Lords of Dogtown - movie review
written by reeve beggs
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Directed by Catherine Hardwicke in 2005, “Lords Of Dogtown” explores the history and beginning of modern day skateboarding. Originating from surfing due to a lack of waves, the surfers decided to try and surf concrete by nailing their rollerblade trucks onto a 2 by 4 peice of wood. In the late 70’s freestyle skateboarding came into the world and people started doing tricks, flips and wheelies. The early skateboards were mostly small and thin, with small trucks that could turn easily. The invention of rubber wheels meant that the skaters could do more sharp turns without the board sliding out, therefore making it safer and easier to expand their abilities. Following this new found epidemic and lack of water in Los Angeles, skaters took to the empty pools of the neighbourhood as the shape of the pool mimicked the waves of the ocean, and the new inverted style of skating caled vert was born.
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“Lords Of Dogtown” is not like the typical skateboard movie everyone expects. It explores the themes of love, loss and the all important necessity of friendship. Set in Dogtown, Santa Monica, the “Z-boys” as they were known as, began the revolutionary progression from surfing on the waves to surfing on concrete. This film features Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch and John Robinson, who form the legendary team that practically created skateboarding. They all started out surfing then took to the streets with their skateboards. The local surf/skate shop starts to take interest in the young boys and develops a skateboard team that enters a competition. The three main skaters in team get the highest score and then start to get recognised by bigger skateboard brands for possible sponsoring. The film then further explores their natural ability in skateboard which takes them on an adventure through the celebrity world of America.
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For me, Stacey Peralta, (one of the young skateboarders), really caught my attention because of his determination. I found his persona very intriguing due to the fact that even though he received denial, he teaches the audience that practice makes perfect, and motivation is key to success. The initial focus on togetherness we see again near the conclusion where Hardwicke introduces a tragedy that ends up bringing the boys back together. At this point in the film we see the illustration of love, loss, friendship, emotion, heartache, joy and the impact they had on the world of skateboarding.
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Overall i found the film to be entertaining, and enjoyable. I loved being able to see the differences between skateboarding back then and skateboarding today and how it progressed from surfing in Los Angeles. The film gave me an insight into what skateboarding was like when the Z-boys came into action, they brought surfing to the streets which kick started the beginning of a new era. I highly recommend this movie for people who have a love for skateboarding and want to learn the history of how it began.