Which are the Best Surf Movies of All Times?

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Which are the Best Surf Movies of All Times?

A scene from Big Wednesday

As everything in life, it’s very hard to choose between things. Which is the best surfing movie of all times? I think it depends on each and every single one of us, because it depends on how it impacted us, how comfortable you felt when watching that movie and what level of technics has it got in it… To be honest, and this is something you won’t read in many other blogs that aren’t honest, I havent seen all surfing movies! How could I? Since the 1960’s I think there have done more than 500 surfing movies so I’ve only watched the ones that had good critics or the ones that somebody I trust recommended. Nevertheless, all the surfing movies on this list are great and the purpose of this post is to give you ideas of what movie should you see tonight ! Here the Top 5 Surfing Movies:

  1. The Endless Summer. 1966. Bruce Brown: It’s not the first surf movie ever so don’t think I only put it first for its age. This movie is just an adventure throught different countries looking for the perfect waves in an endless summer trip. It has funny moments as well. A must see for sure.
  2. Big Wednesday. 1978. John Milius: It’s hard for me to choose between these two movies. I can’t put two movies in the first position. The thing about this movie is that it has a little bit of drama as well, as it is not only about surfing, it’s about life, war and friendship. I don’t think many movies have better images (for the time) than that last long scene in Sunset Beach Hawaii? Maybe it was filmed in the other locations: Malibu, El Paso, Santa Barbara, Ventura in California or even in El Salvador, where they also filmed. I always thought that last scene was in Pipeline but it seems I got it wrong. I also admit I really liked to see Gary Busey in it. A guy who makes an incredible role in Point Break, ranked 4th.
  3. Chasing Mavericks. Michael Apted. Curtis Hanson. 2012: I know many conservative and old fashioned people who grew up with the first movies would kill me for ranking this movie third but the thing is that it surprised me because they take a lot of time to show you how to train in order to be able to surf giants like Mavericks. I really liked that technical part of the movie as in how many minutes do you have to remain underwater to be ready for those waves; what should you do to get in shape as quickly as possible, etc.
  4. Point Break. 1991. Kathryn Bigelow: Who thinks this movie is horrendous? I really really like this movie and I didn’t rank it in 1st position because I’m afraid of the comments (LOL). I will defend this movie until my last days and I give a thumbs up for Kathryn Bigelow, perhaps my favourite of all women film directors !
  5. Riding Giants. 2004. Stacey Peralta: Big doc on the history of big wave surfing, the Hawaiian origins and everything to do with surf. A must see in all senses.

If you need to see a longer list please visit Time Out and Surfer Today. And if you want to appear in the next Surfing hit, you might as well start learning to surf with our Surfing Lessons in Tenerife.

 

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