Lords of Dogtown

Prior to the Z Boys skateboarding team in the Dogtown part of Santa Monica it wasn't even considered a sport with most of the tricks being more related towards gymnastics. The Z Boys one of the first teams to use polyurethane wheels which allowed them to take their skateboarding to a whole other level then anyone else. They were able to make skateboarding into more of a fast paced and daredevil artform that it's today. Being able to stay on their boards on more types of terrain then ever before. They invented skating empty swimming pools which eventually lead to vert skating being invented. All of the skateboarders of the 1980's like Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain and s on wouldn't have been able to do what they did if it wasn't for Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams and Tony Alva. They were truly the forefathers of modern skateboarding.

I grew up in California and this movie REALLY brought me back to the 70's and what was happening in the skateboard world. The actors were totally on mark with their portrayals of these guys and how things were back then in California at that time. I'm a girl and I was into skateboarding at that time. I saved my own money to buy my own boards. I even remember my mom came home one day and gave me an article from a magazine about Alva. I met him later in the 80's and he's a very down to earth guy. If you grew up in Cali at this time, you will LOVE this movie and if you didn't you will get the true idea of what it was like then. Awesome job guys on this film! A definite classic!

Although there has been much controversy about whether the movie has really portrayed 'Dogtown' and the z-boys accurately, i feel this is not even necessary. If you feel unsatisfied with what you have learnt about the z-boys and Dogtown go and watch Peralta's documentary Dogtown and Z-boys. Lords of Dogtown has the intention of entertainment and i personally exetremely enjoyed it. Lords of Dogtown tells the story of how a group of Venice street kids changed the face of skateboarding (and, to some degree, youth) culture in the mid- to late 1970s. The adolescent adopted the Zephyr Shop, a surf store run by Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger), as their home away from the own dysfunctional homes. Engblom recruited the best skaters for the Zephyr Team. Including: Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk), responsible Stacy Peralta (John Robinson) and troubled bad-boy innovator Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch). With the introduction of urethane wheels (revolutionary for the boys skating style as now the wheels gripped, they could "climb walls")and the timely South Cal drought meaning swimming pools were to be emptied, giving the boys perfect locations to practice their gravity-defying maneuvers, Zephyr became the be-all-end-all of the skateboarding scene.

"Lords of Dogtown" follows the rise and inevitable fall of the team, efficiently conveying the events with a flat accuracy that emphasizes history over character development. Director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen") does an outstanding job of re-creating the seedy '70s atmosphere so much so that you could be forgiven for assuming you were watching archival outtakes from "Z-Boys." Hardwicke really nails that sense of post-Vietnam, rejection of authority of SoCal.

Hardwicke also understands the thrilling nature of speed for these kids. She employs a point-of-view camera from a skateboard's wheel to convey the rush. Hardwicke's most important achievement, however, was how she portrayed that skating was indeed these boys life. You really could see how skating for character Jay Adams was an outlet for the psychological pain he was experiencing. Hardwicke was very devoted to her character's individual portrayals. She has 3 contrasting personalities of main characters and shows this also through camera techniques. Jay being the more kinesthetic, hard, "go-go-go" character has many hand held shots and the zoom is employed more, creating a rough, jerky portrayal. Stacey Peralta being the strangely responsible one with a job has straight on, clean cut shots. Tony Alva, however, our most competitive Z-boy by far is filmed often from below, giving him a larger than life presence.

The movie was composed exceptionally and not too 'Hollywood' ( that is focusing on unrealistic character relations and excruciatingly social-analytical). It moved just fast enough to stop you from being potentially bored by the many skating scenes if you did not fit that demographic. However, even there i felt Hardwicke handled this amazingly too. I have never thought in my life i would ever watch a skating movie but i simply adored this one. Character relations were conveyed so realistically. The boys relationships were almost to real, you could feel the unspoken tension between them as the Zephyr team starts to go their separate ways. Hardwicke shows that true, stereotypical male bonding, that is that their love of skateboarding in the end is what brings them together.

Featuring a great soundtrack - including much Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and the classic Wish You Were Here, i gave this movie a real thumbs up.

This was a great movie on friendship in the '70's, and a look at how the sport of skateboarding took off. I'd wanted to see it for awhile, so with Heath Ledger's death, didn't hesitate anymore. I didn't recognize him as the surf shop owner Skip, for the first several scenes. I think he added poignancy to his role, as did others who, in the film, fought their way to who they are. Interesting to know this is based on lives of people still in the skateboarding business, including the man who started off Tony Hawks career. It's good to have work out there yet to see Heath Ledger's talent shine. I'd recommend this movie to people who like to observe people, even if you're neither a skateboarding fan or a Ledger fan.

When I first heard this film was being made, I was very excited because, despite being about 10 years too late, grew up inspired by the Z-Boys through the writings and photographs of C.R. Stecyk and Glen E. Friedman. Adams, Alva and Peralta are the three most important skateboarders ever. Heck... I have a Jay Adams tattoo portrait.

Then I had second thoughts fearing the Hollywood-ization of their story. I thought the drama of their tough lives in Venice would likely be glamorized and exploited with much of the truth unbelievably stretched. But I wasn't their to witness it, so I asked someone who was part of the Dogtown skate scene and friends with those the film is about, and he said that is exactly what the movie.

He also told me that if you're familiar with the true story or have even just seen the documentary (Dogtown & the Z-Boys), then the movie will just come off corny. But if you go into not expecting an intelligent film and just a fun movie, you may get just that. So I saw it today think it would be just that, and it was.

The skate scenes were all right, but excited me by striking up thoughts of the truth of it all. The aggressiveness of Ledger's portrayal of Skip Enblom seemed cheesy and over the top. The kids who played Peralta and Alva weren't terrible, too, but Emile Hirsch did a good job as Jay Adams. And I'm confused at who this Chino guy is. I'm guessing it's supposed to be Zephyr shop owner Jeff Ho who wouldn't have anything to do with the film.

It was funny to see cameos by Alva, Adams, Peralta, Skip and Bob Biniak. Tony Hawk's cameo was uncalled for. But overall, the film was enjoyable, especially by all everyone else in the theater, considering I was the only one above the age of 17 it seemed. And it's great to see the legend of these guys be spread to new generations, especially with skateboarding as popular than ever. I think all new skaters should recognize their roots.

I just hope people will make the effort to at least see the documentary and hopefully pick up Stecyk and Friedman's "Dogtown - The Legend of the Z-Boys" book and read all the original Skateboarder magazine stories and images. That can't be beat.