Main Cast: Laird Hamilton, Greg Noll, Sean Penn, Dick Brewer, Sam George, Buzzy Kerbox, Jeff Clark, Ricky Grigg
Release Year: 2004
Country: FR/US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
With the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, skater-cum-filmmaker Stacy Peralta introduced viewers to the history of the West Coast skateboarding culture and made a huge splash at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, taking home both the Documentary Directing Award and the Documentary Audience Award. For this follow-up effort, Peralta leaves the land for the sea, focusing his lens on the world of surfing. Narrated by Sean Penn, just as Dogtown and Z-Boys was, Riding Giants attempts to trace the origins of surfing and also explore the growth and progress of surf culture. Among the surfing luminaries who chime in on topics varying from the business of the sport to "the big wave" are Laird Hamilton, Greg Noll, and Jeff Clark. Hoping to find the critical success akin to its predecessor, Riding Giants premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Review
Stacy Peralta gives the Hollywood term "triple threat" a whole new meaning. The skateboarder/surfer/director turns in his second accomplished documentary in three years with Riding Giants, a follow-up to his critical darling Dogtown and Z-Boys. One might consider Peralta the film industry's chief chronicler of extreme sports, if that didn't belittle how seriously he takes his craft. As with Dogtown, Peralta has really done his homework, unearthing yards of priceless footage of 1950s big-wave surfers and their wonky postures. During this era of the film, he also identifies surfing as the centerpiece of a new counterculture, consisting of beach bums with no prospects other than to gleefully anticipate the swells. Where Giants diverges from Dogtown is that it pushes the sport's societal impact to the background, opting for a more mechanical focus on new techniques and the defiant quest for ever more bone-crunching waves. This turns the film into more of a highlight reel than a historical tableau. The problem is that, lacking the panoramic perspective of standing on the beach, most viewers have a difficult time appreciating the increasing enormity of the waves down through the decades. The feats are quite impressive, but the interview subjects' array of superlatives grows a tad repetitive. For the most part, though, it's a thrilling and entertaining window into a world of athletes who take as many risks with their lives as mountain climbers. Especially cool are the interviews with big wave godfather Greg Noll, who paved the waves at Hawaii's Waimea Bay. He recalls the era with off-color observations and a youthful bravado that belies his stocky, nearly 70-year-old body. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Pete Cole; Billy Hamilton; Peter Mel; Pat Curran; John Milius; Lyon Hamilton; Mickey Munoz; Darryl "Flea" Virostko; Walter Hoffman; Steve Pezman; Dr. Sarah Gerhardt; Randy Rarick; Gabrielle Reece; Buffalo Keaulana; Dr. Mark Renneker; Evan Slater; Kelly Slater; Mike Stange; Matt Warshaw; Grant Washburn; Laird Hamilton - Featured Surfer; Darrick Doerner; Brian L. Keaulana; Titus Kinimaka; Dave Kalama; Greg Noll - Featured Surfer
Credit
Paul Crowder - Co-producer, Stacy Peralta - Director, Sam George - Director, Paul Crowder - Editor, Laird Hamilton - Executive Producer, Nathalie Delest - Executive Producer, Marty Franck - Executive Producer, Alex Matter - Composer (Music Score), Peter Pilafian - Cinematographer, Stacy Peralta - Producer, Agi Orsi - Producer, Jane Kachmer - Producer, Dane A. Davis - Sound/Sound Designer, Larry Scharf - Sound/Sound Designer, Alan Barker - Sound/Sound Designer, Lori Dovi - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Gatt - Sound/Sound Designer, Eddie Kim - Sound/Sound Designer, Lew Maddox - Sound/Sound Designer, John M. Reynolds - Sound/Sound Designer, Wolf Seeberg - Sound/Sound Designer, Stacy Peralta - Screenwriter, Sam George - Screenwriter
The film begins with a historical overview, starting at its Hawaiian beginnings, then moves on to focus on the dangerous lure of big wave surfing (surfing waves that can reach up to 70 feet). The documentary chronicles the evolution of riding at Hawaii's Waimea Bay in the 1950s, the revolution of lighter boards, and tow-in surfing to allow for "riding giants". Three surfers who are part of this multi-generational evolution are spotlighted: Greg Noll is shown as a fearless big wave rider during the 1950s and 60s; Jeff Clark who discovered Mavericks in Northern California and surfed there alone for years; and Laird Hamilton, the contemporary surfer who brings tow-in riding to the limelight.
Production
Peralta previously directed the acclaimed documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, which documented the rise of skateboarding, of which he was an integral part. The French producer Franck Marty, alongside with his partners, chose him to direct a new breed of big wave riding documentary film. He has said that the primary purpose of making a surfing documentary was that he "wanted to see a film like this", and that he hoped it helped to answer the question "why people choose to devote their entire lives to the pursuit of riding waves."[1]
Riding Giants was the first documentary film to open the Sundance Film Festival. It won the 2004 A.C.E. Eddie Award for Best Edited Documentary by editor Paul Crowder. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% fresh rating, having earned mostly positive reviews from critics. Roger Ebert said in his review, "Before seeing Riding Giants, my ideas about surfing were formed by the Gidget movies, Endless Summer, The Beach Boys, Elvis and lots of TV commercials. Riding Giants is about altogether another reality."
