Dogtown And Z-Boys
The Birth Of Extreme
Before there were X-Games, there were Z-Boys. Narrated by Sean Penn and directed by skateboarding legend Stacy Peralta, Dogtown and Z-Boys is the award winning documentary that took the Sundance Film Festival by storm. This is the story of a gang of discarded kids who virtually revolutionized skateboarding with an aggressive style, awe inspiring moves and street smarts, and, in the process, transformed youth culture forever.
Featuring historic old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, Dogtown and Z-Boys captures the meteoric rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough 'locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing. Armed with a guerrilla code, the notorious Z-Boys sharpened their skills in the concrete jungle of 70s L.A. and then took it to the next level. Getting vertical in abandoned suburban swimming pools, they ignited an underground phenomenon that shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. With rare appearances by skateboarding icons Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Tony Hawk, Dogtown and Z-Boys is a thrilling all access tour of the birth of a pop culture phenomenon.
Narrated by Sean Penn
Member Reviews
the movie is from dogtown, too - caldegren
I was disappointed in this documentary chronicling the beginning of the skateboarding phenomenon. I have seen many related docs on surfboarding (Endless Summer I & II, Step into Liquid and Riding Giants, which were breathtaking and I thought this film would likewise be thrilling. Also, my godson is a big skateboarder. I don't know if the gorgeous cinematography with its stunning wide-angle shots of vast ocean vistas, massive walls of waves or the terrifying underwater plunging dives of the fallen surfers in the surf films lent itself to a more powerful visual experience or the personal lives of the 'addicted' surf nuts was more detailed and thus more moving personally, but this documentary fell short of that. There were no beautiful, adrenaline-pumping shots, no intensely moving moments and no real direction.
I found it somewhat slow and plodding. All they did was go to empty pool after empty pool and skate. The kids seemed kind of sad and directionless, trying to cope with dysfunctional family life, loss of their habitat and all kinds of pressures and competitiveness, yet the movie focuses very little on their personal lives, which was a shame; there was so much material there. Also, the film seemed a little self-aggrandising and self promoting to me. I'm not saying it was awful; I just thought it could've been so much more.a great American story - Filmfan
I have never been on a skateboard myself, but I throroughly enjoyed this film. It is a great American story: radical revolutionaries who do their own thing, don't give a @&*% about what others think, and end up changing the world. The other classic American ingredient of course is the fact that at some point, when they succeed, they're bought out by commercial interests. This causes a split between the original radical visionaries and those who want to succeed commercially. This story - for good and bad - could only have been possible in the U.S. I can't imagine any Canadian group bringing about this sort of revolution.Totally Rad - Mr._Zip
A story on the early days of skateboarding, this film takes you inside skate culture and leaves you wanting more. The inspiration for the film "Lords of Dogtown" by skate legend Stacey Peralta, Dogtown and Z-Boys is skateboarding's answer to Riding Giants. Great action, including some wicked pool skating scenes. And an inside look at the names who made skateboarding what is is today.
Member Reviews
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the movie is from dogtown, too - caldegren
I was disappointed in this documentary chronicling the beginning of the skateboarding phenomenon. I have seen many related docs on surfboarding (Endless Summer I & II, Step into Liquid and Riding Giants, which were breathtaking and I thought this film would ...a great American story - Filmfan
I have never been on a skateboard myself, but I throroughly enjoyed this film. It is a great American story: radical revolutionaries who do their own thing, don't give a @&*% about what others think, and end up changing the world. The other classic American ...Totally Rad - Mr._Zip
A story on the early days of skateboarding, this film takes you inside skate culture and leaves you wanting more. The inspiration for the film "Lords of Dogtown" by skate legend Stacey Peralta, Dogtown and Z-Boys is skateboarding's answer to Riding Giants. ...