Skateboard Madness

Yes, I was a skater, and back in the mid 80's while perusing the late night TV listings I see "Skateboard Madness" scheduled to air at 3 in the morning. Since the film had "skateboard" in the title I stayed up until 3am, and recorded the movie on VHS. Over the years I wore out the tape watching Skateboard Madness again and again. Here's why the film deserves a better rating than a 4:

-this movie represents one of the first feature length films devoted entirely to skateboarding and showcased the skating boom in the late 70's/early 80's when skateparks were being built all over Southern California.

-skaters destined to revolutionize the sport are featured -Peralta, Rector, etc.

-there are some really cool montages with (as mentioned above) ice skates mounted on skateboards, windboarding? (sail mounted on board with big wheels in the desert), some crazy fiberglass bowl that looks like a gigantic gerbil wheel.

-other random stuff like the cartoons, surf punks, roller skating in Venice, etc.

Okay, maybe you do have to be a skater to appreciate the film, but for those of us who grew up on urethane wheels, this move is an important piece of history and captures an important time in the development of the sport. Plus, young Phil Hartman's voice-over is funny.

this is probably the first skate movie iv seen when i was just a little boy, nonetheless the one that made the biggest influence. The first Ollie! all the founders of todays sk8-ing in one movie not knowing that they are just that, in others words in retrospect a great movie if you are and sk8-enthusiast, if not this movie simply sucks (advice; pick up a sk8board , there is still hope for U!)

other films to see in this perspective; search 4 animal chin, ban this, and so on see Powell Geralda on the net, and of course Dogtown-Zboys...

this is probably the first skate movie iv seen when i was just a little boy, nonetheless the one that made the biggest influence. The first Ollie! all the founders of todays sk8-ing in one movie not knowing that they are just that, in others words in retrospect a great movie if you are and sk8-enthusiast, if not this movie simply sucks (advice; pick up a sk8board , there is still hope for U!)

You have to look at this film as a tim capsule of the way skateboarding was..... the skateparks that are no longer there, the long hair, the short shorts.. This film took a few years to make and it was started at a time in skateboarding when the sport was evolving every month, boards were changing shape, truck sizes changes,, early during the filming, skaters where just starting to hit coping and barely get air, most skateparks were organic very flowing parks with no vertical and by the end of the film skateparks had been built with lots of vertical and pool coping.. It seemed like the film was never going to be finished because it would have been outdated by the time it came out so they kept trying to get the newest tricks on film before finishing it.... anyhow, great film.. Too bad for the new DVD they shortened the film by 30mins.. i'm sure it makes it a tighter film but go look for a copy of the original if you want to see it all...

Unless you're really into skateboarding (old style--late 70's), you probably will want to pass on this one.

However there are some interesting scenes: The claymation intro cartoon is cute, and I thought the ending cartoon was cool---Pot smoking alien wins race and ends up on a perpetual surf/skateboard planet. (Actually these two cartoons are the best part of the movie). One scene depicting skateboards mounted on mini ice blades is unique.

This movie is more a documentary than anything resembling a plot. Kurt Ledterman plays "Mellow Cat" who is a deadbeat reporter/photographer sent on assignment to get pictures of skateboarding. He encounters four skaters (Stacey Peralta, Kent Senatore, Greg Aires, & Dan Smith) and they tour the country (& Jamaica) in Kurt's convertible skating, surfing, and other unrelated nonsense. Rollerskating sequences in Venice Beach are tacked in; As well as surfing scenes, Surf Punks video, etc. It's definitely a hodgepodge.

One might note that Stacey Peralta has been credited in other movies as skateboard technical adviser and he has also been involved in the skateboard industry in various ways.

I gave this movie a 4 of 10 mostly because it was a very cheap production and could have been a whole lot better even as a documentary although it did have the redeeming features I mentioned.

I have to admit I did enjoy watching this movie---mainly because of the nostalgic element.

Since writing this review, I noticed that a DVD has been released. Unfortunately this DVD version has had material removed. The ending cartoon is missing and there is some re-arrangement of other segments. Why this was done, I have no idea as the original version (which I have on 16mm film) is much nicer. Also the image quality of the DVD is atrocious. The DVD does contain some extra elements (interview with Peralta & Jepsen, and some crappy skateboard footage).

UPDATE: Since writing the above review, my opinion has changed somewhat toward this movie. Normally I am loathe to change my vote, but I'm upping it to a 6 instead of a 4. The reasoning for this is due to the historic value of this movie (I read a recent reviewer's comment and am in agreement also). I still feel however, that had Jepson & Co. worked a little harder on this film it would have been a much better production.