TREAD film preview is up on Apple Trailers, release date is Feb. 21

Information is now starting to come out on the status of the documentary film TREAD, a film by director Paul Solet about the Killdozer rampage that took place in Granby, Colorado. The film is based in part on source material from my book “KILLDOZER: The True Story of the Colorado Bulldozer Rampage.”

 

The film’s official trailer can now be seen on Apple Trailers (and other platforms). It was viewed many times for its first two days up on the platform, getting more views than two Marvel films. Check it out.

 

Film crews were in Granby over the last two years conducting interviews and accumulating footage for the film. Aside from the local footage, the film features recreations of the rampage that were shot in California. Top studio prop designers created a near replica of the homemade tank made by Marv Heemeyer for his destructive rampage. The film crews found a Komatsu D355-A and designed and built a near replica that looks much like Heemeyer’s Killdozer.

 

In theatres Feb. 21

The film’s distributor is Gravitas Ventures, an independent film distributor that offers a variety of ways its films can be viewed. Under current plans the film will be in theatres starting Feb. 21, 2020. Then a video-on-demand release date is set for Feb. 28. That’s only four weeks from now. I think an initial theatrical release is a good thing because the cinematography and story presentation make it a film very well suited for the big screen. Watching just the preview will give a good impression of that.

 

I saw the film when it premiered last March at the South by South West Film Festival and I was impressed. There are many recreations in the film that in general do a good job of presenting what happened on those long days leading up to the rampage. But the film is at its best in the action sequences, especially this in which the rampage itself is recreated.

 

And then there are, of course, many of the photos and film clips of the actual event, shot by news photographers and regular people on the scene. The combination of the recreated footage with the actual footage, and the stunning actual photos of Marv and his friends make for a stimulating montage of reality recreated for the big screen.

 

I have a hunch that this is going to take off and, perhaps, put Granby and Grand County back on the map. It’s still surprising to me how many people out there simply never heard of the bulldozer rampage in Granby. This film and its nationwide theatrical release combined with other distribution to follow on other platforms will surely enlighten people who didn’t know otherwise about the Killdozer rampage.

 

TREAD premiered at SWSX

The film doesn’t follow my book exactly so there are many more interesting details about the rampage and its background in my book. In particular, the film doesn’t touch on the antihero that Marv Heemeyer, the builder and driver of the Killdozer, has become for many on line, which my book covers.

 

That antihero myth is based on false narratives and outright lies that elevate Heemeyer into some sort of modern-day folk hero in the minds of many.

 

But watch the trailer and enjoy it. It offers a good taste of what’s to come in February.