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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:26
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Sports/Recreation
Theatrical Release:Jun 27, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: BUSTIN’ DOWN THE DOOR chronicles a tumultuous two-year period of competitive and cultural clashes in the mid-Seventies in surfing's Mecca - Hawaii's North Shore of Oahu - as a small crew of... [More]
Starring: Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Shaun Tomson
Director: Jeremy Gosch
Watching top surfers in action is never a chore, but the film’s archive footage would have been even more enjoyable to lay viewers if the commentary had better explained why the men’s innovations were so daring and controversial.
An instructive story.
Clearly designed to give credit where it's due, this film spotlights the guys who broke new ground to create modern surfing. But while it's an important, interesting document, it's rather too detailed for non-surfers.
A subject worth exploring but, whilst old footage illustrates the storyline, this doesn't manage to strecth up until the present day.
This impressive sports doc finds enough drama in the situation to involve a wider audience, since the archive footage of these chaps gliding through waves the size of a house is quite something.
If it can't compete with the best surf documentaries, Bustin' Down The Door is never less than diverting - the thrill of conquered waves eclipsed only by the picture's educational value.
The characters aren’t quite as charismatic as the Z-Boys and the editing isn’t as abrasively cool, but it does give a glimpse of how an outsider lifestyle evolved into a multibillion-dollar business.
The documentary celebrates the athleticism and creativity of the sport's unsung Nureyevs and Nijinskys.
Despite the group’s many successes, self-pitying tears are rarely far from their eyes. It’s fascinating stuff and unfathomably bleak.
Although you’d expect moist eyes from bitter, fading stars desperately trying to scrawl their names in the history books, the film avoids this indignity with engaging characters, an informative narrative and tons of awe-inspiring archive footage.
The vintage surf footage packs some thumping wipeouts and there’s fresh relish in the sidestory of local Hawaiian surfers handing out beatings to their gnarly foreign invaders.
The movie lacks the jaw-dropping spectacle of 2004 surfing doc Riding Giants, and conveniently sidesteps the issue of what happened to the sport's spiritual side when it became an industry.
Packed with awesome footage and revealing interviews, it's one to bust down the cinema doors to catch.
Once or twice – making it all worthwhile – an interviewee touchingly chokes up at his own memories, and brims with sudden tears.
At times it's quite moving – Wayne Bartholomew breaks down on camera as he recalls his hardscrabble childhood – though Edward Norton's narration has all the nuance of an I-Speak-Your-Weight machine.
Fuelled by nostalgic anecdotes rather than insightful comment, the film really comes alive in the superb archive footage.
Impressively shot and well researched, but the narration is extremely dull and the film occasionally feels like a ten minute anecdote stretched out to feature length.
What makes Bustin' Down the Door so appealing is that it's not about sports but rather about the passion and dedication of some bronzed, mop-haired kids on a mission to become legitimate against all odds
Perfectly captures the bittersweet moment when the once-free sport of surfing became the big money phenomenon that it is today.
The birth of professional surfing emerges from a squall of repetitive-looking clips and technical jargon, plus a reflection on outsiders' insensitivity to native Hawaiians.
July 24, 2008:
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