MOVIE REVIEW FOR "RIDING GIANTS" STARRING GREG NOLL, JEFF CLARK, AND LAIRD
HAMILTON

When Bruce Brown introduced "Endless Summer" to audiences in 1967, it was the
most accurate depictions of surfing ever captured on screen, showing the
dedication and love that people had for the sport. It followed two surfers on
their journey all around the world to find 'the perfect wave'. In a sense, that
is what "Riding Giants" is about. With this film, surfing itself is the wave,
and all of the people involved are just looking for the biggest and the best.
"Riding Giants" is the most thorough and accurate depiction of the history of
surfing ever captured on film, and it surpasses "Endless Summer" with its
complete and total commitment to the love of the sport, at whatever the costs.

This film is about big wave riding, where 30-foot swells are the usual size for
the top riders. We see legends like Greg Noll, who became a thing of myth when
he rode what has been called the largest wave ever rode in the history of
surfing. There were no cameras or footage of the ride, so it is merely passed
on by the surfers who witnessed it. We see Jeff Clark, who rode an area in
California known as The Mavericks for 15-years before the rest of the world
realized it was one of the most incredible areas on the face of the planet, and
certainly one of the most dangerous. For example, surfing legend Mark Foo
finally hits the waves at The Mavericks, and on his second ride, is sucked under
and killed, bringing a huge dose of reality to all the men who surfed that area.
We are finally introduced to Laird Hamilton, possibly the greatest big wave
rider of all-time, who revolutionizes the sport with smaller boards, jet skis,
and by eventually completing the greatest ride in s!
urfing history.

In interviews from all of the men mentioned in the film, we get a true sense of
what it is like to be a surfer, and how much courage and dedication they have to
have in order to risk their live with almost every attempt at a ride. How many
other sports hold such a potentially disastrous outcome? The descriptions by
some of the surfers in the film of getting sucked under the water, beaten
around, and then reaching the surface just to get pummeled by another, equally
powerful wave, are fascinating and at the same time quite horrifying. Imagine
being in the blackness underwater and feeling your body smash against something.
At first you think it is the surface or your board, until you realize you have
hit the bottom of the ocean. Now, that's intensity.

There is much attention paid to people like Mark Foo, who lost their lives doing
what they loved. We see all of the shock and disappointment on the faces of the
men when Foo is killed, as their own mortality finally occurs to them.
Watching, I think that is what served as the huge difference between the surfers
of the 1960's and the surfers of today -- mortality. Men like Greg Noll knew
they could die with each ride, but they also know if they were going to die,
there was no better way to go. Before Foo was killed, most surfers had that
idea in the back of their minds, but had never explored it. The way in which
director Stacy Peralta explores this line between life and death is masterful
and mesmerizing on screen.

If "Endless Summer" was about the perfect wave, "Riding Giants" is certainly
about the biggest wave. Where is the best place to surf -- California or
Hawaii? Who was the greatest big wave rider of all-time, Greg Noll or Laird
Hamilton? Noll would concede and say that Hamilton is the best, but you also
have to look at other things. Noll did not have the advantage of such speedier
boards or leashes -- he went out, man and board, and rode waves the size of
which most men with the luxuries would avoid. By the end of the film, I was
convinced Noll was certainly the greatest, even after the footage of Hamilton
riding the ride of a lifetime. Watch the film for yourself and make your own
decision.

"Riding Giants" is the greatest documentary about surfing yet and it has a
weight and power to it left out of most documentaries about sports. We see the
true love and dedication for surfing unlike any other sport in the world. It is
not only a lifestyle, but a way of life for these people and they love every
second of it. I was captivated by this film and would say it is one of the
greatest documentaries I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. "Riding Giants"
is a true devotion to surfing, to the men who do it, and to those who have lost
their lives enjoying it. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

Greg Noll (Himself)
Jeff Clark (Himself)
Laird Hamilton (Himself)

Director: Stacy Peralta

RATED PG-13

FOUR POPS

Billy Ray