Dogtown and Z-Boys

Released 2001
Stars Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Bob Biniak, Paul Constantineau, Shogo Kubo, Jim Muir, Peggy Oki, Stacy Peralta
Directed by Stacy Peralta

"Dogtown and Z-Boys," a documentary about how the humble skateboard became the launch pad for aerial gymnastics, answers a question I have long been curious about: How and why was the first skateboarder inspired to go aerial, to break contact with any surface and do acrobatics in mid-air? Consider that the pioneer was doing this for the very first time over a vertical drop of perhaps 15 feet to a concrete surface. It's not the sort of thing you try out of idle curiosity. The movie answers this and other questions in its history of a sport that grew out of idle time and boundless energy in the oceanfront neighborhood between Santa Monica and Venice in California.

I am not sure whether the members of the Zephyr Team were solely responsible for all significant advances in the sport, or whether they only think they were. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is directed by Stacy Peralta, an original and gifted team member, still a legend in the sport. Like many of the other Z-Boys (and one Z-girl), he marketed himself, his name, his image, his products, and became a successful businessman and filmmaker while still surfing concrete. His film describes the evolution of skateboarding almost entirely in terms of the experience of himself and his friends. It's like the vet who thinks World War II centered around his platoon.

The Southern California lifestyle in general, and surfing and skateboarding in particular, are insular and narcissistic. People who live indoors have ideas. People who live outdoors have style. Here is an entire movie about looking cool while not wiping out. Call it a metaphor for life. There comes a point when sensible viewers will tire of being told how astonishing and unique each and every Z-Boy was, while looking at repetitive still photos and home footage of skateboarders, but the film has an infectious enthusiasm and we're touched by the film's conviction that all life centered on that place, that time and that sport.

Summary by Roger Ebert

When I was about 10 years old, there was a skateboarding exhibition in the local KMart parking lot, and a bunch of my friends went to watch. To a 10 year-old, the skaters were like rock stars, and we all bought autographed 8x10's after being blown away by their exhibition. I'm sure the parents had a different perspective on these young kids travelling through small town USA in a beat-up van, but it must have been a thrill for the kids to be on this tour. I grew up in the country, however, and skateboards don't mix well with gravel. Otherwise, I think I would have bought a skateboard that day and messed around with it for a while, because it was pretty exciting. For all I know, I watched one of the Dogtown boys that afternoon, which brings me to the movie. Roger Ebert noted it's a narcissistic film, and I agree whole-heartedly. I mean, how much more narcissistic can you get than to make a documentary about yourself? Still, director Stacy Peralta does an excellent job of showing the evolution of the sport, and he brings the Dogtown rebel attitude to the film.

The footage from the '70s is amazing considering how rare movie cameras were at the time, and most of it's exciting or interesting. Right from the beginning the kids surfing through all of the pylons and debris in the water shows how reckless they were. It then moves through the rise and fall and resurgence of the sport, and I really enjoyed the footage of the first competition where no one knew what to make of the z-boys' style. Also, the elementary school storm drain footage is very cool, but I became bored with the pool skating. That surprised me, because that's what I was most looking forward to seeing. Peralta does a good job of explaining the differences between his skaters and the others, but he doesn't do so with the pool skating. It all looked the same to me. I was also surprised how long it took the boys to break above the rim of the pool. I thought that would've happened pretty quickly, but it took years. Speaking of the pools, I can't believe what those little punks did to the pools throughout the area. To empty someone's pool and use it during the day while the unknown owners were at work was going way over the line--especially considering how they did thousands of dollars of damage to each pool. That was going way too far, and it made it a little hard to lionize the little punks. --Bill Alward, February 8, 2003