Dogtown and Z-Boys

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source: Dogtown and Z-Boys

First off, I'd like to say I know basically zilch about the origins and the rebirth of skateboarding. I remember ordering and thumbing through "Thrasher" for the magazine rack in my music store 20 years ago, and watching all the skate punks with their Circle Jerks t-shirts snap it up upon arrival. But I just couldn't relate, and still can't. Flash forward to today, and it's pretty much still that way. I've heard of one guy (Tony Hawk), and always surf (no pun intended) right on by when the X-games are on ESPN. That being said, I enjoyed this documentary. As was stated by several postings earlier, there was a bit of overkill by the makers discussing how great and "groundbreaking" they all were. But hey, it's their movie, and they were there, so why not. So sit back and enjoy this time capsule of the late 70's when you get a chance. I guess the thing that totally impressed me the most was the music used in the film. I'm not sure if the record labels who own the rights to all these classic tunes cut the filmmakers any breaks for the licensing and use of all this great period music, but this was probably the most impressive group of songs I've ever heard in a documentary. It surely puts to shame the crap heard in almost every big-budget film coming out these days.

One may need an acquired taste to sit through this movie. Just like one needs to love beer to be an alcoholic. It doesn't make it any less interesting, just tough to get to grips with. Shot in TV-style documentary, it is odd this should get a theatrical release, but who cares? The movie is about a Seventies ghetto neighbourhood in L.A. and how kids turn the ruins of past architectural mistakes into something useful...for them. There are burnt down piers to surf through, concrete basins to skateboard in and empty pools to seize and claim for themselves. The kids are almost tribal in nature, sharing hatred towards outsiders, never splitting up and helping each other out. They have nothing in their life but skating and surfing, no future or plans. Chance comes in the form of skateboard competitions and some of the kids are catapulted to fame, while others make wrong choices and turn to drugs and partying. And that's about it, really, but it does hold your attention for 90 minutes. All the documentary clichés are here. Rapid fire cuts, grainy black-and-white shots when interviewing people and a gazillion Seventies tracks. But with such an elitist subject matter, this kind of film-making is essential to make the movie appeal to the masses, or, at least, smaller groups of people. No doubt, Trouble TV-watching, baggy pants, text message generation, middle class kids, trying to be street, will love it. Me? I say it's good to watch once, to help understand an unavoidable culture.

A friend of mine told me that I had to see this film. He is no longer my friend. I can't believe this film got any critical praise at at all. There is nothing innovative about the editing, cinematography or narration in this run of the mill documentary about a group of people who may have revolutionized skating, but can't get over themselves because of it. I would recommend this film only to someone who wanted to hear a bunch of burnt-out skate rats talk about how cool they are for 2 hours. Note to the Z boys, legends are made, not self-proclaimed. I only hope the film tanks too so the world can say goodbye to this amalgam of meglomaniacal darshbags.

I live in Santa Monica and found the history lesson and nostolgia worth watching, but the self congradulatory nature of this film had me rolling my eyeballs about every ten seconds. Okay, you were different and really good at skateboarding. But lines like, "we did a thousand things with a structure that the architect never dreamed of." (Maybe 20 things...) And "It was like Muhammad Ali knocking down Joe Frazier," got a little tough to handle after the first half hour. I think that, if about half to three quarters of the interview footage of the Zephyr team telling us what bad asses they were and what "rock stars," they became could have been taken out, I would have appreciated their talents even more. I guess I'm just one of those who thinks that it should be the audience member who gets to see what the people accomplish and then sit back and make their own judgements about whether or not the subjects are worthy of that kind of praise. One thing I really liked about "The Last Waltz," was that everyone who watches it gets to make up their own mind about what kind of musical influences the members were. I think it's kind of ironic that the subjects of this film talk about ego getting in the way of the artistic nature of the sport, but they haven't seemed to learn anything from it as they sort of ruin this film with their grown up ego.

If you have ever been, has a friend, or a kid that is or was into skating at one time, then watch this flick!. I have seen it several times and I get something new out of it every time that I see it. It reminded me of why I got into skating in the first place (a long time ago) . It reminded me of what skating brings to a person and I have found will also help a person who doesn't understand why skaters, well, skate. Sure there is a very dark side to the whole seen, which the movie does touch on slightly. But it tends to focus more on what is at the core of skating. Just a person on a board, doing it because they love to do it. This movie was so inspirational to me that I'm now skating once again (I'm 32) and I haven't been this happy with my self in years….. Give this one a go, you will not be disappointed.

Back in the day, I was one of the RN's in the Emergency Rooms, these skaters would occasionally land in. They were not treated well, and some of it was brought on by their asocial personalities- but we all knew they were a talented bunch of "wonderkids" even then. They deserved better care than they received, I'm afraid. They had "attitude" in spades. I'm so glad I caught this documentary on IFC tonight- it will be on again at 1 am and I'll be watching again! Little attention was given to them until the rich dying kid was able to talk his parents into draining the pool- and the film really highlights that as the taking off point....it was an amazing time, and deserved to be recorded. Stacy Peralta is due all the praise heaped on him, and long may those Z-Boys enjoy their memories and contribution to the real sport of skateboarding. As for the few "sour grape" reviews contained herein, there always were and there always will be "wannabees" and hangers-on who never do more than dream...the Z-boys lived it, breathed it, were it. Nice to see the vintage films and even the lone girl, "Peggy" who was so talked about as being the only female to win their respect. Thanks to IFC I get to really take the occasional drug-free head trip of my youth and relive the heart pounding excitement again.

I have seen this movie twice now on cable. The first time I saw it, it caught me by suprise. The skaters I was seeing were the guys we followed in the pages of Skateboarder magazine back in the late 70's. These were the guys we copied and tried to become while skating. I am glad that a film was finally made that gives an accurate account of how it all came to be. I am almost 40 years old now and I guess a pretty uptight kind of guy with all of life's problems, however; this film did a great job of taking me back. Back to the vacant pools, the backyard halfpipes and the road trips to Cherry Hill NJ. I suspect that in order to really understand this movie and appreciate it, you had to live it. Otherwise, it probably won't have the impact on you as it did me. But for those of you (and you know who you are), who did live it, you know exactly what I am talking about! In any event, I don't care who you are, if you get a chance to see this movie...do it! I give thanks to the Z-Boys of Dogtown for the memories of my youth and thanks to Stacy for making this movie! JOB WELL DONE!

My first mistake was to have high expectations. Not even Sean Penn, or stylized editing mess, or classic super-8 skate footage can save this documentary from being a bit boring, and over-done. It looks like they dragged this film through some kind of MTV post processing effect - I think they pressed the "make it look sic" button in their editor. It could be that they were low on good raw footage, so needed to stetch it out with "F**k with the footage" effects. There was interesting and good looking old skate material, just not a lot. And what they had, they cut up and fried. Sean Penn's narration was flat n' lifeless, like either he didn't want to be there, or he didn't give a sh*t, or he can't narrate. Interviews were too long. Soundtrack was ok. Check it out if you want to see early skate footage where no-one really pulls any good tricks because no-one knew how! Pool skating is fun to watch, even when dressed up too much in AfterEffects effects. Too long. Re-edit, ditch Penn, show some modern skating for comparison, and it might have done better here.