Here’s a dash cam video you won’t soon forget. An F/A-18 Hornet cruises at top speed through the canyons of Northern California, showing off the landscape of the area while also completing amazing acrobatics. Watch how ridiculously close to the ground the pilot flies as he inverts turns and completes barrel rolls just over tree tops and riverbanks. These fighter jets are the same aircraft used by the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron. If the inside of the plane looks familiar, that’s because the machines often make movie cameos; the planes have been used in “Independence Day,” “Behind Enemy Lines” and many others.
Video Of The Day: Humpback Whale Gets Dangerously Close To Kayakers
A mother and daughter kayaking in Avila Beach along the coast of California get a surprise from a 30-ton humpback whale when it surfaces within just a few feet of their boats. You can tell the women are surprised from their screams (be sure to keep the volume low on this one).
“I quit filming it because the whale was still moving forward and it ran into me,” the daughter writes, adding she was forced to stop filming and paddle backwards before her kayak tipped over.
Luckily, besides the threat of the boat being overturned by the breaching whale, these giant marine mammals only eat krill and small fish and aren’t known to attack humans.
Video Of The Day: ‘Samsara’ Captures Imagery From Across The Globe
Today’s Video of the Day is an exclusive clip from “Samsara,” a new movie featuring mesmerizing scenes from more than 20 countries. Filmed over a period of five years, the footage covers sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites and natural wonders, demonstrating that human’s life cycle mirrors that of the rest of the planet. The film’s title is a Sanskrit word meaning “the ever turning wheel of life.”
Although it is a documentary, Samsara has no dialogue or descriptive text. Instead, the viewer is encouraged to find inspiration from the images on screen and musical score in order to make their own interpretations. Director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson sought out to make the film in order to capture the “elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives.” In other words, the filmmakers hoped to encapsulate the essence of a subject, not just its physical presence. They traveled across the globe in order to make the film, including the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, a village in Ethiopia, Chateau de Versailles in France, and a doll factory in Japan.
Samsara will be shown on the big screen in select cities starting Friday, August 24. For a full schedule of screenings in the United States, click here. You can also watch the theatrical trailer after the jump.
Video Of The Day: Cuban Trapeze Artists, To The Sounds Of The Temper Trap
With the Olympics in full swing, it’s easy to focus on the athletes’ accomplishments – the scores, the times, the medal counts – instead of celebrating the journey that brought them to London in the first place. Though not specific to the Olympic Games, this music video from Australian rock band The Temper Trap chronicles a journey that is probably familiar to many Olympians, particularly those in parts of the world where athletic training is less of a big business than it is in the United States.
The video, recorded in Havana for the band’s latest single, “Trembling Hands,” follows a young Cuban trapeze artist as she prepares for an upcoming performance, capturing all of the struggles, the frustrations and the raw emotion that comes with pursuing a passion. The video relies on the talents of real aerobatic athletes and exposes a part of Cuban culture that isn’t often visible to the public, with the faded streets of Havana as a backdrop.
[via EcoSalon]
Video Of The Day: Warsaw, Poland Stands Still In Remembrance
Each year on August 1, the city of Warsaw, Poland literally stands still to pay tribute to those who fought in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The biggest rebellion against the Nazis during World War II, the two-month uprising came at a huge cost: more than 200,000 lives and destruction of Poland’s capital city. The film above was shot last year with the help of nearly two dozen people. At points, it appears as though viewers might be looking at still photographs — but a closer examination will reveal fluttering clothing and waving Polish flags. Visitors to Warsaw can learn more about the rebellion at the Warsaw Uprising Museum.