SYNOPSIS:
This action-packed documentary takes you back to the winter of 1975 in hawaii - a dramatic moment in history when a group of young south african & australian surfers sacraficed everything. They put it all on the line to create a sport a culture & an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world. A powerfulhouse film, the spell-binding action footage and fascinating subjects make Bustin' Down The Door a surfing classic.
MOVIE REVIEW:
All professional sports had a start and experienced growing pains in the foundation years. Unlike the extremely well paid athletes in this modern age, those involved with the start up of a sport franchise often received payments in forms of having their passion and dreams fulfilled. Bustin' Down the Door is a documentary that recollect the attempt by a group of "outsiders" in breaking in the prestige surfing competition in Hawaii back in '75 and during the process, made surfing a viable full time job.
Not to worry if you can't tell who's who in the surfing world or this documentary as Bustin' Down the Door laid down the history of the outsiders (Shaun Tomson, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Michael Tomson and Peter Townend) hailing from South Africa and Australia. In a snazzy quick edit bits, it showcase who they were and what were their personal goals for surfing. It went on recollecting their respective grudges and hardship that each surfer underwent before coming to the grand stage of Hawaii to fulfill their dreams.
Like any story worth telling, it wasn't plain sailing for these young surfers and soon obstacles started piling up their way. From the initial barrier to entry for the prestigious surfing events to rubbing the local Hawaiian surfers the wrong way which resulted in the escalation of death threats and physical harms, this documentary just kept on unraveling unexpected past episodes from such a sport that usually projects a cool, carefree and easy image.
It even gave a short history lesson about the native Hawaiian and how the current occupier/invader of their land had bullied them. It makes one angry at those who took the Hawaiian's Aloha spirit and spit at them with their arrogance. The documentary balanced it out by sharing the fears and frustration of the outsiders who just want to surf the Hawaiian waves but are facing violent treatments from the local surfers.
In short, it was quite an exciting recollection of the pro surfer start up blues.
But since in the 70s/80s, the practice of cameras following a star(s) were as widely used as the present (think paparazzi), the amount of film footage of the events that happened back in the past were quite low in quantity. No one caught any footage of the clash between the local surfers and the outsiders. We had to rely on the narration of those who were involved with dispute to give us an account of what happened. The resolution of the dispute felt rather muddle through and it doesn't give the impression that the guilt folks had learn a hard lesson from dissing other people's pride and culture.
Bustin' Down the Door is an enjoyable documentary about surfing and although it does seems like it lacks quantity in footage of the pro surfer pioneers riding the waves, it made up by providing touching stories of their struggle to make their passion a viable "job". It also touches on people from different cultures could clash due to the lack of sensitivity and aggression. It might be a surfing documentary but it does have more than surfing to share.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
In a documentary that filled with old 70s/80s surfing footages, this Dvd did a fine representation of the visual and audio reproduction. The audio aspect of this Dvd did a fine job in sharing what the pioneers had to said in a recent interview session and it crisp and clear on a TV set.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
Posted on 7 February 2010
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