Much has been said about the romanticism of surf films of the '50s, '60s and '70s: the
hooting at the big screen, the beer-bottle clinking down the hallways of high school
auditoriums up and down the coast; the camaraderie of it all, the whole lineup in one
darkened theater for a couple hours, a chance for everyone to be kinda <i>nice</i> to
each other, without having to compete for waves. A Golden Era, to be sure. (Ask anyone
who was there and they'll be the first to tell ya.)
This all changed in the mid- to late-'80s. Video killed not only the radio star, but also
wounded the big-screen 16mm surf film. By the time <i>Wave Warriors III</i> came out
in 1988 ("That changed surf movies forever!" Herbie Fletcher still yells), surfers all over
the States were spending hours on the couch, rubbing the pause and rewind buttons raw.
The excitement and togetherness of the surf film became the somewhat calculated
enjoyment of the surf video. Once the surf flick was safely in the privacy of your living
room, you could mimic Curren's hands; plant your back knee like Slater; work on your
frontside snap along with Occy -- they transcended entertainment and became
instructional, almost by accident.
And not only did surf videos entertain and educate us, but we could also … make 'em
ourselves! All it took was a reasonably cheap video camera, some editing software, a 24pack of Red Bull and a couple months of all-nighters and we're surf video makers. Which
is the whole point of new technology anyways -- it empowers us to make it up as we go
along.
See, this whole darn Surfline/20 section is a celebration of not only 20 years of being in
business, but also other technologies that have come along in the last 20 years that have
helped our sport evolve. No one can argue that surf videos have had a huge impact, and
we figured it was time to call out the 20 best.
Research for this feature was rigorous and thorough. We didn't just "make it up", nor did
I just pick my Top 20 and call it a day. We contacted over 20 experts in the field from
different areas and of different age groups to get their respective Top 20 list and did a
complicated series of mathematical equations that led us to our list.
We also wanted to make sure each vid had at least one of the following qualities: they
reported or showcased something or someone the surf community needed to see (i.e. a
young Slater, new perfect wave discoveries); they had a really good go at making
something of quality (i.e., <i>Surfers: the Movie</i>, the <i>Occumentary</i>); or they
did something nobody else was doing at the time (i.e. <i>Wave Warriors III</i>,
<i>Momentum</i>, <i>Litmus</i>). And after a couple months of living with these
things in my VCR, I can vouch they all fall into one or all three of the categories.
Keep in mind these are the best surf <i>videos</i> since 1985, not the best surf
<i>films</i>. That list would most certainly include <i>Step Into Liquid</i> and
<I>Riding Giants</i>, among others.
(See <a
href=http://www.surfline.com/mag/features/tapping_source/videos1.html>Tapping the
Sources</a> for a comprehensive list of 25 surf films every surfer should own.)
WAVE WARRIORS III (1988; Herbie Fletcher)
The hot pink boxcover and titles say it all: "New Wave Pros! Gothic Soul Monsters!
Insane Air Attackers!" Indeed. This third in the series of Wave Warriors videos brought
the North Shore season into everyone's (shag-carpet) living rooms in a relatively timely
fashion. <i>Wave Warriors III</i> is a crazy mix: equal parts old-schoolers Shaun
Tomson, Johnny-Boy Gomes and Dane Kealoha at Backdoor, current-schoolers, like
Elko, Occy and Curren at Sunset, and new-schoolers Christian Fletcher and Matt
Archibald airing all over Eukhai and Lowers. Plus director/producer Herbie Fletcher on
his jetski at Waimea. Herbie understood the importance of immediacy, power-chord
guitar rock, and short, punchy segments. The whole <i>Wave Warriors</i> series
introduced surfing as punk rock and progressive -- which, by the mid-'90s, was kinda like
<i>duh</i>. <i>Of course</i> surfing is punk rock. But in the mid- to late '80s, surfing
was still shaking off its soulier-than-thou image, and WW III did its part to bring it up to
speed.
RUNMAN 69 (1988; Runman films)
The creators of the TV show <i>Jackass</i> owe a giant debt to Runman. From shitting
on cars, to scaring old ladies, to downhill skateboarding through red lights, co-creators
Morgan Runyon and Ray Kleiman took juvenile pranks -- and random-cut editing and
offhanded commentary -- to a whole new level though the late '80s. Oh, yeah, and in
among the dogfights and flashing, there's some fine surfing, too. Though it has some
North Shore and Mexico footage, Runman 69 showcases some of the best surf in LA
County. Secret, fickle pointbreaks, random, crossed-up beachbreaks, and crowded,
perfect Malibu are the cornerstones of the flick, and most of the surfing is done by
underground rippers. Star power is <i>not</i> a factor here -- it could've been you or me
in that barrel. Which is exactly why it made the list.
PUMP! (1990; Billabong)
<i>Pump!</i> made many folk's Top 20 list for a bunch of reasons. It was one
Billabong's first big(ish)-budget surf video efforts, with insane footage by guys like Steve
Spaulding and Jeff Neu of Occy, Munga, Ronnie Burns and the rest of the Billabong
team in perfect surf all over the world. It had a rockin' soundtrack. It had Ritchie Collins
in absolutely <i>peak</i> form at Sunset -- wearing webbed gloves, no less -- proving
the Newport ripper kid could carve with the big boys, which was what the upcoming '90s
would be about: a well-rounded act in big <i>and</i> small surf.
KELLY SLATER IN BLACK AND WHITE (1991; Richard Woolcott and Quiksilver)
The first insightful look at the Floridian wunderkind who, in a few short years, went on to
win six world titles and become the best surfer ever. A couple of clips in <i>Black and
White</i> are clear indications of what's to come: an impossibly late double-up at Pipe
that he somehow finds a way out of (and to this day, calls one of the best barrels he's had
at Pipe) and footage from his win at the 1990 Body Glove Surfbout at Trestles. Not only
is this 20-minute short essential for history's sake, the champ finally sets us straight on
surf video copyright laws: "Who cares?" he says after the FBI warning flickers on the
screen. "Rip it off, man, make a bunch of copies and give 'em to your bros." (From
<i>Tapping the Sources</i>)
SURFERS: THE MOVIE (1992; Bill Delaney)
This was not only Bill Delaney's last surf flick before he ventured off into other areas, but
also one of the most comprehensive and ambitious efforts to document our little
saltwatery tribe. It was also something you could kinda show your mom or teacher and
say, "Hey, <i>this</i> is what I do all day," and be pretty proud about it. From Barton
Lynch explaining how "you always want to surf better than your mates," to Cheyne
Horan waxing philosophical about the communal need for surf "gatherings", to Greg Noll
talking about giant Waimea, <i>Surfers</i> has more candid, interesting interviews from
more well-known surfers than any flick before or since. Couple that with the latest highbudget surf footage from the best in the business, and you've got a Top 20 shoe-in.
THE GREEN IGUANA (1992; Jack McCoy)
<i>The Green Iguana</i> just barely beat out Jack McCoy's other early '90s surf flick
<i>Bunyip Dreaming</i> by one vote in our distinguished panel of experts. Why we're
still not sure (could it be the song, <i>Green Iguana<i/>?), but they're both classic
McCoy -- insane surfing from Occy, Munga, Luke Egan and others; supersharp and
creative editing, a few funny random bits of animation and dreamy, crisp watershots. All
that plus magical, wish-I-was-there surf from Indo and West Australia, and it becomes
pretty clear why Jack McCoy has more movies on this list than any other director.
MOMENTUM (1992; Taylor Steele/Poor Specimen)
The I'll-do-it-myself-and-do-it-even-more-core school of surf video would soon become
cliché, but Momentum, Steele's first effort, had a certain kind of slashing charm when it
hit coastal VCRs in 1992. And make no mistake; Steele initiated a surf cinema
revolution. Slow motion was out. Grainy budget-quality video stock was in. Sunset
Beach was out. Backdoor was in. Rail turns: out. Tailslides and spins: in. Carroll and
Curren were -- not out, exactly, but suddenly looking a lot older. Slater, Machado,
Dorian, Williams were way, way in. Lots of raw, youthful energy in Steele's videos, but
the whole game was made to look one-dimensional. Steele seemed glad to have Jack
McCoy out there working to capture the sparkle, texture and color in our most sensual of
sports. (From <i>Tapping the Sources</i>)
FOCUS (1994; Taylor Steele)
By 1994, Taylor Steel's one-song-one-surfer montage style of surf video making was
already pretty common. After all, there's plenty of closeouts down the street, a video
camera was cheap, editing came easy with enough software and Jolt Cola, and punk
bands didn't mind of you ripped off their songs. But with Steele's third flick
<i>Focus</i>, he proved himself once again the master of his own genre. With tunes by
SoCal pop/punk bands Pennywise, Sprung Monkey, and Unwritten Law, as well as
insane exclusive footage of Slater, Machado, Dorian, Knox, Malloy, Curran and others,
Steele kept us couched for a solid 53 minutes -- and hitting the "wha-the-fack?" rewind
button much more.
SURFING THE '50S (re-released 1994; Bud Browne)
"Look closely at the faces in that video," 1964 world champion Midget Farrelly said after
<i>Surfing the '50s</i> was released. "There was just something so uncorrupt about these
people's involvement with surfing -- something so honest. What a rich, beautiful scene."
Highlights from eight of Browne's films from the '50s and early '60s are here, and it is
rich and beautiful. And it's thrilling, too, with huge, glassy Makaha Point surf and a short
bit on the tension-filled morning of November 7, 1957, when Greg Noll led the first
charge at Waimea Bay. There's essential footage of Buzzy Trent, Chubby Mitchell,
Marge Calhoun, Phil Edwards, Dewey Weber, 16-year-old Linda Benson sliding one at
Waimea, comedy with the avuncular Hevs McLelland and quick glimpses of surfing
originals Duke Kahanamoku and Snowy MacAllister. It's all a nice respite from the
quick-cut, punk-rock videos of the rest of the early '90s. (From <i>Tapping the
Sources</i>)
THE SEARCH II (1994; Sonny Miller)
For whatever reason, <i>The Search II</i> beat out the original in our panel by more
than half. Many pointed to the absolutely insane footage of Tom Curren at perfect, eightfoot Jeffreys Bay for the first time. It's also one of Sonny Miller's best films. But mainly,
it managed to bring back the <i>Endless Summer</i> vibe and combined it with modern
surfing in heavy, exotic locations. Oh, and did we mention Curren at J-Bay? Right.
LITMUS (1996; Andrew Kidman and the Val Dusty Experiment)
No underage surf stars were harmed in the making of this movie.
Writer/photographer/filmmaker/musician/surfer and all around Renaissance man Andrew
Kidman took his time searching out the elders of our tribe and filming 'em in their native
environments -- Derek Hynd at J Bay, Wayne Lynch in South Australia. He searched out
the heaviest lefts in Ireland and the prettiest backlit Pipeline he could find and set it all to
his own band's soundtrack, everything done on a wing and a prayer and without a surf
companies' deep pockets. Litmus was the inspiration for the more so-called soulful films
of the late '90s and is a must-have for any <i>Shelter</i> fan.
SEARCHING FOR TOM CURREN (1997; Sonny Miller)
No one else could've done it properly. But Sonny Miller had already followed Curren
around the world for the first two <i>Search</i> movies; plus, even well after falling
from the pro tour, Curren was still most people's favorite surfer, even if they knew
nothing about him personally. <i>Searching for Tom Curren</i> brought it all together,
from early Sandspit footage to the tiny fish in giant Indo surf and J-Bay, the video
provided us with a much-needed snapshot of the sport's most famous -- and reclusive -stylist.
SURFER'S JOURNAL: GREAT WAVES (1998; Ira Opper)
A four-volume, four-hour, 12-episode documentary that was originally shown in single
half-hour installments on the Outdoor Life Network, with each episode investigating a
well-known surf break -- Waimea, Malibu, Grajagan, etc. The range of surfers
interviewed for the series is astounding -- Tom Blake, Dewey Weber, Nat Young, Gerry
Lopez, Kelly Slater, Lisa Andersen, Peter Mel and Sunny Garcia -- with dozens of others
in between. New footage meets archival clips from Bud Browne, Bruce Brown, Greg
MacGillivray, Jack McCoy, Alby Falzon and Sonny Miller. Tightly written and edited.
Even the music is good. If the series has a flaw, it's that good material sometimes feels
wedged into place. (From <i>Tapping the Sources</i>)
THE OCCUMENTARY (1998; Jack McCoy)
The beginning montage of Occy's carves and power turns skillfully edited to the Foo
Fighters <i>My Hero</i> has been known to give even the most jaded surf movie
watcher a little bit of chicken skin, especially goofyfoots. And Jack McCoy has not only
followed Occy's entire surfing career, he also has access to earlier footage, as well as
candid and funny interviews with friends and family, making for a well-rounded surf
biography, rather than just a one-off flick. One thing you'll notice is that Occy could've
surfed more perfect lefts better than anyone else in the world, save maybe Gerry Lopez.
THICKER THAN WATER (1999; Chris Malloy and Jack Johnson, Poor Specimen)
By the late '90s, even the stars of the <I>Momentum</I>-clone videos couldn't stand to
see another quick-cut segment laced to a droning Pennywise soundtrack. Enter Chris
Malloy, the pensive Taylor Steele loyalist and eldest of the famous Malloy brother trio
who decided to offer his own alternative to the surf video. In March of 1998, Malloy and
rookie filmmaker Jack Johnson hit the road with a board bag, a 16mm Bolex and a plan
to make a surf film with substance. The result was <i>Thicker Than Water</i>, a 60minute artsy, groovy fantasy-based flick (with an accompanying 160-page photo book)
that's a complete departure from the hundreds of forgettable videos that were produced in
the '90s -- a <i>Morning of the Earth</i> for Gen X and Y. Although we can't forget that
Malloy and his band of friends -- unlike Nat Young and the country soul crew -- were
living off surf company promo budgets instead of self-cultivated vegetables in Byron
Bay, the intentions were good. There's hope for the future. (From <i>Tapping the
Sources</i>)
SURFING FOR LIFE (1999; David Brown and Roy Earnest)
Talk about Golden Years. We should all live as long and as well as Doc Ball, Rabbit
Kekai, Eve Fletcher, Woody Brown and the rest of the seniors featured in this soulful,
uplifting documentary. <i>Surfing for Life</i> has lots of historical and present-day
surfing footage and plenty of interviews. Perhaps a bit too much reminiscing, but
priceless thoughts on surfing, physical and mental health, and aging gracefully. This is
one to show grandma.
SEPTEMBER SESSIONS (2000; Jack Johnson, Poor Specimen)
"As good as waves get" is the catch-cry for this silky blue 16mm surf documentary,
filmed over the course of a two-week Mentawai boat trip in September '99. This is no
ordinary boat trip with your buddies down the street, this is Slater, Gerlach, Dorian,
Machado, Egan and Williams all going as hard as they're able -- which says <i>a lot</i> - in flawless four- to eight-foot Indo tubes. The whole decade of high-performance
surfing preached by Slater and disciples comes to fruition here. "As good as surfing gets"
is more like it.
MONTAJ (2002; Matt Gye)
This is Matt Gye's second surf vid about West Oz wunderkid Taj Burrow. The first,
<i>Sabotaj</i>, introduced Taj to the world. ('Cause still photographs could never quite
capture how fast he goes.) <i>Montaj</i> takes the next step and shows how Burrow has
evolved as both a creative, stylish aerial surfer -- he punts bigger airs than almost anyone
on the WCT -- and a balls-out hellman who'll pull into any evil double-suck West Oz can
throw at him.
SECOND THOUGHTS (2004; Timmy Turner)
Just when you thought all surf travel was prepackaged boat trips and high-priced
bungalows, Timmy Turner and his HB posse come along to remind everyone how much
fun feral can be. Grab your favorite pintails, couple pairs of boardies, a mosquito net, an
Indo phrasebook, some duct tape and some Larium and you're good to go. Except these
guys go the extra mile -- wearing fullsuits while pulling into 20-second barrels over
almost dry reef. With a helmetcam on. Geez. Think <i>Morning of the Earth</i> meets
<i>Lord of the Flies</i>.
BLUE HORIZON (2004; Jack McCoy)
Andy Irons and Dave Rastovich are two of the best surfers in the world right now. They
both also happen to be sponsored by Billabong -- one, to be a competitive machine, the
other a vegan soul traveling pro. Jack McCoy trained his very experienced lens on these
two over the course of a year and came up with an interesting study in opposite paths
leading to the same destination.