Riding Giants: A Big Wave Surfing Documentary

May 29 2009

Riding Giants: A Big Wave Surfing Documentary

Posted by Tim at 6:15 am on May 29th, 2009 to Surf DVDs, Surf Media.

Riding Giants DVD “Riding Giants” is not your traditional surf movie. It is a Sony Pictures Classics release of a Forever Films and StudioCanal presentation in association with Quiksilver, directed and written by Stacy Peralta, about the history of big wave surfing. In other words, this surf movie was a big production. Unlike your typical surf movie, when it was released it was shown in theatres around the world. I was in Canada when it was released, and remember seeing the signs around Edmonton, Alberta advertising its showing at a local theatre. For a surf movie to be shown in Canada, it has to be a pretty big deal.

Stacy Peralta, the director of “Riding Giants”, is well known as one of the original “Z-boys from Dogtown” who started the modern day skateboarding movement back in the 70’s. He is the writer and director of the 2002 documentary, “Dogtown and Z-Boys”, and the writer of the Hollywood film of that same story, “Lords of Dogtown” released in 2005. He has an extensive knowledge of what has happened in surfing since the 70’s, and with good resources and interviews, he pieced together the eras dating back to surfing’s birth to create a very entertaining and insightful history of big wave surfing.

Ancient Hawaiian Surfers “Riding Giants” starts with a very brief history of the last 1000 years of surfing up until the 20th century. I have to disagree with just a few points of history told in this film. I took a class from a local Hawaiian professor about the history of surfing in Hawaii, and for the most part he loves this movie, but he is a little annoyed with some of the facts portrayed. In the very beginning of the movie, we’re told that surfing stopped in Hawaii with the arrival of the Calvinist missionaries. Surfing was very much alive in Hawaii during this time according to local Hawaiian newspapers, and the while the Calvinist missionaries prohibited the sport, the Hawaiians found ways to continue on in secret and in open rebellion.

Greg Noll Pipeline “Riding Giants” then turns its focus to big wave surfing. Makaha Beach was the first real big wave surfing spot in the world. My last point to argue has to do with Makaha Beach and the North Shore. The local Hawaiians had been surfing Makaha and the North Shore for centuries, and it is written in their newspapers and told in their stories from their ancestors. “Riding Giants” gives full credit to the Californians for discovering the big waves of Oahu’s west and north shores. That aside, the old footage they have of Greg Noll and his buddies surfing spots like Makaha, Sunset Beach, and Waimea Bay is incredible. It is amazing to see these surfers riding massive waves on such primitive equipment.

Laird Hamilton Teahupoo The next portion of “Riding Giants” tells the story of Mavericks in Northern California, and then the story of one of the most influential and innovative big wave surfers, Laird Hamilton. This part of the film steps things up a notch. I really like the reactions of the previous generation of surfers, such as Greg Noll, to what the surfers are doing today. The founders of big wave surfing cannot even believe that what guys are doing today is even possible.

lairdandgreg
From the 50’s to today, from 12-foot wood boards to 6-foot tow boards, and from the warm waters of Hawaii to the frigid waters of Northern California, “Riding Giants” shows you everything you need to see in order to understand where big wave surfing has gone throughout history. Unlike your average surf movie that you just watch to be entertained, watching this surf movie is a learning experience. It is intriguing and captivating, and teaches you some history that every surfer should be aware of.