:
Brock Little,
Rex Smith,
Marc Flanagan,
more...
:
Catherine Hardwicke,
Catherine Hardwicke
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Columbia TriStar
: Drama, Sports Drama, Coming of Age , Sports, Sports Drama
: 110 min.
: English
: English
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The true story of the kids who created modern skateboard culture is recreated in this drama. In the early '70s, skateboards were seen as a fad of the 1960s that had all but died out, but in a rough-and-tumble Venice, CA, community known as "Dogtown," that was about to change. Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk), Stacy Peralta (John Robinson), and Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch) were three guys who liked to surf the rugged beaches around Venice and hung out at the Zephyr Surf Shop, a store run by Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger) that stocked gear for adventurous surfers and skateboarders. With the advent of new urethane wheels that connected with concrete in a way old metal and rubber wheels could not, Tony, Stacy, and Jay began exploring ways to translate radical surf style to skateboarding, and the guys invented a new way to skate inside the smooth, round surfaces of empty pools, employing vertical moves and edge flips that added a new and dramatic spin to skating. It didn't take long for word to spread about the wild new style of the Z-Boys, and they quickly became local celebrities, and later nationwide skating stars, though sudden fame took its toll on these young men. The true story of Lords of Dogtown was previously the basis of the acclaimed documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, directed by former Z-Boy Stacy Peralta, who like Tony Alva served as a consultant on this project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| a bad movie about a documentary
by Sanjer
November 15, 2005 - 2:21 PM PST
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0 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| This movie kinda sucked, but it had it's funny parts... funny as in, it's trying to be serious but it comes of as laughable. The guy playing Jay Adams as a kid was pretty good. Go rent the original Dogtown & Z-boys, it told the same story but with the real footage. |
| A Blip on the Culture/Sports Radar
by talltale
October 22, 2005 - 8:38 PM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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Funny how a moment in culture/sports time (the mid 1970s explosion of skateboarding) can come and go, leaving little impact on anyone save the participants and their relatively few fans. That appears to be the case regarding the subject of the little-seen movie LORDS OF DOGTOWN. Scruffy and gorgeous (interesting combo!), it jumps off from the "Dogtown and Z-Boys" documentary that filmmaker Stacey Peralta made in 2001. This fictionalized version, written by Peralta and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is, to my mind, a big improvement over the earlier documentary which I failed to finish (its jumpiness and crummy photography gave me a headache).
"Lords" is as beautiful (saturated colors and rich, dark corners), in its way, as the documentary was ugly. It also boasts a cast that delivers in spades. Emile Hirsch ("Imaginary Heroes," "The Girl Next Door"), Victor Rasuk ("Raising Victor Vargas"), John Robinson ("Elephant") and Heath Ledger (who surprises with each new outing) are all first-rate. Utterly different from one other, they make a memorable group. Robinson, in particular, compels via his almost inverse charisma: Everyone else is "out there," while he quietly soldiers on. Ledger nails his role with a combination of drunkenness, sleaze and just enough humanity and caring to keep us with him. The movie--very well edited, entertaining, moving and funny--is more interesting than I would have imagined possible, and Peralta and Hardwicke (as heavy-handed as I found her earlier "Thirteen") ought to have our gratitude. Place this one among the most undeservedly unseen movies of the year. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.93)
44 Votes
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