The Courage to be Driven by the Sea.

As an avid beach goer/swimmer/rollerblader, I was so blown by this movie! I have never surfed before, but this movie is so inspirational, that I think one of these days I ought to try surfing even if just for the small waves. It takes a ton of courage and experience to be able to surf like the best surfers featured in this film.

I didn't know that surfing originated more than a thousand years ago in Hawaii, and it was banned by some conservative/religious group. It was reintroduced to the world as a tourism feature attraction a century ago. Greg Noll was the first legendary surfer who pioneered the surfing lifestyle in Waimea in the '50s. Then surfing became mainstream and spread to California when numerous surfing movies were released in the '60s and '70s. The number of surfers had grown from hundreds to millions.

Jeff Clark was one of the bravest and greatest surfers, and he was the first to master Mavericks surfing in the rocky shores of Northern California, and soon attracted some of the best Waimea surfers to catch those waves. It took the life of a veteran surfer named Mark Foo, and the experience shocked many fellow surfers. By the '90s, Hawaiian born Laird Hamilton, who had been trained by his step-dad since he was a kid, had grown up to become the best-known and bravest surfer. He was the first to ride the most dangerous waves and survived it, but left him shocked by the experience.

The film featured numerous interviews on the best surfers, and they talked about their experiences before, during, and after their most memorable times when driven by the sea. It also chronicles the evolution of the surf boards throughout the decades.

I really enjoyed this film, and it was well made, and very entertaining and informative as a documentary.

The first real documentary about surfing

This is not your average surf movie packed with non-stop rides and good music. Don't get me wrong, I like surf movies. However, this is something else. It is a real, well written documentary about surfing history, its protagonists, and reaching the limits when it comes to riding big waves. The documentary shows the birth and evolution of surfing from a small group of people who discovered Hawaii's North Shore to surfing being introduced in the mainstream culture and becoming increasingly popular. It is nicely split into three sections corresponding to time periods and big-wave spots. First is Waimea (late 50's to 70's), then Mavericks (mid 70's to 90's), and finally Jaws (90's to today). Each section describes the story and anecdotes of those who rode these huge waves for the first time. It ends with footage from a beach in the South Pacific depicting the most unusual dangerous surf spot.

The documentary combines pictures and scenes taken from the very early days until the present with interviews of the big-wave surfers. It is in this combination where the film succeeds and excels from the common surf movies; the viewer gets sucked into the context and discovers a side of big wave surfing (and surfing in general) that can only be told by the people who made it happen.

1 word: wow

surfing giants is an exelent movie about three guys who have the gut to go big wave surfing. the first, greg noll. he was an amaizing surfer and one of the earlier ones, then jeff clark he was a risky surfer. last but definitly not least larid hamilton. he surfed many places including one with amaizing waves that weren't so much that high, but very dence. the movie was rated pg-13 because of the language, otherwise the movie is appropriate for pretty much all ages. if you like this movie, then also try "step into liquid" (also rated pg-13)
the movie really motivates me to learn how to surf better. (yup, i do surf)
it was a "totally tubular" movie!