Lords of Dogtown DVD Review:

1970s Venice Beach, California, the boys of Dogtown took the skills that they had learned on the waves of the pacific and applied them to the new sport of skateboarding. Skip Engblom (Ledger) gathers together the best of the skaters that hang out at his Zephyr surf shop to form the Z-Boys. As they enter competitions, Jay Adams (Hirsch), Tony Alva (Rasuk) and Stacy Peralta (Robinson) soon become superstars of the sport, leading to everyone wanting a piece of them.

After the success of the documentary ‘Dogtown and the Z-Boys’, the story of the Zephyr skate team was bound to make Hollywood sit up and take notice but can a movie capture the time as well?

Stacy Peralta’s 2001 documentary showed the origins of how skateboarding developed into the modern extreme sport that earns millions for its superstars today. Catherine Hardwicke’s dramatisation of the rise and fall of the Zephyr skate team comes from a script by Peralta himself. This fact brings an air of authenticity to the feature and makes you invest more in the characters.

The film starts as a drought grips California and the beaches become extremely crowded. The surfers now have to look for a new pastime but can the emerging sport of skateboarding bring the same thrills as the pacific waves? Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta were the Z-Boys that initiated the change from the dull, slow and relatively basic skills highlighted in the competitions of the time and turned the sport on its head with moves that looked more like on land surfing. Horning their skills in the empty Californian swimming pools, the trio turned the sport into a worldwide phenomenon and Jay Adams and Tony Alva quickly became international superstars. There newfound fame wasn’t all it was cracked up to be however, as the Z-Boys soon drifted apart as the commercialism of the business took hold.

Bringing the story to life is an impressive cast of young and extremely talented actors. Anyone who has the seen ‘Dogtown and the Z-Boys’ will appreciate how good the casting is of the Zephyr team. John Robinson, Emile Hirsch and Victor Rasuk are perfectly cast as Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams and Tony Alva. If you have seen images of the pioneering trio or watched the documentary you will realise how good their portrayals actually are. These are three talented actors who have a very bright future. Catherine Hardwicke has also gathered together an excellent supporting ensemble. Nikki Reed works with her ‘Thirteen’ director again and gives another find performance as Tony’s sister Kathy. Michael Angarano is excellent as Z-Boys wannabe Sid and Heather Ledger and a barely recognisable Rebecca De Mornay provide the adult support as Zephyr owner Skip and Stacy’s mother Philaine.

The dramatisation of the legendary Z-Boys doesn’t quite have the same impact as Stacy Peralta’s documentary but this shouldn’t put you off watching the film. The skating scenes raise the right amount of adrenaline and sense of skill that the real footage did, making you wonder how they do it. Entertaining and fun, ‘Lords of Dogtown’ might not be the ultimate skateboarding movie but it is cool.

Star Rating = * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Introduction by director Catherine Hardwicke (1.22 mins)
The woman at the helm describes the differences between the theatrical version and the unleashed version on the DVD.

Commentary with director Catherine Hardwicke and actors John Robinson, Victor Rasuk and Emile Hirsh
This chatty and fun commentary track comes from four people who are totally engrossed by the movie and the subject matter. They talk about how they became involved, the casting and what it was like on set. The actor talk about their skateboard training and what it was like working with the real people they were actually playing while on set. They also talk about the influences on skateboarding and surfing that their characters had in the 70s.

The making of Lords of Dogtown (30.02 mins)
Director Catherine Hardwicke, screenwriter Stacy Peralta, skate coach Tony Alva, producer John Linson and stars Emile Hirsh, John Robinson, Victor Rasuk, Nikki Reed and Heath Ledger take you behind the scene of ‘Lords of Dogtown’. Screenwriter and documentary director Peralta talks about telling his own story in motion picture dramatisation and the differences between this and his documentary ‘Dogtown and the Z-Boys’. They also talk about the characters of the piece, looking into the Zephyr team members and how they went on to change skateboarding forever. We also see the training that stars Emile Hirsh, John Robinson and Victor Rasuk when through to play their parts and how they filmed the skateboarding scenes, on the streets and in the famous Dog bowl.

Deleted & Extended Scenes (19.18 mins)
Entitled ‘Surf fix’, ‘In the hood’, ‘Respect your elders’, ‘Del Mar: Uncut’, ‘More Sid’, ‘Huntington: Uncut’, ‘More Stacy’, ‘Party On’ and ‘More Tony: Alva chicks rule’, these deleted or extended scenes unfortunately don’t include an introduction or commentary to explain why they were cut.

Featurettes (16.45 mins)
Entitled ‘Dogged on Dogtown’, ‘The making of Pacific Ocean Park’, ‘Bails and Spills’, ‘The Ocean washes my hair and makeup’, ‘Extended Pool session’ and ‘Of course we want a skateboarding bulldog’, these mini featurettes feature contributions by the cast and crew and reveal the secrets behind the movie.

Gag Reel (4.21 mins)
A montage of surfing, skating and on set high jinx as the feature reveals everything that can go wrong on a movie set.

Storyboard Comparisons (4.51 mins)
Watch comparison for ‘Tony Bombs the hill’, ‘Bus sequence’ and the ‘Worldwide fame montage’.

Music Video ‘Nervous Breakdown’ by Rise Against (2.10 mins)
Watch the video taken from the soundtrack album

Trailers
Previews of ‘Bewitched’, ‘The Longest Yard’, ‘Ringers: Lord of the Fans’, ‘Stealth’ and ‘Into the Blue’

OVERALL

Sony has done an excellent job with the DVD treatment of ‘Lords of Dogtown’. Packed with special features and an excellent commentary track, fans will be just as excited to watch these, as they would be the film. This is how a single disc DVD should be packaged.



Jamie Kelwick