List Price: $24.96 Our Price: $13.97YOU SAVE $10.99!
Buy it
DVD Riding Giants (Special Edition)
Riding Giants is more than another blissful surfing movie. It's an outstanding documentary about one era in American alternative lifestyles, when surfing was well-suited to a radical culture of social dropouts. Using an amazing array of amateur film clips, shot for the most part in Hawaii and California from the late 1950s and early '60s, director Stacy Peralta traces the rise of surfing's appeal to young men looking to test themselves in an unorthodox (and sexy) milieu--of "living life to the fullest," as former surfer-turned-screenwriter John Milius (Big Wednesday) puts it at one point. Lengthy chapters on the glories of Oahu's Makaha and the "superstition and dread" that accompanied the big-wave challenge of Waimea Bay are riveting and sometimes heroic, particularly told through the memories of surf legend Greg Noll. Great material, too, about the deadly wonders of surfing Mavericks, California, where the rocks will get one if the violent tides don't. --Tom Keogh
While few of us have the balls to ride these monster waves, it's great to listen to these purists talk about what drives them. The film gives great insight into what makes us all tick.
A Spiritual Film
Is God a surfer? Is there even a God? How the hell should I know. I haven't got a clue. But that's what you feel watching this thing. I haven't been this moved by a documentary film in a very long time...probably not since The Thin Blue Line, which is obviously a completely different film but at the same quality. Great stuff.
A Haole Weighs In
First off, I loved Stacy Peralta's DOGTOWN AND THE Z BOYS so much, I'm pretty much willing to watch anything he makes. And RIDING GIANTS was certainly worth my time. Admittedly, I'm a southern California native who drove a VW surfer van for 20 years, so this type of material has a nostalgic appeal to me that may blind me to its faults.
So to avoid just praising this film for its mind-blowing footage and lively interviews, let me mention as an aside that RIDING GIANTS does not delve very deeply into the "man-child" aspects of the surfing lifestyle. It's all about catching some waves and hanging out on the sand, and as a southern Californian native, I can dig that as much as the next "haole" (Hawaiian for "cheesefoot"). BUT the fact is that this is a less than attractive characteristic to find in adults. Riding the big waves can result in personality casualties, as well as "real" ones, as we learn in film's feature on the Mavericks coastline near Santa Cruz.
SIDELIGHT: There is a certain sameness to surfing footage after a while; my wife (who has suffered through her share of surfer movies), did turn to me a couple of times to ask, "Are you SURE we haven't seen this before?" Oh yeah, and this film has such high production quality, its brief, painfully amateurish animated portions stick out like a sore thumb.
Thanks to Dana Brown's delightful Step Into Liquid, the surfing scene in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, should get a healthy boost. That's because Brown, in the tradition of his father, filmmaker Bruce Brown (The Endless Summer), has captured dazzling images of surfers riding curls in some of the world's most exotic--and sometimes unlikely--places. Besides the action on Lake Michigan, Brown leads us to Costa Rica, where the sport's senior elite (including Summer star Robert August) prove they still have the moves, and Oahu's North Shore, where the legendary Pipeline inspires this quote: "It's so scary, maybe you die a little." Most entertaining is a segment in County Donegal, where the American Malloy brothers startle the locals and meet their Irish counterparts on the grayest... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Dana Brown (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 20 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $10.99YOU SAVE $3.99!
Buy it
In addition to boasting one of the most astonishing opening sequences in the history of extreme-sports filmmaking, Billabong Odyssey offers a breathtaking survey of big-wave surfing at a pivotal stage in its evolution. With the advent of Jet-Ski Waverunners used for "tow-in" access to gigantic waves that paddle-surfers could never reach, this three-year, globe-trotting quest for the world's biggest waves is nothing less than spectacular. As documentaries go it's a bit cruder than 2003's other surfing movie, Step Into Liquid, and many of the same world-class surfers appear in both films (including 49-year-old Ken Bradshaw, still going strong). But Billabong is unrivaled in its abundance of jaw-dropping footage--most of it shot from helicopters hovering in close... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Ken Bradshaw - Ken Collins - Brian L. Keaulana - Brad Gerlach Director(s): Philip Boston DVD Release Date: Released the 27 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.97 Your Price: $11.98YOU SAVE $2.99!
Buy it
I just bought this DVD and am very disappointed. Yes, the soundtrack is good, however the footage is very boring. Some sections of the movie (like the surf session with the old "singlefin green") are nice for the soul content, but the rest is very, very substandard surfing (nothing really amazing on the wave size or on the "gnarliness" of the moves). I haven't watched the bonus video yet, but I don't think it'll be that good to change my rating. If you're looking for soul content, you're much better off buying "Singlefin Yellow". If you want to buy this for the soundtrack, then buy the CD. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jack Johnson DVD Release Date: Released the 25 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $11.98YOU SAVE $3!
Buy it
The definitive surf movie, this 1966 documentary by Bruce Brown is beautifully shot and thrilling to see in its portrait of youthful freedom on the world's shores. Brown followed two surfers around the globe in their quest for the perfect wave, finding it eventually on a remote beach far from home. The narration by "Big Kahuna Brown" cuts through the reverence a bit, being cheeky in tone. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Hynson - Robert August Director(s): Bruce Brown DVD Release Date: Released the 23 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.99 Your Price: $11.99YOU SAVE $3!
Buy it
Twenty-eight years after directing the hit documentary The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown went on a similar quest with two surfers to find the perfect wave. With a bigger budget and more sophistication in the production, this sequel is even more spectacular. What is lost in innocence--which The Endless Summer was rich in--is made up for in stunning looks at pristine beaches on exotic and even unlikely (for example, Alaska) shores. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Patrick O'Connell (III) Director(s): Bruce Brown DVD Release Date: Released the 30 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.95 Your Price: $15.96YOU SAVE $3.99!
Buy it
