Riding Giants

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Riding Giants
Directed by	Stacy Peralta
Produced by	Agi Orsi, Jane Kachmer (producer) Franck Marty, Nathalie Delest, Laird Hamilton (executive producer)
Written by	Stacy Peralta Sam George
Narrated by	Stacy Peralta
Starring	Greg Noll Jeff Clark Laird Hamilton Gerry Lopez Mickey Munoz Darrick Doerner
Music by	Matter
Cinematography	Peter Pilafian
Editing by	Paul Crowder
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	2004
Running time	104 min.
Country	USA / France
Language	English
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer who helped to define modern skateboarding. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the featured surfers are Greg Noll, Laird Hamilton, and Jeff Clark, and surfing pioneers such as Mickey Munoz.

1 Synopsis
2 Production
3 Soundtrack music
4 Reception
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Greg Noll watches the breaking waves in Hawaii.

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.

[edit] 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 utilizes stills, archive footage, fake "re-enacted" archive footage, home movies, and interviews. Some of the surfers interviewed include Jeff Clark, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Gerry Lopez, Greg Noll, and Kelly Slater.

[edit] Soundtrack music

Includes: Basement Jaxx, David Bowie, The Doves, Fila Brazillia, Bill Haley & His Comets, The Hives, Linkin Park, John Mayall, Moby, Pearl Jam, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Soundgarden, The Stray Cats and Érik Satie.

[edit] Reception

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."