Riding Giants will go down in history as one of the great surf films. Often I’ll watch a surf movie, pick up some pointers and then take those new ideas to the beach to test them out. But in Riding Giants, those surfers are so far beyond my ability, so far beyond even my aspirations as a surfer, that everything I see in the movie I watch in terrified awe. These are the true wave warriors.
But what’s great about Riding Giants is that there is very little ego that comes out in the interviews. And if anyone has the right to have a big head about surfer, it definitely these big wave riders. On the contrary, most of it is far from ego. They talk about their love of the ocean, the desire to chase bigger and better waves and the interconnectedness between themselves and the ocean.
It also gives a great and thorough history of big wave riding from Greg Noll and the other Californian pioneers that went to Hawaii to the Santa Cruz Crew and tow-in surfing. Like I always say, it’s important to know your history.
Lending to the legitmacy and quality of the movie, it is written and directed by Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys). But there are also great interviews with Laird Hamilton, Gred Noll and Jeff Clark.
With Riding Giants you are going to see some of the gnarliest surfing you will ever see. You are also going to see some of the gnarliest wipeouts you’ll ever see.
Get you copy of Riding Giants at Buy.com.
[youtube width=”570″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADy8f6t4Ri8[/youtube]