MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

keal Being a hard-to-find movie, this one is worth seeking out for those of you who, like me, enjoy watching surfing videos over a few drinks. This is one of the more pure, surf-loving videos, with no rhyme or reason to the flow of things. Just surfing clips tacked together. It's like taking your board out in the morning and checking out all the surf spots around. I actually feel like I'm stopping by these spots, seeing if I want to surf there today! A couple beers into this short (70 minute?) movie and I'm surfing! There's a zen thing to surf movies. You don't have to be a surfer to love these. Just find one, like Endless Summer II (probably one of the easiest to get your hands on) and if you love it, you'll want this one, too.Just hard to nitpick on relaxing, enjoyable flicks like this. Just eternally fun to watch when you have time to waste. I'm a jazz nut, into artists like Eric Dolphy and Cannonball Adderly, and the soundtrack to this film fits right in. Love it! Highly recommend this film to any serious lover of movies, and of course to all surf nuts!

rgcustomer This film is underrated on IMDb, though not for lack of voting (several 8's and 10's are noted, despite the low score)...First, the bad. Yes, the film does have its flaws. There's not much order to it. We're here. We're there. We're back again. So, while limited to California and Hawaii, there are too many locations to really keep track of. And there's not really a narrative to follow, or people to get to know (unless you're already familiar with them). And there are some silly skits, but the narration does comment that maybe their acting isn't the best. So maybe it's not a documentary in the strictest sense. For (some of) these reasons, it's noticeably inferior to The Endless Summer.And yet, it still has all the same beauty and awe of surfing, a similar friendly narration style (I saw the 1990 version with new narration due to loss of the original narration ... but I imagine the new perspective only helps the film), and there are some fun non-surfing scenes including the skits. I'm sure fans of the sport itself get more out of it than fans of film in general, but it's enjoyable for all. Some viewers don't like the music, but I thought it was a good fit.Where else are you going to see surfing someone else's body down a natural water slide? What other surf documentary blows up a car? (I assuming this is the only one, having seen only two others...) And, naturally, what you're seeing is one of the earliest surf documentaries that are still shown on cable TV (TCM for me), so you're seeing a sport early in its popularity, and you're seeing locations before they changed to what they are today, and you're seeing some skilled young surfers who will show up six years later, still young surfers. Even the filmmaker was only in his early 20s at the time. I'm kind of amazed the film got made at all.Although some have rated this film low, I find it hard to believe anyone would regret spending an hour and a quarter watching this film.

shane0613 This is personally my favorite Bruce Brown flick. As always full of surfing pioneers in their heyday. I have the entire Bruce Brown collection and love them all. These guys were in another league than surfers today as far as strength is concerned. Riding those big waves on extremely heavy longboards with no leash. Could you imagine having to paddle out in those waves almost every time you couldn't hold on to your board. Not too mention those longboards were much faster than today's shortboard. Kimo almost getting decapitated in the "terrible ten" is still one of the luckiest moment in surfing. I would like to find some Bud Brown movies. The Brown family changed the world of surfing forever and we should never forget their work. Thanks Bruce and all the surfers for such a classic surf movie. Makes me wish I could travel back in time to those days and buy one of the $80 airline tickets to Oahu.

RNMorton Earlier filming but every inch as good as Endless Summer and Endless Summer II. Bruce Brown takes us to various surfing locales with his customary great photography, wry comments and solid musical score. The big waves of the North Shore of Oahu are among the many featured locations. Interesting twist to this one is his old narration was lost, so he redid it and we get commentary 30 years or so after the fact, which only adds to the fun. Doubt if it's ever shown on TV so rent or buy the video, good for many repeat viewings.