Surf movie
Encyclopedia
Surf movies fall into three distinct genres:
(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
). The genre in itself has been defined by surfers, traveling with their friends and documenting the experience on film. In the 'heyday' of Bruce Brown, Greg Noll, Bud Brown, John Severson, films were projected for rambunctious fans in music halls, civic centers and high school auditoriums.
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. VHS and eventually DVDs made the surf film viewing experience an "at home" affair and the 'heyday' of joing your friends or taking a girl to "surf movie night" at the local high school soon quickly vanished. Furthermore, large surf brands began making surf films under their marketing budgets to promote clothing and product sales. Titles like Sonny Miller's, "The Search" for Rip Curl redefined the genre with exotic locales, big budgets and name surfers, such as Tom Curren.
In the late 1990s to the present, there has been a revival of the "independent surf film." Artists, like The Malloys, Jack Johnson and Jason Baffa have reinvented the genre by shooting self financed 16mm motion picture film and utilizing indy music bands like G. Love, Alexi Murdoch, Mojave 3, White Buffalo and Donavon Frankenreiter, creating what the surf media has called, "modern classics." Backed by grass roots screening tours, inspired by the surf film forefathers, stoked groms and now dads can once again see the newest flick on the big screen.
Examples of surfing documentaries include:
" 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:
- the surfing documentary - targeting the surfing enthusiast
- the 1960s beach party films - targeting the broader community and
- fictional feature films with a focus on the reality of surfing
Surfing documentaries
The sporting documentary was pioneered by Bud BrowneBud Browne
Bud "Barracuda" Browne, was an early pioneer surf film maker. He was the first filmmaker to show surf movies commercially...
(e.g. "Hawaiian Holiday") in the 1940s and early 1950s, and later popularized by Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown is an American documentary film director, known as an early pioneer of the surf film...
(e.g. "The Endless Summer
The Endless Summer
The Endless Summer is a 1966 film in the surf movie genre.Director Bruce Brown follows two surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, on a surf trip around the world. Despite the balmy climate of their native California, cold ocean currents make local beaches inhospitable during the winter...
") in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then later perfected by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman (e.g. "Five Summer Stories
Five Summer Stories
Five Summer Stories is a surfing film by Jim Freeman and Greg MacGillivray starring David Nuuhiwa, Eddie Aikau, Gerry Lopez, and Sam Hawk. It was released in 1972. The soundtrack is by Honk....
") in the 1970s and beyond (MacGillivray and Freeman later went on to film IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
movies such as To Fly!
To Fly!
To Fly! is a documentary film shot in the IMAX format. It follows the history of flight, from the first hot air balloons in the 19th century to 20th century manned space missions. It was created for performance at the National Air and Space Museum's IMAX Theater in Washington, D.C.It was written...
and Speed
Speed (IMAX)
Written and directed by Greg MacGillivray of MacGillivray Freeman Films in 1984, Speed is a documentary which chronicles the development of human technology as part of our desire to go faster than before....
). The genre in itself has been defined by surfers, traveling with their friends and documenting the experience on film. In the 'heyday' of Bruce Brown, Greg Noll, Bud Brown, John Severson, films were projected for rambunctious fans in music halls, civic centers and high school auditoriums.
During the 1980s, the market for surf films surged with the release of more affordable video cameras. By the 1990s, the surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
market became saturated with low and medium budget surf films, many with sound tracks that reflected the mass media driven music culture. VHS and eventually DVDs made the surf film viewing experience an "at home" affair and the 'heyday' of joing your friends or taking a girl to "surf movie night" at the local high school soon quickly vanished. Furthermore, large surf brands began making surf films under their marketing budgets to promote clothing and product sales. Titles like Sonny Miller's, "The Search" for Rip Curl redefined the genre with exotic locales, big budgets and name surfers, such as Tom Curren.
In the late 1990s to the present, there has been a revival of the "independent surf film." Artists, like The Malloys, Jack Johnson and Jason Baffa have reinvented the genre by shooting self financed 16mm motion picture film and utilizing indy music bands like G. Love, Alexi Murdoch, Mojave 3, White Buffalo and Donavon Frankenreiter, creating what the surf media has called, "modern classics." Backed by grass roots screening tours, inspired by the surf film forefathers, stoked groms and now dads can once again see the newest flick on the big screen.
Examples of surfing documentaries include:
Beach Party films
The second type of surf movie would be the campy entertainment feature, also termed "beach party filmsBeach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
" or "surfploitation flicks" by true surfers, having little to do with the authentic sport and culture of surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
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:
- GidgetGidget (film)Gidget is a 1959 Columbia Pictures CinemaScope feature film. It stars Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California surf culture and her affiliated romance with a young surfer. The screenplay was written by Gabrielle Upton, a nom de plume...
(1959) - Beach PartyBeach PartyBeach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
(1963) - Ride the Wild SurfRide the Wild SurfRide the Wild Surf is romantic drama in the beach party style. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in beach party films...
(1964) - Surf PartySurf partySurf Party is a 1964 beach party film directed by Maury Dexter. It is notable for the musical acts showcased onscreen, as well as for being the first direct imitation of AIP’s hit Beach Party, which was released six months earlier. It also notable for being one of the few films in the genre shot...
(1964) - Beach Blanket BingoBeach Blanket BingoBeach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures beach party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the beach party film series...
(1965) - Malibu Beach (1978)
- The Beach Girls (1982)
- Spring Break (1983)
- HardbodiesHardbodiesHardbodies is a 1984 sex comedy film about three middle-aged men who hire a younger man to help them pick up women at the beach. The film was directed by Mark Griffiths, and stars Grant Cramer, Courtney Gains, and Gary Wood...
(1984)
Narrative Surf Films
Surfing is occasionally portrayed more realistically within fictional storylines, or use surfing as backdrop, or side theme.- Big WednesdayBig WednesdayBig Wednesday is an American coming of age film directed by John Milius. Milius co-wrote Big Wednesday with Denny Aaberg, and it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu and a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974 Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance." The picture stars...
- Blue CrushBlue CrushBlue Crush is a 2002 surfer film directed by John Stockwell and based on the Outside magazine article "Life's Swell" by Susan Orlean. Starring Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Sanoe Lake, and Mika Boorem, it tells the story of three friends who have one passion: living the ultimate dream of...
- The Endless SummerThe Endless SummerThe Endless Summer is a 1966 film in the surf movie genre.Director Bruce Brown follows two surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, on a surf trip around the world. Despite the balmy climate of their native California, cold ocean currents make local beaches inhospitable during the winter...
- The Endless Summer IIThe Endless Summer IIThe Endless Summer II is a 1994 film directed by Bruce Brown and is a sequel to his 1966 film The Endless Summer. In The Endless Summer II, surfers Pat O'Connell and Robert "Wingnut" Weaver retrace the steps of Mike Hynson and Robert August. It shows the growth and evolution of the surfing scene...
- In God's Hands
- Lords Of DogtownLords of DogtownLords of Dogtown is a 2005 biographical film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport...
- North Shore
- Point BreakPoint BreakPoint Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon...
- Puberty BluesPuberty BluesPuberty Blues is a 1981 Australian film directed by Bruce Beresford. The film is based on the 1979 novel Puberty Blues, by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, which is a proto-feminist teen novel about two 13 year-old girls from the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, Australia...
- Soul SurferSoul Surfer (film)Soul Surfer is a 2011 American drama film about the life of surfer Bethany Hamilton. At the age of thirteen, Hamilton lost her arm to a shark attack. The film details the events surrounding this attack and her struggle during the aftermath...
- Surf IISurf IISurf II is a 1984 American independent comedy film written and directed by Randall M. Badat and starring Eddie Deezen, Linda Kerridge, Eric Stoltz, Jeffrey Rogers and Peter Isacksen...
- Surf's UpSurf's Up (film)Surf's Up is a 2007 American computer-animated mockumentary family comedy film directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. It stars the voices of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel and Jon Heder among others....
- Blue Crush 2Blue Crush 2Blue Crush 2 is a 2011 direct-to-video surfer film and sequel to the 2002 film Blue Crush. This movie stars Sasha Jackson, Elizabeth Mathis, Ben Milliken and Sharni Vinson....
- Blue JuiceBlue JuiceBlue Juice is a 1995 British film directed by Carl Prechezer and starring Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta Jones, Ewan McGregor and Steven Mackintosh. It follows JC as he attempts to reconcile his surfer lifestyle and loser friends with the pressure to grow up from his girlfriend...