Who made the grade?

Teasers: there’s an avalanche of the feckers raining down all summer. From the big movie productions, to local crews and even Billy No-Mates with his GoPro, every man and his dog makes movies these days. And to satisfy the rabid hunger of snowboarders for any kind of fix, of all of them have some form of appetiser they let loose on the internets – some good, some bad, some downright ugly.

A teaser’s job is, well, to tease. The art is showing enough flesh but not too much, giving you a taste of the vibe but have you gagging for more. If the full movie is a shred skinflick, these are your FHMs of Jenna in a thong – no one wants to blow their load too early.

But however representative of the movie proper they turn out to be, there’s no denying we all scour the wires over summer to see what we’ll be up for getting balls deep in come autumn, so here – in no particular order – is what we at Onboard reckon to be the 5 teasers that have worked their magic best and got us über hyped to check out the full movie. What’s your top 5?

Forum & Special Blend – F… It

MPORA Action Sports >>

Forum Or Against ‘Em was great, Forever was maybe in the top 3 movies last year and with their new release, F… It, Forum Snowboards look to be maintaining their recent tradition of pumping out the slickest team flicks in the game. Their riders might not roll off the tongue as they did in they days of old, though big hitters like Pat Moore, Andreas Wiig and John Jackson never disappoint, but there’s no doubting their team’s talent. A killer tune, the right mix of  slams, dicking around and cut landings that don’t seem cut means this is one we’re for sure hyped on.

Volcom – 9191

While it’s true that they could have filmed a turd for 2 minutes with a flag saying “Gigi Movie – Dropping Fall 2010″ and we’d still have been hyped, Volcom‘s legendary lineage in snowboard cinema and the unique aesthetic they bring to the always-heavy riding means you got to take note. An original soundtrack by Baron, some Volcom quirkyness and a killer front 10 in the Jackson BC fired us up, but that 9191 is focussed on one of our favourite riders of all time means this is a shoe-in for our Top 5.

Absinthe Films – Now/Here

Absinthe ‘NowHere’ Teaser >>

It’s a fairly serious affair, this one from Absinthe, but when your movies tend to redefine the limits of big mountain freestyle then you don’t need so many high-fives and backflips to sell how fun it’ll be. These guys are all about the heaviest of hits, hairball descents and bouncing around in utopian powder stashes and the snippets you see here confirm that NowHere is going to be off the hook. Backside rodeo to boardslide? Bionic urban hits? Huge natural terrain freestyle? This looks like it’s got it all, and then some.

Alterna Films – Hello World

The perfect mix of funtimes, wince-inducing slams and solid teasy action (with even a couple of stompers) had us pumped for Alterna‘s latest release. From downtown to way out back, they seem to have all the boxes ticked for a banger of a movie and combine it with crisp, HD footage, some of Canada and Europe’s finest and a hammer of a tune. The front 10 from above is awesome, the step-up double backy gnarly and Chris Dufficy sums up snowboarding in one sentence when he says “Sometimes it just feels good to do a Method.”

Pirate Movie Production – Hooked

Pirate Movie Productions – Hooked Teaser >>

In this day and age where HD cablecams and gyroscopically stabilised IMAX 3D dolly rigs are used to make Dave from Penken’s end-of-season edit, it’s refreshing to see the Pirates giving some love to the lo-fi in their movies. Of course, its not merely their love of film in this teaser that sets them apart – their crew is arguably the strongest to set sail from Europan shores with cats like Chorlton, Helgason, Larsen, Feichtner, Rüf, Ohlson and more reading like a who’s who of Euro shred. Filled with brain-bending rail dancing, creative jibbery, beefy backcountry and one q-pipe sesh that recalls the good old days, this teaser sets out their stall nicely and had us amped for more.