Riding Giants | |
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Directed by | Stacy Peralta |
Written by | Stacy Peralta Sam George |
Produced by | Agi Orsi, Jane Kachmer (producer) Franck Marty, Nathalie Delest, Laird Hamilton (executive producer) |
Starring | Greg Noll Jeff Clark Peter Mel Laird Hamilton Gerry Lopez Mickey Munoz Darrick Doerner |
Narrated by | Stacy Peralta |
Cinematography | Peter Pilafian Sonny Miller |
Edited by | Paul Crowder |
Music by | Matter |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
Release dates |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Countries | United States France |
Language | English |
Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. 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. The film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
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 (21 meters)). 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 1960s; 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.
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, along 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, "re-enacted" footage, home movies, and interviews. Some of the surfers interviewed include Jeff Clark, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Gerry Lopez, Greg Noll, Kelly Slater and Peter Mel.
Includes: Basement Jaxx, David Bowie, Link Wray, Dick Dale, Doves, Fila Brazillia, Bill Haley & His Comets, The Hives, Linkin Park, John Mayall, Moby, Pearl Jam, The Ruts, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Soundgarden, The Stray Cats, Alice in Chains, Érik Satie and The Waterboys.
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. [2] 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."
Waimea Bay is located in Haleiwa on the North Shore of O'ahu in the Hawaiian Islands at the mouth of the Waimea River. Waimea Valley extends to the east of Waimea Bay. Waimea means "reddish water" in Hawaiian.
Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s and the evolving sport of skateboarding. Using a mix of film of the Zephyr skateboard team (Z-Boys) shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk, along with contemporary interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of skateboarding culture.
Mavericks is a surfing location in northern California outside Pillar Point Harbor, just north of the town of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-by-the-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 25 ft (8 m) and top out at over 60 ft (18 m). Routinely, waves that break can be recorded on seismometers. The break is caused by an unusually shaped underwater rock formation.
Laird John Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.
Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.
Stacy Douglas Peralta is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California.
Greg Noll was an American pioneer of big wave surfing and a prominent longboard shaper. Nicknamed "Da Bull" by Phil Edwards in reference to his physique and way of charging down the face of a wave, he was on the U.S. lifeguard team that introduced Malibu boards to Australia around the time of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He produced a "legendary" series of five Search for Surf films.
Surf movies fall into three distinct genres:
Sam George is an American professional surfer, writer, director and screenwriter. A former competitive surfer, in 1983 George became a contributing editor at Surfing magazine in San Clemente, California, later becoming the magazine's senior editor. His monthly column "Caught Inside" ran until 1990, when he left Surfing and began work at Surfer magazine. George worked at Surfer from 1990 to 1998, when he left the magazine to work on a book project and to help start and edit a free tabloid called SurfNews. He returned to Surfer as executive editor in 2000, a position he held until 2005, when he left the magazine to concentrate on documentary film projects.
Jeff Clark is one of the most noteworthy big-wave surfers, famous for surfing Mavericks alone for 15 years before it was widely discovered by the big-wave surfing community.
North Shore is a 1987 American action drama surf film directed by William Phelps. The film is about Rick Kane, a young surfer from a wave tank in Arizona, who heads to surf the season on the North Shore of Oʻahu to see if he has the skills to cut it as a pro surfer. As he progresses on his journey, he learns the qualities he possesses are not going to pull him through alone.
Peʻahi is a place on the north shore of the island of Maui in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has lent its name to a big wave surfing break, also known as Jaws.
Dave Kalama is a big wave surfer/tow-in surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surf and SUP board shaper, windsurfer, outrigger canoe racer, private adventure guide, and celebrity watersports enthusiast. Kalama, his wife, 2 sons and 1 daughter live in Kula, Maui.
Buzzy Trent was a pioneer of big wave surfing. Born in San Diego and raised in Santa Monica, he body-surfed as a child and started surfing at age 12. He moved to Hawaii in 1952 to surf and pioneered big wave surfing along with George Downing and Greg Noll. Buzzy gained international fame in 1953 when he was photographed by Scoop Suzuki riding a 20-foot winter wave at Mākaha in the first widely published photos of big wave surfing.
Waveriders is a 2008 documentary film produced by Margo Harkin and directed by Joel Conroy.
Hollywood Don't Surf! is a 2011 documentary film that premiered in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival while a work in progress and held its North American premiere at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival, where it was presented to a packed park at the Abel Gance Outdoor theater by actress Daryl Hannah.
Darrick Doerner is a big wave pioneer in the sport of tow-in surfing, in which personal water craft are used to tow surfers into large surf. Also known by the nickname, Double D, Doerner is an accomplished big wave surfer himself.
Bra Boys is a 2007 Australian documentary film about a surf gang on Sydney's Maroubra Beach released in March 2007. The film details a story of the Bra Boys from the viewpoint of the gang members, particularly the Abbertons. Sunny Abberton wrote and co-directed the film with Macario De Souza. Actor Russell Crowe was producer and provided narration. The film's official cast included 49 well known surfers from Bra Boys members Evan Faulks and Richie 'Vas' Vaculik to ten-time world champion Kelly Slater. Other participating prominent surfers include Mark Occhilupo, Bruce Irons, and Laird Hamilton.
Burton "Buzzy" Kerbox is an American surfer, photographer and model. He is best known for co-developing tow-in surfing with Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, and a handful of other surfers in the mid-1990s.
Surfing in the United States is a popular hobby in coastal areas, and more recently due to the invention of wave pools, inland regions of the country. It contributes to a lifestyle and culture in which millions participate and which millions more have an interest. USA surfing is the governing body for the sport of surfing in the United States, with surf leagues such as the World Surf League available in the country. Surfing can be traced back to 17th Century Hawaii and has evolved over time into the professional sport it is today, with surfing being included for the first time in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.