Been looking for films to watch with my teen boys, and this was on my list and then a lot of friends agreed it would be a winner. Definitely was, even though my kids are not at all into skateboarding by any stretch.The film is well set-up (who knew that Venice was indeed meant to echo the canals of Italy, not me) and thanks to Craig Stecyk's instincts to document so much of the history as it was happening, really has a time-travel you-are-there flair.The scene at the '75 Del Mar skateboarding contest where Z-Boys make their debut and lead by the youngest, and arguably wildest, skater is just a triumphant moment for teens in general. It's that shattering of the boring archetype that should be encourage even by those of us sitting on our archetypes.And the detailed character studies are also quite engrossing in and of themselves, that classic "sell-out" mentality versus needing to make a living and might as well as be you profiting from the revolution that quickly becomes packaged. Usually I think of this in musical notes, but skateboarding nailed it here.And surely music was involved, my wife I think was drawn to join us based upon the mix-tape soundtrack. (And it pleased one of my boys who has bumped into Bowie sadly posthumously, to spot so many slices of said Thin White Duke.). I do have to say that it was Devo's "Gut Feeling" that was used to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the DVD packaging, so there with Hendrix, Led Zep, Bowie, and Iggy are the Spud boys?!?! It is a helluva riff! E-G-C-A! The lone female skater doesn't get too much focus, but perhaps preferably for her is just tossed in with the boys. Even though I think she was the only one who won at that contest that is a key moment in the film. The swimming pool scenario, and this notion of the rich dying kid wanting to share his love of skateboarding with the ne'er-do-well stars of the burgeoning sport, again just a small but significant piece of the story. Really that sets up the almost astronaut-launch that is just delivered in the film as good as any car chase in a boilerplate action film.The tone of the filmmakers is reverential, and moments like that are mythic, but then the interviewees are largely such "dudes" (in the best possible sense...and yes even Peggy Oki) that it makes for a fascinating watch.RIP several of them since the original release. It was interesting how the film created a dark aura around Jay Adams. Was he the most pure and the most corrupt character? Well they focus on the former but hint at trouble beyond the weed (later I read something about a bar fight not sure about all the details on that).For me it was great that my boys enjoyed the film, and got an appreciation for all of the skaters, but especially Adams who would have been a kid they might have ignored (or not gotten along well with) in school, but to see his side of the story, not just the flamboyant burst at that contest....but even later his commitment to just the excitement of skateboarding just for that excitement's sake. That got their wheels spinning I think.My wheels are spinning on whether this film is taught in modern-day film courses on documentaries? Or is it too much of a labor of love from an outsider. But wait, is that the point of the film?

This film to me deserves a lot of praise, because even though I am not a surfer or skater, I remained inspired throughout the whole documentary.The depth of history and development of these two extreme sports emphasised what they were able to do for two groups of individuals. The dedication that these individuals had/have is truly inspiring and it was because of them that others can now enjoy and do what these guys founded.Unlike most other documentaries, this one was cleverly put together, the amount of footage that was recorded and survived throughout the decades is outstanding and it was because of this that some of the greatest editing I have ever seen was put together and resulted in the subject remaining focused. Without the urge for them to retort to recent footage of the more famous surfers and skaters that remains popular today.The film explores areas such as the success, such accomplishing new tricks, winning competitions and gathering fame. As well as failures such as injury or burning out.It was also fulfilling to hear the experiences come from the skaters and surfers themselves and not from second hand information. This resulted in a better picture to be drawn.Overall, a truly outstanding effort.

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 voice-over, 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 *****

I didn't really like the documentary because i'm not really into skateboarding. we got it just to see what the movie was like. ummmmmmm some of the movie was OK we had to watch it through school so really we had to see it. well thats about all i can think to comment on this movie. people who like skateboarding i would recommend this movie to. surfing people would probably like it to because it has bits to do with surfing. thats the only things that i liked about the movie. the documentary has lots of good camera angles and movie techniques in there and i think thats why we are watching it through school. like i said before some of the movie is OK.