BMX Video
Anthem
Anthem: Home of the Brave is Stew Johnson's 1997 trails video, released on VHS on his own Anthem label and regarded as a classic of the genre.
Updated 2 min read535 words
Anthem, also known as Home of the Brave, is a BMX video filmed and edited by Stew Johnson and released on VHS in 1997 on his own Anthem label. It is built from rider sections focused mainly on trails, with ramp and some street riding, and an emphasis on style and flow over contest tricks. It is often described as a classic of the trails video, with sections from Taj Mihelich, Chris Stauffer and Joe Rich among its best remembered parts.
Background
By the late 1990s the BMX video was moving beyond the video magazine model of Props. Riders and small companies were making their own releases built around individual riders: one rider, one song, several minutes of their best footage, repeated for the length of the video.
Stew Johnson grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and had been filming BMX for years. Anthem was his chance to make a complete video in that format. Rather than build it around a single brand's team, he chose riders he wanted to film, from different sponsors and different scenes, and released the finished tape himself on VHS. Johnson moved to Austin, Texas, around 1998, after the video came out.
Contents and sections
Anthem runs about 26 minutes and follows the classic rider-section structure.
- Isaac "Groundchuck" McCrea.
- Taj Mihelich.
- Brandon "Punjab" Pundai and Jason Stieg, sharing a split section.
- Friends section with Robbie Morales, Van Homan and Stuart King.
- Chris Stauffer, whose tabletop is on the cover.
- Todd Walkowiak, Chris Hallman and Stew Johnson, sharing a split section.
- Joe Rich, closing the video.
Each section is cut to a single piece of music, with little or no voiceover, and the clips are selected to build toward an ender.
Standout parts
Taj Mihelich's section shows the smooth, inventive style that made him one of the most respected riders of the 1990s. Chris Stauffer's part, and the tabletop chosen for the cover, became shorthand for the look of the video. Joe Rich's closing section is rooted in the trails scene he was part of and is one of the reasons the video is still watched.
Taken as a whole, the pacing is what sets Anthem apart. Johnson's editing lets clips breathe. The video does not rush from trick to trick, and the result is a consistent mood from start to finish that many later videos tried to recreate.
Impact and legacy
Anthem raised expectations for what an independent BMX video could be. It showed that careful filming, patient editing and a consistent aesthetic could matter as much as the difficulty of the tricks.
Stew Johnson followed it with Anthem II in 2010, which brought the same black and white, trails-focused approach to a new set of riders, and the original was included on the Anthem II DVD. Both videos are often mentioned together as high points of the tape and DVD era, before the web edit replaced the full-length video as the main way riders watched BMX. For how that shift played out, see the web edit era.
Related
Frequently asked questions about Anthem
Who made Anthem?
Stew Johnson filmed and edited Anthem and released it on VHS in 1997 on his own Anthem label. He followed it with Anthem II in 2010.
Why is Anthem considered a classic BMX video?
It combined well-filmed rider sections with a consistent mood and pace across the whole video, and it captured the trails scene of the late 1990s at a high point. Sections from Taj Mihelich, Chris Stauffer and Joe Rich are still referenced.
What kind of riding is in Anthem?
Mostly trails, with ramp and some street riding. The riders chosen were known for style and flow rather than for contest results, and the video reflects that.
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