Les Seigneurs de Dogtown

I am not a fan of surfing or skateboarding (although learning to surf is on my bucket list), but I decided to watch this film due to some of the names on the cast list such as Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, and a small appearance by Jeremy Renner. (Heath Ledger... what talent!)

The film begins as a surfing movie, then transitions into skateboarding, but the execution is amazing. I hardly watch movies without checking the time left, due to my incessant need to know everything, yet I didn't feel inclined to do so during this film. What that means is that the film has a perfect flow, it will keep you interested throughout the entire film.

It's a fictionalized film of "The Z-Boys" and how they revolutionized the sport of skateboarding. The film has much to do with skateboarding, but the main scenes are coming-of-age related and it really shows the simplicity of life that we take advantage of. There's many things you can take from this film: from fame, fortune, and success to humbleness, health, and friendship.

I thought this film would be a somewhat decent, but I was so wrong, it is an inspirational and interesting piece of art. I highly recommend this film if you have an open mind. If you aren't moved by the end, then you aren't human.

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!

Because I work with Swedish subtitles I had the chance to see this movie a while ago. I liked it. Lords of Dogtown has a great cast such as Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch, Victor Rasuk, John Robinson, Nikki Reed, Michael Angarano, Johnny Knoxville and Rebecca De Mornay among others.

In the mid 1970's, a group of teenage surfers from a tough neighborhood known as "Dogtown" in Venice, California pioneered a revolutionary new style of skateboarding. Riding the waves at the Pacific Ocean Park pier, the Z-Boys, known for their aggressive style and hard street attitude, combined the death-defying moves of surfing with the art of skateboarding and became overnight sensations and local legends. With empty pools as their canvas, the Z-Boys paved the way to what is now referred to as "extreme sports," and created a lifestyle that spread infectiously to become a worldwide counterculture phenomenon. But all of this fame would take its toll on the friendships that they thought would last a lifetime as the sport that started out as an afternoon hobby turned into big business.

Everyone was good, especially Heath Legder. He stars as Skip, the Z-Boys' party-animal ringleader whose money-hungry ways tear the boys apart. The director Catherine Hardwicke was not the first in mind of making this movie, she took over after David Fincher decided to leave the project for another feature. She did a great job creating the life among skateboarders, surfers and party animals in the 70's California. It's about the Z-Boys. They made skateboarding an art form, infusing it with the death-defying grace of surfing. I think this movie is worth a 7/10.

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.