The 5 Lives Of Criss Angel Mindfreak
Over the past few years Criss Angel has established himself as the leading magician and illusionist of the era with his hit TV series Mindfreak. Based in Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel (where Angel does his live show) the series is a kind of a reality show look at the magician as he goes about the process of getting ready to do his big illusions and then--Presto!--amazing things seemingly happen right in front of unsuspecting tourists who are as dumbfounded as we, the TV viewers, are. Angel’s great at letting you think he’s showing you how he does his tricks, and then does a quick turnabout that leaves you guessing.
Angel basically stole the media thunder from David Blain by performing similar big public illusions, without Blain’s creepy demeanor. Angel is a hot guy whose rock star good looks, buff body, and boy-next-door, sweet personality make him a very endearing guy to watch.
For the fifth season of his hit TV series Angel decided mix things up a bit and to do 5 specials in which he performs a single major illusion for each episode. Angel’s death-defying escapes for these five shows will leave you wondering, "How did he do that?" These episodes are all about the dramatic build-up of tension to Angel’s final performance of the big illusion. He also does a few smaller tricks along the way, but those are just to distract you while he builds to the finale as he stretches the boundaries of reality--or so it seems.
The five episodes in this season include:
White Death: Angel is chained and buried under huge slabs of ice. You have probably seen this type of escape before, but not with the twist Angel adds to it.
Death Field: Angel traverses a field of live land mines.
Terminal Velocity: Angel attempts to ’teleport’ himself to safety from a cage hanging from a crane in mid-air. This is good one: Angel really pulls off a terrific illusion here.
Death Crash: Spectators choose which of 5 coffins get smashed to smithereens while Angel is chained and hiding in one of them.
Mass Levitation: Angel attempts to levitate the entire Las Vegas audience at his show. Either the entire audience is in on the trick, or... well, you try to figure it out.
The bonus features in this set are meager and only consist of some additional footage that is nothing much to see. Still, this set of shows features all the usual Mindfreak stuff and, as always, watching Angel is fun as he brings a entirely new aesthetic to the arena of illusion and magic. Removing all the traditional and corny trappings of what we all are used to seeing with magicians Angel has totally redefined the genre and has created a fresh and very entertaining way to present and perform illusions like no one else. If you have never seen Angel’s TV series then this double DVD set (just under 4 hours of viewing) is a great introduction and will no doubt make you want to see more.
