There have been a few decent feature films about surfing ('Big Wednesday', 'Endless Summer' and its sequel) and quite a few clunkers ('Blue Crush,' 'Point Break') that are still respectable for strong surfing footage and homages to the cult within the culture. But I've yet to see a film that surpasses the scope of 'Riding Giants,' which simultaneously traces the history of big wave riding from its Polynesian origins to its high-tech present, provides the audience with some of the most breathtaking footage recorded on film (much of it archival), and opens a window into the peculiar allure of high risk activities to men and women of a certain mindset, as well as into the evolution of surfing's own unique subculture of big wave riders.
The narrative revolves around three legends of big wave riding: Greg Noll, who pioneered the swells of the North Shore of Oahu and Waimea Bay, Jeff Clark, who discovered the Northern California break known as Mavericks and ushered Californian surfing into big wave territory, and Laird Hamilton, the undisputed ubermensch of the sport from the turn of the century to the present. Noll and Clark are framed reverently by director Stacy Peralta, but Hamilton is the star of the show, and rightly so: he is an all but perfect athlete, combining superior physical conditioning with an understanding of physics and wave behavior earned from a lifetime surfing the big breaks of the surf capital of the world, the Hawaiian islands. Because of his high-profile marriage to model/pro-volleyball star Gabrielle Reese and his magazine cover-friendly looks, Laird Hamilton has been a little overexposed in the media of late, but, matter of factly, the guy more than lives up to the hype, and he doesn't seem to be motivated by anything other than his love of surfing. Hamilton is all the more appealing for his apparent humility--he repeatedly insists that his acclaim also belongs to his teammates/companions, who tow him by jet-ski into waves no mortal could catch with the traditional 'paddle-in' method and then sweep in to pick him up before he gets caught in the wave wash of the next big one--embodying the free-spirited, 'because it's there' attitude shared by most elite high-risk athletes and the true ethos of hardcore surfers, who live for the ride and see the trappings of the culture (parties, chicks, sponsorship, etc.) as incidental if not entirely unimportant.
Certainly the most appealing aspect of the film is its portrayal of old school, hardcore surf culture, which has always been about the fraternal bond that crops up between people who share a common passion and are willing to devote everything to its pursuit. Peralta and co-writer Sam George manage to persuasively present the nearly monastic social order of the first surf devotees, contradicting the traditional 'beach bum' image associated with surfing in popular culture. If you happen to be someone who thinks of high-risk sporting activities as venues for purposeless thrill-seeking, 'Riding Giants' may give you the necessary insight into at least one extreme sport that, at its highest level, transforms mere mortals into epic heroes.
