Questionable is 30 Years Old - What Do You Remember When You 1st Saw It?

[Tear Up a Trick]

Some consider this in the running for most influential video of all time, game changer, etc.  If you were there when it came out share what it was like for you. 

What do you remember when you first saw it 30 years ago this Spring?

How has it aged?

Where does it rank?

How did it influence?

Thoughts on the soundtrack?

[Mean salto]

First saw it maybe 00 or 01. Got it on a tape with virtual reality. Pretty sure it was the first proper skate video I saw tho so even tho I was ten years too late skateboarding was all new to me.
Influence: I kinda dressed like a spaz with huge clothes and pumas for a bit (altho fashion in general was still pretty baggy). Early skating was just learning all the flips an inch off the ground or into curb slides.
Doesn't really hold up for me. I'll watch video days, soldiers story, now n later and others all the time but almost never go back to questionable.

[Goodcurbs]

I saw it when it came out in 92. It changed everything. It still is the best skate video ever made. Video days is a joke compared to questionable. The only video that has come close in my opinion is the dc video.

[Goodcurbs]

 birdhouse the end and sight unseen are up there

[Shifty Flip]

Carroll at EMB
Duffy doing rails like no one else.
Both were drastic laps forward for us to see.

[JugeL]

Was still swimming on my dads balls when it came out so don't really have memories

[radcunt]

The Wildest thing is the same time back from that date is 1962, which would have seemed like another age to me then. 

I remember seeing Pat Duffys part and instantly being obsessed with Primus.  That was the wildest, out of. left field shit ever back then. The music with an unfathomable part with a perfect ender into the Riders on the Storm bit in the rain.  It's hard to describe how crazy that was to see.  Immediately, it was Primus, baggy pants, small wheels. Like, overnight. 

[Tear Up a Trick]

I just realize the link I posted doesn't have the Doors song.

That makes a big difference, that song fit perfectly and helped make the impact.

That Duffy part still has some clips that easily stand up 30 years later, especially that Doors trick. 

[Brguy]

Never did.

[ok boomer]

It's my favorite video ever (even though Hokus Pokus influenced me more if that makes sense). I hadn't skated for about 9 months when I saw it because I was all about my hard-core band at the time. My first thoughts were:

Hensley retired? Fuck this video
Who is Pat Duffy?
Wow this Pat Duffy dude isn't fucking around.
Damn, Colin got good as fuck
Fuck yea Sheffey and Barbier. (Shef part is so dope)
-Mullen is crazy (the tech)
-being blown away by MC @ EMB 100%
-impressed with Rickoo's style 100%
-Danny's part is the best part of all time. The street and vertical combo is so badass.

Musically, I already liked Primus, Beastie Boys,, Pennywise, Bad Religion, Bad Brains so that was cool. Opened my ears to FU Schnickens and Del! Really like the Dead Can Dance jam during the creds.

I thought that I was instantly way behind and promptly tried every flip possible until I calmed down. I personally think it's the most influential video as far as tech Street skating and Danny and Colin vert was nuts especially back then. It is also the video that brought me back into skating from my hard-core band hiatus. I think that is part of my bias - it re-hyped me on skating. And I guess cuz it was all so new to me. I still watch it about every 2 weeks, 30 years later.

I watch this, virtual reality and Mouse on the reg. And all Wade Speer clips.

Danny part is so badass.. his street shit is fucking sick and the vertical stuff is still top notch.
Duffy rail is the #1 trick of that video. Blew the doors off skating rails.

P.S. Duffy part in virtual reality I think is even more nuts but that double kink changed skating forever

[Yonnycage]

Carroll and EMB. ‘Nuff said.

[d0rk]

I saw it when it came out in 92. It changed everything. It still is the best skate video ever made. Video days is a joke compared to questionable. The only video that has come close in my opinion is the dc video.

This but I enjoyed Video Days.

[ndsr]

The Wildest thing is the same time back from that date is 1962, which would have seemed like another age to me then. 

I remember seeing Pat Duffys part and instantly being obsessed with Primus.  That was the wildest, out of. left field shit ever back then. The music with an unfathomable part with a perfect ender into the Riders on the Storm bit in the rain.  It's hard to describe how crazy that was to see.  Immediately, it was Primus, baggy pants, small wheels. Like, overnight.

Same here, instantly purchased every primus cd I could find and bumped the shit out of it in my hoopty ride

[j....soy.....]

I remember hearing about Pat Duffy’s part before it came out and still being shocked.  I think it holds up just ok because it has pressure flips in it, although people do that trick now.  People say this was a game changer and maybe it was in that the video is long…super full length but so much stuff was happening, Love Child, Tim and Henry’s was around the same time.

[alonelikeastone]

Drive from Niagara Canada to Niagara Falls NY.
Go into BTI ... that place needs a book.
Purchase the matte black video, with my pants American money.
Race home. (at the speed of a frugal father who won't go 1km over the limit)
Pop video in
Hensley retired...
No... what?... half cabs!  he didn't retire. fuck... he did.
Wonder what planet Pat Duffy is from or if he faked some of the rails.
Rodney is on skating street, he did rail?
 Rick... my new favourite skater.
Mike, best style ever, and changed everything for everyone.... he broke a board on purpose?
 Colin McKay is Canadian, and not on Powell... lucky shit.
Ryan Fabry walks around on his board, very original style.. he's not pro?
Oh man, Sal has red shoes! fuck he is smooth... I want a board that looks like his.
Sheffey is sketchy but I love it... he is my best friends favourite immediately.
I wish I could back nose blunt on ramp. slams suck.
Danny fucking way... his part was so good, it impressed my parents.

Changed what I listen to music wise for life.
Changed my pants, but not for life.

Lend video out to sk8rs in The Falls, just the tape, not the cover.
Never see tape again, learn valuable lesson.
25 years later, find just the tape on eBay with no cover. Purchase it.
Feel complete.
Still blown away Matt retired and that the pants are back in trend.Still do not lend anything to any once form the falls! Love those guys, but don't ask for my shit.

[GardenSkater77]

Besides Duffy I was the most hyped by the mini ramp part. The song is classic submit your band to H Street and Danny Way’s full cab to nose blunt to 360 nollie out probably remains the only 720 variation on mini ramp.



@ok boomer  I am right there with you. Hocus Pokus is sacred, but where does Rubbish Heap stack up? Some days Rubbish over Hocus. I think Hocus came out slightly before but we really watched the shit out of Rubbish.

[Vomit Lust]

Definitely the most mind blowing video I ever saw. It’s wasn’t just dudes doing tricks we knew, just better. There was a lot of new shit happening (maybe there was other equal stuff coming out, but you couldn’t see EVERYTHING back then). All the tech was pretty groundbreaking, but they were doing it on transition too. Pat Duffy of course. At the time it made it everything else I’d seen look like child’s play.

Better videos have been made, but none had as big an impact on me.

[pdknox]

Disappointment. I watched it for the first time in the early 2000s as it was re released for the 10th anniversary.

I had read in numerous interviews how many people said it was one of their favorites so I was thinking my mind would be blown.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was a product of the skating which came after this video.  I didn’t know what skating was like before, only after.

[funeral_tuxedo]

I was initially  broken hearted that Matt Hensley retired as he was by far my favorite pro.
Pat Duffy was the gnarliest and Rick Howard was so sick, but Mike Carroll became my new favorite skater. The backside noseslide nollie heel out at Embarcadero clip in the intro broke my brain. It was more of a front foot push flip but I was obsessed. I still want to land one.
The mini ramp and demo section would get me so hyped.
I would skate in the empty, decrepit tennis courts in the park across the street from our Boston apartment trying to mimic Rodney and I’d hear the Cat Stevens songs in my head and get psyched. There were some 11 stair handrails and I’d roll up to them and wonder how the hell Pat Duffy got into that stuff. I never got myself to step up though.
It’s still my favorite video but if it had a full Hensley part it would be even better.

[Frank and Fred]

It was the highlight of BPSW era for me. After 'Questionable' I really took a step back from watching videos and obsessing over skate 'culture' in general. Loved MC and Sheffy the most.

[Faxmachine]

Put EMB in the minds of all.
This video made SF a skate Mecca
Those bricks

[stephop]

I was pretty good...but I'm really not apparently lol

[mtvic]

I got this video for Christmas in 1992. It changed everything and i could not understand most of the tricks being  done for a very long time. I had only seen two videos before this: celebrity tropical fish and tim and henrys blind promo, this was light years ahead of both. The music, editing, and quality are still to this day the best i have ever seen. “Virtual reality”was another video that did this game change and then not again until “welcome to hell”. 
Pat duffy: best rail skater possibly ever considering how and where he took it.
Fabry: loved his music and his trick selection. Maybe the least progressive but still
Colin mckay: wanted to be just like him. He was the youngest and closest to my age so he really proved what was possible
Sheffy: Raw! So damn good and the tricks over the fence were such a highlight
Mullen: i still dont understand 90 percent of that part. You have kids making youtube careers today off of mimicking his shit, that says everything
Sal: maybe not the best part in the vid but so damn stylish. Introduced me to del
Carroll: fuck. Pure innovation. I dressed like him and acted like what i thought he acted like for years to come
Howard: so steezy and a part i still rewatch today.
Danny way: superhero. He was just crazy

The slam section was something everyone who didnt skate loved and i enjoyed it too.
This video absolutely holds up 30 years later and i am just happy to have been skating when this came out. I had just started skating months before i watched this so i thought that this was where the skate world was. Wild to think that no one skated rails like Duffy for another five years after this. That was a long time in those days.

[TelethonJohn]

Got mine at Ooga Booga Beach in Concord, CA a couple of days after it was released. It came in a slate gray slipcase with black script. I couldn't stop watching the thing. Hands down the best $16 I ever spent was on that video. It doubled as a killer mixtape, too. The Jam, Del, Hiero (anyone else search fruitlessly for years for the Hiero track in Carroll's part?). People would make fun of you for liking Green Day but I liked 'em and was stoked on "Disappearing Boy" being used in the ramps section. I don't know what the backstory is on them getting "Check Your Head" tracks before it was released, but every Tom, Dick, and Harry bought that record a couple months later. When the Beasties played a show at the Bill Graham Auditorium later that fall, I couldn't believe how many Carroll clones there were. Dookie braids, Bob shirts, Airwalks, and shitty attitudes. Where the hell did these dudes come from?

[CorneliusCardew]

It honestly felt like these dudes were living 5 years in the future like they came back in a time machine to give us all the finger and make me want to quit skating but I also loved it at the same time

[ok boomer]

Besides Duffy I was the most hyped by the mini ramp part. The song is classic submit your band to H Street and Danny Way’s full cab to nose blunt to 360 nollie out probably remains the only 720 variation on mini ramp.



@ok boomer  I am right there with you. Hocus Pokus is sacred, but where does Rubbish Heap stack up? Some days Rubbish over Hocus. I think Hocus came out slightly before but we really watched the shit out of Rubbish.

I've got Rubbish Heap in the same holy trinity. I stole every trick I could from Klein, Chatman, Steve Robert, Vallely, and even Duc and Jon! Klein was my shit though. Still have a copied VHS of it lol. Love that video!

[Mike Oxwelling]

Don't blow no bubbles is a double negative.

[Yonnycage]

Also Rick Howard’s noseblunt bigspin is still mindblowing to me even if it was basically done on a curb. That Grey Cell Green song lives rent free in my head as well. So timeless

[Cool Ceith]

Expand Quote

I saw it when it came out in 92. It changed everything. It still is the best skate video ever made. Video days is a joke compared to questionable. The only video that has come close in my opinion is the dc video.

[close]

This but I enjoyed Video Days.

I remember that Video Days was sold out everywhere back then (I was 16 I think), so World Industries Love Child took the place of most supreme watch-several-times-a-day skate video… I still watch it sometimes to get hyped before the sesh. 100% on point.

Questionable was dope, too, and it definitely influenced me: I still routinely do the Rick Howard backside 180/switch frontside 180 move in flatground lines.

[Banned from the room]

1992 I first saw it I believe. I got a copy of a copy at Somethin Else in Danvers one Sunday afternoon.

I watched it every day I could but Ive always been more of a video days type. 

Mark is the one.

Remember he didn’t even need to do his own skateboarding in 411. They used a stunt skater for the back t