Product Details

• Actors: Bad Girl, Good Woman Texas Roller Derby Team
• Directors: Bob Ray
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: IndiePix
• DVD Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001E8EJMW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,447 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hell on Wheels is an epic doc. It's fast, fun, and inspiring. --Chris Gore (founder, Film Threat Magazine)

Product Description

Fast, fun and inspiring, HELL ON WHEELS is the true tale of a group of hard-hitting Austin, Texas women who resurrect the sport or roller derby, only to find internal strife ripping the fledgling organization apart. Two leagues emerge from the clash and, in four short years, the two Texas leagues overcame all obstacles to revel in undreamed of success. Riding a wave of international acclaim, the Lonestar Rollergirls and the Texas Rollergirls launch a roller derby revival, inspiring hundreds of other leagues to start up across the globe. Shot over a five-year period by filmmakers Bob Ray and Werner Campbell, HELL ON WHEELS is a dizzying clash of athleticism, exhibitionism, egos, politics, and business that is moder-era rollery derby.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History caught on film, and it isn't pretty, October 26, 2009

By 

Melissa C Hall (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hell On Wheels (DVD)

In 2001 a performance artist decides to bring back roller derby. He flakes but the women involved decide to bring back the sport as an all girl contact sport on skates. The women work hard and end up having a few bouts, but things start going wrong.

If you have even been part of a club or other recreational group you will probably recognize a lot of what goes on- the old people vs the new people, the pretty, pretty princess problem, the problem that they did not anticipate, the power grab. Even if you don't care about Derby there is a lot you can learn about how groups work (and fail) from this movie.

It is a exhausting ride, even as a viewer. But this is the drama that you don't see on reality television. And the editing is done with a light hand, this is a movie with a story to tell and to much fancy stuff would distract.

This is a honest film. Sometimes it is ugly like rink rash. But in the end you feel like almost everyone involved became something a little.. MORE because of derby. What came out might be MORE awesome or MORE evil but there is, even on film a sense of heightened reality that comes with passion.

And so here it is birth of a sport. The first by women for women sport of my lifetime. And the story is told with full contact.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Hell On Wheels" gives a close look at the rebirth of Roller Derby in Texas, December 9, 2010

By 

Haunted Flower (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hell On Wheels (DVD)

1 DVD Disc (2009)

"Hell on Wheels" is a documentary that covers the birth of all-girl roller derby directed by Bob Ray. In Austin, Texas, the idea is hatched and a league created in 2001. Over five years, this camera crew followed the progress of the league as it grew, split, and formed into two leagues -- one banked track and one flat track and all the drama in between of an all-women run organization.

In any organization, there is drama. When it's a bunch of tough women, it can be a little worse. It's not as catty, but it's pretty intense as four women take charge becoming the She-E-O's and act as dictators to the rest of the group. When they start getting the idea that money can be made, they allocate the vote structure so that they can never be voted out or out-voted and loosely give out shares of the league that is in debt. Bad Girl Good Woman Productions eventually has 65 out of 80 skaters leave due to the drama and unfairness. The ones who left formed a new flat track league called the Texas Rollergirls, created a democratic structure within the league, and formed WFTDA, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association which today has over 150 leagues and is the model for league's such as my own -- the Circle City Derby Girls. One of the girls who left to help organize the second league was Melissa "Melicious" Jowlwan who later wrote the book "Roller Girl" about the experience.

BGGW tries to revamp their image by becoming the Texas Lonestar Rollergirls and buying a banked track. Many injuries resulted from the short training schedule before having their first bout and the climb back to fame and fortune was a long one. Eventually moving to their practice warehouse, they became the most successful banked track derby league in the country and were the basis for the short-lived series "Rollergirls" on A&E. It lasted one season and several of the skaters in it can be seen in this documentary like Cha Cha, Luna, Lux, and others.

Both "Rollergirls" Season 1 on DVD and "Roller Girl" the book were loaned to me by a friend in the Indianapolis area when word spread that I was joining roller derby myself. They are both eye openers into the beginning where girls would emphasize the theatricality of falls, fighting, and spin a penalty wheel for spankings to sell sexuality to get attention for their sport. Since then roller derby through WFTDA has bloomed into a legitimate sport for athletes who train very hard, some have backgrounds in speed skating, and compete in tournaments against other WFTDA teams.

Bonus Features:

There is LOTS of commentary! One track is by director and producer, another track features the girls from Bad Girl Good Woman Productions including captains of several of the teams, another track features girls from Texas Rollergirls including Rachel, on of their trainers under the name Sparkle Plenty. I listened to the BGGW version first and the girls are very catty, drinking during the commentary, and you can expect a lot of swearing from all the roller girls, and they still defend their decisions entirely. They disagree that they were plotting and manipulative and claim that they weren't smart enough to think of all those things. Most interestingly was that the footage of girls wrestling around on the floor in a bar for a fundraiser in bikini wear was not even for BGGW but for a Rugby fundraiser and was presented incorrectly. The Texas Rollergirls are a little calmer, more laid back and look back on the early days pretty fondly. The director and producer's commentary is by far the most professional and standard to what I usually hear. The story of how they came up on this story is pretty interesting -- they were going to make a documentary about something completely different and it fell through. They were drowning their sorrows about the setback at a local bar in Austin when they were approached by some girls raising money to start a roller derby league. They looked at each other and realized they had an opportunity to check out roller derby revival right in Austin, Texas! They thought they would only be filming for one season but the real story ended up being about the evolution of the group itself and splitting off into two separate leagues and where the sport went after that. Their friends pestered them for years asking what happened to their documentary since it was so slow getting together with 500 hours of footage, but it finally came together and at a running time of 90 minutes.

There are 41 Deleted Scenes -- by far the most I have ever seen on a DVD! That clearly shows the extent of footage that was taken and the type of concise editing to shape the story. You get more details on Luna chipping a tooth, a woman breaking her arm and her journey to the hospital, the loss and switch of venue, more squabbles with the council and players on their separate time, etc, etc. Unfortunately, it is lacking a "Play All" button which means selected to watch each scene 41 times is pretty annoying.

There are also two music videos: "Rollergirls" by USS Friendship and "Say Something Nasty" by Nashville Pussy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell on Wheels, August 4, 2010

By 

Pnelly (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hell On Wheels (DVD)

If you want to learn more about what started Roller Derby and what is really beneath the core of modern roller derby or are even slightly misguided an believe it's anything like Kansas City Bomber (starring Raquel Welch) or the old bouts seen on TV.....then you need to watch this documentary.

I'd already read the book "Rollergirl - Totally True Tales from the Track" and found that the book along with this dvd form some of the best documented history of how the modern flat track derby got started.

It not only shows the politics behind setting up a league, but show's the clash of personalities, the dedication as the girls must spend considerable time praticising. It also shows the reasons why women choose to play roller derby and why they are so passionate. It also shows there's always someone who wants to take over and be the boss, the princesses, oh and don't forget there's always the girls who don't really want to pull their weight and help run the league but still expect to skate.

In the beginning the league starts out as a fun way for the girls to de-stress but it's not too long before the politics and clash of personalities rears it's ugly head. Especially when 4 of the derby girls decide they want to be the owners and run the league. There ends up being a huge confrontation between the 'owners' and skaters which resulted from a lack of planning and organisation.

This documentary really gives you an idea of just how much work is involved in setting up and keeping a league running.

I'm an aussie rollergirl and found Hell on Wheels very enlightening and enjoyable. If you love roller derby like me then this is a MUST for your collection!