Monster Energy had a viral hit in 2013 with "Recoil," a seven-minute video in which extreme driver "Ballistic" BJ Baldwin drove his 850-horsepower trophy truck across the Mojave Desert at 150 miles an hour, doing all sorts of stunts in the process.
Now, it's time for the sequel—this time in a city environment.
Ben Conrad directed these seven testosterone-drenched minutes of truck hyperactivity through production house Logan & Sons. The new spot was filmed in Ensenada, Mexico, near the site of the Baja 1000 race, which Baldwin won in each of the past two years in the cars and trucks division. Hoonigan, Toyo Tires and Monster Energy are the sponsors.
"Instead of the hilly terrain he's used to, we took him out of that comfort zone and threw him into a small town," says Conrad (a bone fide auteur of extreme brand films, having directed viral hits like "Gymkhana 5" with Ken Block and "Footkhana" with soccer phenom Neymar‚. "Nothing like power lines and tight turns to test your reflexes as a driver."
Power lines make everything more special, I always say.
"Recoil 2," which has more than 4 million views since it posted on YouTube last week, opens with "Cry of the Valkyries," so you just know something big is going down. And "Ballistic" BJ delivers. From cameras mounted on, above, around and beneath the vehicle, you get footage of: the truck jumping across dusty roads; a cute dog wearing a radio headset; BJ's intense, manly stare; the truck jumping across dusty roads again, but this time in slow motion; bikini babes on a beach and in a helicopter, their presence not even slightly gratuitous. And dig those hyper-visible sponsor logos!
This clip screams America, even though it was shot in Mexico.
