Sunshinesuper7

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Mar 19, 2015 - 11:07am PT
Awesome!! I've been waiting for this.

Thanks Chris!
Rollover

climber
Gross Vegas
Mar 19, 2015 - 11:08am PT
Thanks for sharing Chris!
Looks superb!!
crankster

Trad climber
Mar 19, 2015 - 11:18am PT
Lived doing that to the ripe old age of 43.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Mar 19, 2015 - 12:45pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/Carl_Boenish?redirect=no
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 19, 2015 - 03:30pm PT
That trailer has the largest GoPro I've ever seen

And pretty sure I saw tommy Caldwell in the bottom right corner of the photo above
T.J.

climber
Mar 19, 2015 - 09:05pm PT
That's pretty cool!!! I don't B.A.S.E. jump. But it still stokes the big route, first ascent/ decent, ... psyche!

T.J.

or any form of coolness...
T.J.

climber
Mar 20, 2015 - 09:03pm PT
Hey all,

Viewing this I'm gonna ask an outsider noob question. Watching their feet at the point of exit?, is the issue that you are generally top heavy and so the angle (at low velocity) is very critical and your first time(s) out you are trying to figure that out? Just very ignorant but interested.

Thanks!!!
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 21, 2015 - 09:11am PT
The way you get flat and stable is to arch your back, look at the horizon, and have your feet come back just a little.
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
May 18, 2015 - 07:32am PT
Coming this weekend in Santa Monica:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/los-angeles/the-landmark/film-info/sunshine-superman


Thanks for the tip from our friend "aka Larry" here on Supertopo.

He was there for the first few jumps in 1978 and is shown in the trailer for a brief moment standing next to Carl.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
May 18, 2015 - 07:58am PT
Let's make sure the movie gets extensive billing so more young risk takers get into the hunt.

Bad Climber

climber
May 18, 2015 - 08:09am PT
I hear you, Jim. I'm conflicted about this for the obvious reasons. Still, I'll watch the film!

BAd
Gary

Social climber
From A Buick 6
May 18, 2015 - 08:10am PT
Lived doing that to the ripe old age of 43.

My first thought on seeing the thread title was, "How old was he when he died." Not "if', but "when".

RIP.
maddog69

Trad climber
Ut
May 18, 2015 - 08:17am PT

Is he dead too?

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 18, 2015 - 08:20am PT
Phil Mayfield, BASE #2, is a FB buddy of mine these days. He went to the premier in Toronto and said that it is a super good film. He is one of the jumpers in the film. Back then, BASE had a small nucleus in LA and Houston, and there was constant back and forth. No bad vibes besides healthy competition. Everyone jumped with each other, so there wasn't a serious jumper on Earth that everybody didn't know and usually jump with.

Carl was a unique guy. I started right after he was killed, so I never met him, but I did get to know Jean fairly well. We used to go hang out at her house in LA. He was known for being very funny and goofy, always coming up with new ideas.

He had miles of early BASE footage, and it was amazing stuff. I remember watching it over and over at Phil Smith's (BASE #1) house. Carl had been THE best freefall cameraman, and he traveled all over the place filming new objects. I guess it all started when El Cap was legal for that short period. Then it just exploded within a few years. The footage of the first building jump is amazing.

Those cameras were mainly 16mm gun cameras. They were way heavy. You had to wear a full Bell motorcycle helmet to wear them, and they had a big battery pack that was inside your suit. I mean, they were huge. You would turn it on at the beginning of a 5 count, and the motors were really loud. They had so much torque that they turned your head sideways when they turned on. Video cameras back then were as big as a small suitcase.

I'm happy that people will get to see some of that footage. It really got me stoked. After a while, after finding so many objects of varying height, Carl said, "The whole world is jumpable." Now it really is an international sport.

BASE evolved very rapidly. It was in many ways just like today other than wingsuiting, which is its own animal. The gear is of course much better.

Carl was also one of the first to die BASE jumping, off of the Troll wall in Norway. He and Jean had already jumped one line, and Carl went up by himself to try a higher line. It was his last jump. I think that the only one to witness that jump was our very own Largo, who was there filming.

Anyway, back then, Carl had a huge impact on the sport, helping to take it from a stunt to something that you could do all of the time in just a few years. For many years later, Jean would organize Bridge Day in West Virginia. She was a really nice person. Carl was one of those guys with a huge amount of infectious energy.

I can't wait to see it, but I will have to wait. The closest spot to me is Dallas.

Anyway, I've heard that it is very well done, and people have been crying for years to rescue all of that film. Carl would put those big cameras on everyone.

Looking forward to it.
Gary

Social climber
From A Buick 6
May 18, 2015 - 08:22am PT
Carl had a huge impact

Poor choice of words, BASE.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 18, 2015 - 08:26am PT
As to the comments, right now we are seeing a huge number of very experienced wingsuiters die. Not newbies, but guys with a thousand wingsuit flights.

Proxy flying is very dangerous. Ask Hankster. It is so different from plain old jumping that it is nigh its own sport. This film's story and footage takes place nearly 2 decades before wingsuits.

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 18, 2015 - 08:29am PT
F*#k off, Gary.
Gary

Social climber
From A Buick 6
May 18, 2015 - 09:14am PT
BASE104, not that it matters one bit, but I have very mixed feelings about BASE and cave diving. I can see the allure to both, very much so. I've jumped out of planes and caved extensively, along with climbing and some lightweight mountaineering in the Sierra. So, yeah, I should f*#k off for being hypocritical.

But when something leads to a large percentage of everyone who participates in the sport dying, one has to wonder about the participants. Great guys and gals, no doubt, but why the moth to flame aspect?
http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/BASE_Fatality_List
WBraun

climber
May 18, 2015 - 09:25am PT
Sunshine Superman perfect name.

I think largo also wore one of those heavy cameras on a Bell helmet during one of the shows I worked.

It was POV run down the competition course.

I believe as I remember it was mounted on the side of the helmet thus creating a lopsided unbalanced mount.

Too funny watching Largo running down that course counterbalancing that lopsided weight on his head.

Looks like Sunshine Superman is gonna be a real good film .......

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