Riding Giants (* * * *)

Riding Giants is a documentary movie about the history of surfing. The movie was created by Dogtown and Z-Boys director Stacy Peralta. I really enjoyed this movie, it was very well done with lots of interviews and some great footage. The film was recommended to me by a friend of mine who had seen it earlier.

I am not a surfer, in fact I have never been surfing and have very few times even been to the ocean. I still thought this was a great film and have given it 4 stars. The great thing about it is that you don't have to know anything about surfing or even be into the sport to enjoy it. The movie does move along a little slow, but for a documentary, that is to be expected. Actually in spite of being a documentary I felt that it was paced fairly well. After watching it though I felt like it seemed a lot longer than it was.

The movie takes the viewer through the history of popular surfing. It was great fun to see the black and white old footage of the guys with the long boards out there taking on huge waves. The stories of Greg Noll and Laird Hamilton were especially interesting to me. Greg Noll was a pioneer of big wave surfing and his story was captivating, as well as the footage of he and his friends riding some huge waves off the coast of Hawaii. Greg continues to truly have a charismatic personality, there are some great interviews with Greg. Also to note the story of Laird Hamilton, who has probably surfed bigger waves than anyone, was great. I loved the story of how he introduced his mother to a man on the beach and they ended up getting married. Laird eventually looked to him as a father figure and took his last name of Hamilton. The footage of Laird and his crew was truly jaw dropping and amazing. Especially of note is a scene where Laird is pulled by a jet ski into a massive wave off the coast of Tahiti and is totally consumed by the massive barrel and then suddenly appears speeding outside the barrel in a storm of mist. Truly amazing.

The Bottom Line...This is a really fun movie to watch. Even if you have never been surfing or don't even know anything about surfing you can enjoy this film. I am sure surfing enthusiasts will enjoy this film as well. The pacing is a little slow, which is expected for a documentary, but it was not a problem for me. The music is great and seems to change from old to new as the film progresses. The footage, old and new, of the surfers in this movie riding huge waves was definitely my favorite parts of the film. The stories of Greg Noll and Laird Hamilton were very captivating and interesting. If you can handle seeing a documentary, go out and see this one.