A small but deeply enjoyable movie about the skateboarding craze of the 1970′s
I spotted this on Sky Movies recently and put it on to kill two hours, not expecting much. What I found was a lovely touching movie about a gang of kids who almost singlehandedly re-invented skateboarding in the 1970′s.
The Z-Boys were originally just a bunch of mainly pretty poor kids who hung out in Santa Monica, surfing and then skating when the surf was bad. Their mentor (played brilliantly by Heath Ledger) ran the Zephyr surf-shop and saw how their skills on the boards could be harnessed. The arrival of polyurethane wheels meant that the actions possible on a board were transformed.
The movie follows them as they gain fame, fall in and out with each other, hit lows and highs and just have an incredible adventure through their skateboarding.
The scenes in the empty swimming pools during the mid-70′s droughts were incredible for the stunts these guys invented.
The screenplay was written by one of the Z-Boys and the love is clear to see.
If you, like me, ever had a board (I had a pretty awful Coyote II) then this movie will really resonate with you and remind you that the 70′s wasn’t all bad!
Comments 1
It’d be interesting to see the documentary that it is based on.
Posted 23 Jan 2007 at 7:09 am ¶Post a Comment