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 - A GREAT DOCUMENTARY EVEN IF YOU LIKE SKATING JUST A LITTLE BIT !!I rented this movie, thinking it was "Lords of Dogtown". It is a documentary about those very same people, written and directed by Stacy Peralta, who is one of the kids, and narrated by Sean Penn. My older cousin, Jason, was a surfer in the 1970's near those guys, but I didn't know much about it. If you like underdogs, dark heroes, anti-heroes, rebels, etc., then you will LOVE this movie. I know I did. Rating: - awesome movieThis video was everything I had hoped for. I saw the movie and it was so cool the see the actual people in this documentary. It was worth every penny. Rating: - Not Objective, But Still WonderfulThrough archival footage and extensive interviews with the subjects, as well as period music and the perfectly-matched aesthetic of the film, Peralta masterfully conveys the feeling of growing up skating in Venice Beach in the mid-70s. While neither the technical and historical details of skating nor the personal stories of the participants are given short shrift, the focus is on the passion of the skaters and the camaraderie of their team. The result is a story anyone can relate to and enjoy. But, while the film benefits from the unique perspective of the director and writers, the film never directly addresses the dilemmas of making a documentary about oneself. Although the director and writers appear on camera throughout the film, and the subjects often address them directly during interviews, the viewer is left to figure that out on their own and wonder about their objectivity. Nevertheless, this is a unique film that is well worth watching. Rating:  - The pools are empty, but these Z-Boys still give us an Endless Summer...I remember my first skateboard. Odd, this is probably how every other review for this film probably goes, but being as I seem to watch quite a bit of cliché ridden drama these days, why not begin with this very simple memory. It was the summer of 1986, I was eight years old, my younger brother was six. Our grandparents found this board in their basement, possibly my mothers or fathers, and decided it was our time to feel the harsh times of the pavement. The board was nothing spectacular, a "Bun Buster" I believe, and it provided hours upon hours of scrapes, scuffs, and thankfully no broken bones as we sailed down the hills of Virginia. It was something that I believe my brother continued with, but I just never found it to stick. I pursued other hobbies, but I will always remember this little piece of wood with probably clay wheels that gave us the war wounds of life. Now, 29-years old, I had the opportunity to see where my fascination with this semi-sport (now full-fledged) arrived. While I have to admit that it took a second viewing with the audio commentary blasting through my ears to fully appreciate the film, I have to stand and applaud what these teens endured to raise the stakes, but go above the cliché of the average sports star. I hate films about sports. I guess the pre-fabricated Hollywood sports film is a bit tough for me to swallow because it follows the most identical of ideas each year, what I am trying to say is that there isn't much creativity in this genre. Use exhibit "A" - "The Game Plan" as evidence of this if you want. So, needless to say, I was hesitant to watch this documentary because of the sports theme element, but at the same time I couldn't wait because I love surfing documentaries like "Step into Liquid" and "Billabong Odyssey". I took a step, I plunged into the unknown, and to be honest, at first I wasn't happy. I didn't like the direction, the people, or the style that the film encompassed to present these young sport entrepreneurs. With my first viewing, I thought that history couldn't be fully recorded, so I thought Stacy Peralta was splicing stock footage with faux-actors acting like they were from the late 70s. The music was intense, it matched well Peralta had made a mixed tape from this generation for our enjoyment, but the visuals were anything but stimulating. The elongated scenes, while using amazing music to support, just seemed flushed and too long for my attention. I wanted to get to know the pioneers, not just watch them skate for ten minutes in an empty pool. I wanted a combination of who these kids were, where they went during their rise of fame, and where they are now. It felt like I was watching the birth of our nation with a great score to the settlers just rowing their boats all day. I wanted to know the men behind the myths. Then, with a thought that I would have another negative review under my belt, I watched the film again with Peralta's audio commentary. His passion, his voice, his knowledge of the people and what he had to do to get this film accomplished "wow-ed" me. This suddenly transformed into the film I wanted to see. Peralta lets us know more of where these kids are today, what they are still doing, and how difficult it was to get some of them onto the camera. He hadn't seen many of them in 20+ years, so to hear these challenges brought the human element back to the surface. He was sincere; he was sympathetic, yet he showed so much dedication to this project. While I do not agree with everything that he chose to do (i.e. the Sean Penn mess up is not PUNK ROCK), he revitalized this film for me. It was due to this commentary that I rate this film much higher than originally thought. Jay Adams. Tony Alva. Jeff Ho. Peggy Oki. Wentzle Ruml. These are just a few of the name that need to be mentioned, and continually praised, if skateboarding is to continue the fast growing trend that it currently sees. While Tony Hawk's name sells products, it is these guys, these mild-mannered pavement slackers that redefined an entire sport. Sure, others were probably doing it in the stone ages, but these guys did it with style, grace, and moved it to the next level. This was a hobby for them, but it also propelled them in a direction I believe none of them were ready for. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is the story of evolution, being in the right place at the right time, living in a generation without televisions to keep us planted, and about friendship. We have seen so many stories during the years that show the progression of humanity, and this is definitely a story that should be added to that. I cannot say that I loved this film, nor will I, but it should be standard viewing for everyone learning or wanting to experience the growth of the skateboarding trend. It was sad, it was emotional, and these guys aren't multi-millionaires over again - they are people with a passion, and very rarely do you see that in documentaries. Overall, I cannot watch this film again, but I will suggest it to friends and family time after time. I think the downfall for this film, to me, was the filming - the attempts to be avant-garde with the style, which ultimately drew away from the characters and events. As mentioned before, there were some elements that dragged on too much, which left us with little to no time to know where these guys were now. Peralta obviously had a passion for this sport, for the people, but he seemed out-of-focus at times. The music was intense, and worked perfectly with the film. Sean Penn, while he was decent with his voiceover, wasn't needed at all. They could have spent the money elsewhere. On the positive, the audio commentary captures everything that the regular film was missing. Peralta's voice, instead of Penn's, brings a stronger human element to the scene, while he tells us better stories of the people, places, and events. Watch this film, but don't expect to be blown away. Listen to the audio commentary; I think you will be impressed. Grade: *** ½ out of ***** Rating: - Excellent Entertainment, well worth watching over, and over again.This movies contains live footage that will never be repeated. This movie should've been aired many more times than it was. I have the VHS version but will be investing in the DVD version soon. I recomend it to everyone that shows an interest in anything included in this doc.
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