North Shore (1987)

This movie is highly improbable. Read the other reviews to see why.I would say that most of the characters were plastic, but they didn't even afford themselves that little luxury; they just act like cardboard cutouts. Of course, they had to get real surfers for the surfing contest roles, so that's a crap shoot whether they can act. At least Occy didn't give a crap and just went with it. But "Lance"??? Fuhgeddaboutit.The one character who rang true was portrayed by Gerry Lopez who didn't really act, he was himself pretty much. He's quite accustomed to stomping people. :-) The only reason I gave this movie a 2 instead of a 1 was because I was laying out a newsletter on my laptop when it came on some cable channel late one night. That saved me from having to pay full attention to this silly little time waster. No way I would go out of my way to watch it.

I am astonished at the major comments here for this OK surf film. It really stems from the "California Dreamin" school of barnyard to beach antics and isn't really plausible. The idea that the lead kid learn to ride a board SO well in a concrete wave pool that he beats the real surfers at their game in the real ocean, is just plain silly. In Australia where most urban teens do surf, this film was laughed at audiences took it all with a grain of sea salt. Made in the 80s but with its heart in the 60s, it is fun to watch and looks and sounds good, but it is not a in a classic class at all. Even the actors didn't outlast this. We're seriously in LIQUID BRIDGE or RIDE THE WILD SURF or BEACH BLANKET BINGO land here. Oz stars like Occy and BIG Wednesday hero Gerry Lopez are drafted in to add head nodding recognition to our farm boy's wave prowess, but it only made the crowd in the cinema guffaw. It is for 10 years olds who do not question much. It's not even IN GODS HANDS and that was silly too.

Chandler Surfboards North Shore T-Shirts Rule "Chandler teach me how to big wave surf not even" Turtle "Here on the North Shore we treat friends mo better" Turtle "Yeah, design thing...design me right out of the picture hoale" "He one bad ripper yeah. I hear he break his stick he shred so bad" "Scrub it kook!" And the list goes on. If you love the movie you can quote every line. The DVD rules. Kudos to the company for actually believing in this film, after all of these years, and including interviews with the original cast. This film touched a nerve in a whole generation of surfers and wanna be surfers alike. Later Barneys.

Don't know how I missed this little gem. Adler leaves the wave machines of Arizona for the real big ones of Oahu. Equal time given to the big three beaches (Sunset Waimea and Pipeline) once he gets there. Film delivers exquisitely on its very simple level. The male version of Blue Crush, only 15 years before it. 10/10