Surf film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Surf movies fall into three distinct genres:
- the surfing documentary - targeting the surfing enthusiast
- the 1960s beach party films - targeting the broader community and
- the occasional modern feature film attempting to focus more on the reality of surfing
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[edit] Surfing documentaries
The sporting documentary was pioneered by Bud Browne (e.g. "Hawaiian Holiday") in the 1940s and early 1950s, and later popularized by Bruce Brown (e.g. "The Endless Summer") in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then later perfected by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman (e.g. "Five Summer Stories") in the 1970s and beyond (MacGillivray and Freeman later went on to film IMAX movies such as To Fly! and Speed).
During the 1980s, the market for surf films surged with the release of more affordable video cameras. By the 1990s, the surfing market became saturated with low and medium budget surf films, many with sound tracks that reflected the mass media driven music culture. Examples of surfing movies include:
- The Endless Summer (1966)
- Five Summer Stories (1972)
- Morning of the Earth (1973)
- The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun
- Tubular Swells (1975)
- Crystal Voyager
- Storm Riders (1982)
- Endless Summer II (1994)
- The Endless Summer: Revisited (2000)
- Step Into Liquid (2003)
- Liquid Time (2003)
- Blue Horizon (2003)
- Fair Bits
- Riding Giants (2004)
- Going With The Flow: Classic California Soul Surfing (2005)
- Free As A Dog (2006)
- Blue Crush (2002)
- Point Break (1991)
[edit] Beach Party films
The second type of surf movie would be the campy entertainment feature, also termed "beach party films" or "surfploitation flicks" by true surfers, having little to do with the authentic sport and culture of surfing and representing movies that attempted to cash in on the growing popularity of surfing among youth in the early 1960s. Examples of Beach Party films include:
- Gidget (1959)
- Beach Party (1963)
- Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
[edit] Other Narrative Surf Films
Surfing was portrayed more realistically on at least one occasion, notably Big Wednesday directed by John Milius. The movie North Shore was another attempt, and a few movies have used surfing as backdrop, or side theme, such as Point Break.
