Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

SnoopyStyle In 1975, Craig Stecyk wrote a series of articles about Zephyr Skateboard Team and an area of California called Dogtown. It's a rundown seedy seaside area where former amusement parks had fallen into ruins. In 1972, Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, and Craig Stecyk set up a surf shop in Dogtown. They were the rebels of the surfing culture and gathered a group of hungry local kids. Then new wheels allow the kids to skateboard while the waves are down.The style is functional to edgy rock indie. Sean Penn is giving a flat performance as the narrator. The best part of this is watching from people on the inside who were there at the time. It's a fascinating piece of popular culture in a fascinating place. It's an interesting doc for not just surfers and skateboarders.

paulnewsome The first half is very very hard going with all its immature self appraising drivel. You do really feel a little embarrassed to be watching middle aged men who really need to grow up harping on about how cool they were when they were 12. The first 40 minutes really should have ended on the cutting room floor. This film is just too self congratulatory and you gives the viewer the impression that these people have obviously done nothing else of any importance with the rest of their lives.The first and only sign of any depth in this self indulgent mefest is the interview with the tattooed jail bird with the collapsed septum, but the hope of something meaningful quickly disappears when the interviewer asks the guy a question that he'd just answered. The comparables of how they see them self are pure comedy, statements like 'it was like Joe Frazier knocking down Ali" and "we were an extension of society" gimme a break. This could have been a great insight into a very small subculture, in a very small time frame in a very small town. The point of a good documentary is too enlighten the viewer about a subject he knows little about. The problem being is the protagonists involved in this farce are deluded enough to think the world see them in as high regard as they see themselves. The only feat of astonishment is how they have managed to maintain such big egos for over 30 years. I guess there is always another 12 year old ready to impress. Sean Penn does the voice over and by the end he sounded as bored as the audience and judging from the cough halfway through he couldn't be bothered coming back to do any retakes.

bob the moo Documentary looking back at the influential role that the Zephyr surfing group had on the development of skateboarding as more than just a passing fade and the effect they had on shaping and defining the skating world and culture.It seems a bit petty to point out but it is hard to watch this film without the little voice in my head reminding me that this film was made by the very people it is about. I'm not paralleling the two but imagine I made a film about the impact on IMDb culture of user "bob the moo" and had people I know gush about me and them. Now before you start sending me abuse please read on because I am not saying the two are the same – just that you need to keep in mine that this is about the same people who made it. The difference between this and me doing my own is staggering though. Firstly the fact is that this group did have influence and cultural importance and so what if it is some of their own that ending up making the film – somebody was going to so why not them. Anyway the other main difference is that this film is actually very good as it moves slickly through the period, capturing the essence of the lives as I goes.The film benefits greatly from having a huge amount of film and photographs of the people so that we are not just hearing about abstract memories but actually seeing them for ourselves. The editing is quite intense at time but it suits the people and the period as it is rather freewheeling and disrespectful towards convention. It also benefits from having almost all the protagonists as the contributors rather than having celebs who were aware of the action etc and don't have much of value to say. The only film star involved is Sean Penn, who narrates the film with a rather dull tone of voice and a script that is a bit too heavy for its own good; it is sparingly used though and at one point he stumbles over a word and it is left in – which I thought was a nice touch and suited the style of everything else.Overall then this is an interesting and energetic documentary. I'm not a surfer or a skater but yet I found it totally engaging, which speaks volumes about the quality of the material , the delivery and the total structure of the film. Well worth a look as it is fun and informative.

billandkim Actually, I have more a question, than a comment. I loved Z-Boys, and The Lords of Dogtown. Saw Lords first, then the doc, and while I loved the story, I am curious as to why in the movie, Sid was an important character, but in the documentary, he wasn't part of the team, and only merely mentioned as just some kid they knew. Does anyone know the story on that? The story of these boys was amazing. I never experienced the skateboarding craze where I grew up, but my kids have enjoyed it. What I have seen in local skate parks is what these boys had invented. I never knew that. When the film showed the competition, and Z-Boys did their thing, they put to shame the others in competition.