What are the best surf movies of all time?

by **JoshAggars** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:01 pm

Hi All,

This is an argument that goes around and round sometimes amongst friends so thought I'd pose it here to see where the consensus lies amongst 'real' surfers as opposed to rent a gob douche bags in my local pub. I think any list has to be a mix of both real documentary types as well as Hollywood style 'let's try and sum up the surf community for the masses and make some well intended but generally stupid assumptions' types.

So I'm going to open it up by chucking the following into the mix to see what sticks. This is in a vague order of sorts but open to debate.

Endless Summer, 1966 (Bruce Brown)
Morning of the Earth, 1972 (Alby Falzon)
Innermost Limits of Pure Fun, 1969 (George Greenough)
Thicker Than Water, 2000 (Chris Malloy, Emmet Malloy and Jack Johnson)
Momentum, 1992 (Taylor Steele)
Searching for Tom Curren, 1996 (Sonny Miller and Derek Hynd)
Free Ride, 1977 (Bill Delaney)
Green Iguana, 1992 (Jack McCoy)
In God's Hands, 1998 (Zalman King)
Point Break, 1991 (Kathryn Bigelow)
North Shore, 1987 (William Phelps)
Five Summer Stories, 1972 (Macgillivray/Freeman)
First Chapter, 2006 (Jason Muir and Dane Reynolds)
September Sessions, 2000 (Chris Malloy and Jack Johnson)
The Big Surf, 1957 (Bud Browne)
The Seedling, 1999 (Thomas Campbell)
Litmus, 1997 (Andrew Kidman and Jon Frank)
Beyond Blazing Boards, 1985 (Chris Bystrom)
Kelly Slater in Black and White, 1991 (Richard Woolcott)
Big Wednesday, 1978 (John Milius)
Magnaplasm, 1998 (Richard Woolcott and Troy Eckert)
Montaj, 2002 (Matt Gye)
Sipping Jetstreams, 2006 (Taylor Steele and Dustin Humphrey)
Riding Giants, 2004 (Stacy Peralta)
Wave Warriors III, 1998 (Herbie Fletcher)
Pump! 1990 (Billabong)
What’s Really Going On, 1995 (Mike Reola)
Second Thoughts, 2004 (Timmy Turner)

Missed any? Something too high up or too low? It's all subjective but personally I like throwing these kind of grenades out there to see what people think.

**Sponsor**

by **JoshAggars** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:28 pm

Clearly not something people care too much about! Oh well here's my top 10 for what it's worth:

1. Endless Summer, 1966 (Bruce Brown)
2. Morning of the Earth, 1972 (Alby Falzon)
3. Innermost Limits of Pure Fun, 1969 (George Greenough)
4. Thicker Than Water, 2000 (Chris Malloy, Emmet Malloy and Jack Johnson)
5. Momentum, 1992 (Taylor Steele)
6. Searching for Tom Curren, 1996 (Sonny Miller and Derek Hynd)
7. Free Ride, 1977 (Bill Delaney)
8. Green Iguana, 1992 (Jack McCoy)
9. In God's Hands, 1998 (Zalman King)
10. Point Break, 1991 (Kathryn Bigelow)

No space for Big Wednesday I hear you cry. Yup, it's number 11. I really am that much of a douchebag!

by **theoallen** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:30 pm

I love 'Riding Giants' probably one of the best movies i have seen of all time!

by **naniekso** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:26 am

kinda off the topic but not really, some dude yesterday took off on a really big a frame. everyone started yelling hawaii 5-OH 5-OH haha. the guy that caught it was screaming "I can't bottom turn!!!!"

anyway i'm sure hawaii 5-0h is a movie right?

by **ABSurfer78** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:45 pm

I thought "Big Wednesday" was a pretty good surf movie.

by **JoshAggars** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 1:14 pm

You're not wrong ABSurfer, it was tough to leave it out especially given Gary Buseys performance. Probably slips in at number 11... Although now looking at it how can I have Point Break above Big Wednesday? Ah jeez, I'm going to have to play around with the order again!

by **jconway2002** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:58 pm

Funny to even think Gary Busey is in two of the great surf movies. Can he surf in real life? Endless Summer is my fave, and right now i am loving Stoked and Broke.

by **melanie14** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:56 pm

Gotta go with Step Into Liquid. Would also recommend Riding Giants and Pipeline Masters.
Oh yeah, don't miss the Pipeline beatdown on YouTube.

<edit>

by **esonscar** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:22 pm

Dam, just watched 'Wave Warriors III' again - awesome, reminds of waxing down my surfboard in my mom's living room

by **jaffa1949** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 6:54 am

This stands alone as an icon for mispent youth amongst the surf culture of the sixties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaFxaAcb ... annel_page

by **esonscar** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:45 pm

Malformed link ^ rofl !

[Edit - and you say you are a troll hunter - hahahahaha]

by **paulina** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:46 pm

Hi guys. I know one movie about perfect stickers for our boards. Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7W788E1kjk

by **jaffa1949** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:22 am

esonscar wrote:Malformed link ^ rofl !

[Edit - and you say you are a troll hunter - hahahahaha]

Fair enough so here's my second shot.
enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaFxaAcbr1c.

Great day here but flat surf

Checked link it works and will probably explain a lot about older Australian surfers. :lol:

by **Kaaimans** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:23 pm

Brokedown Melody, hands down.
Closely followed by Morning of the Earth.
In God's Hands was quite good too, especially now that people actually ended up succesfully paddling Jaws.

I hate Endless Summer. Not because it is a bad movie, it is great, but because it had to name the spot of the perfect wave. Now J-bay is super crowded, with up to 100 people in the water when the waves are good. Developement went crazy in Cape st Francis, and they stabilized the dunes with plant cover, and now Bruces Beaties went from perfect peelers to average sectiony wave...

by **Liquid Peace** » Tue May 24, 2011 9:24 pm

Still like Endless Summer 2 the best.

by **frreako104** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:36 pm

I might get a little slack for this but I really enjoyed the movie Surf's Up. It doesn't have real surfing as it is all CGI but I thought it was a lot of fun. I also like the movie Blue Crush too

by **jaffa1949** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:29 am

frreako104 wrote:I might get a little slack for this but I really enjoyed the movie Surf's Up. It doesn't have real surfing as it is all CGI but I thought it was a lot of fun. I also like the movie Blue Crush too

I thought the CGI penguins were better actors than the crew of In God's Hands surfing ability is no guarantee of acting ability.
Nor is Matthew McConauchy's acting ability a reflection on his surfing,, I didn't think Kelly was much f an actor either, but all of this is only my personal opinion :yearght:

by **benjaminrhys** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:22 am

The first that came into my mind wa s The big wednesday

by **JoshAggars** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:17 pm

All good choices. Quite like the new Billabong Blow Up movie. Not in a league with some of those mentioned on here but still a pretty good half hour watch.

by **jorjastandish** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:48 am

I really love thicker than water:)

What are the best surf movies of all time?

Similar topics