Bustin' Down the Door
| Bustin' Down the Door | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jeremy Gosch |
| Produced by | Monika Gosch Robart Traill Shaun Tomson |
| Written by | Jeremy Gosch Monika Gosch Phil Jarratt Robert Traill |
| Starring | Wayne Bartholomew Ian Cairns Mark Richards Shaun Tomson Michael Tomson Peter Townend |
| Narrated by | Edward Norton |
| Music by | Stuart Michael Thomas |
| Production company | Fresh and Smoked |
| Release date | 2008/07/25 |
| Running time | 1 hour 35 minutes |
| Language | English |
Bustin' Down The Door is a 2008 documentary film chronicling the rise of professional surfing in the early 1970s. The film follows a group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa, including Shaun Tomson, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Michael Tomson and Peter Townend, as they relocate to Hawaii encountering obstacles, turf wars and massive wipeouts along the way. Clashes with the locals, some of whom find the newcomers' bravado to be insulting to Hawaiian culture, eventually culminate in death threats against the subjects of the film.
In the early 1970s, Australian chargers Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Ian Cairns, and Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew landed in Oahu with something to prove. Hawaii was seen as the center of the surfing universe and the brash Aussies sought to shake things up. Along with South Africans Shaun and Michael Tomson, the crew ripped apart legendary breaks like Pipeline and Waimea with radical innovations and bravery that bordered on insanity. Combining classic footage and revealing modern-day interviews, Bustin' Down the Door exposes the soul of this revolutionary period in a way few surf films can. The ground-breaking talents of MR and Co. are rightfully lauded for helping to build the concept of professional surfing, yet no excuses are offered for the reckless arrogance that helped ignite a powder keg of cultural pride on the North Shore. The self-promoting Australians were not shy about their talents, but by the time Cairns declared that "Aloha is dead" during the summer of '75, competitive banter had dangerously escalated beyond the waves. But what the group lacked in diplomacy, they made up for in determination, as their shared desire to be the best gave rise to a new era of surfing.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack includes music by David Bowie, The Stooges, Eels, Leonard Cohen and Them Terribles. The Original Score was composed by Stuart Michael Thomas.
Reviews
Variety gave the movie a positive review saying, the picture "is certain to rank alongside Step Into Liquid, Riding Giants and Five Summer Stories in the primo category of surf movies that rip onscreen and tell a great story".[1] Shannon Kelley Gould of the Santa Barbara Independent writes that the picture "Delivered on all sorts of levels. Not just a great surf movie, but a GREAT movie."[2]
Kelly Slater called it "A breakout film. Bustin' Down the Door shows what happens during the most critical period in our sport's history when ego and historical problems clash."[3]
References
- ↑ Robert Koehler (23 July 2008). "Review: 'Bustin' Down the Door'". Variety. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
- ↑ Ethan Stuart (17 January 2008). "Big Waves, Beat Downs, and the Birth of Modern Surfing". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
- ↑ "Bustin’ Down The Door To Hit Theatres This Summer". SURF. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
See also
External links
- Official website
- Bustin Down The Door on IMDb