Fuelled by nostalgic anecdotes rather than insightful comment, the film really comes alive in the superb archive footage.
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09/04/09
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Bustin' Down the Door (2008)
77
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:27
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.3/10
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
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Reviews for Bustin' Down the Door
A subject worth exploring but, whilst old footage illustrates the storyline, this doesn't manage to strecth up until the present day.
09/04/09
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.
09/04/09
Despite the group’s many successes, self-pitying tears are rarely far from their eyes. It’s fascinating stuff and unfathomably bleak.
09/04/09
Hawaii's role in the transformation of surfing from what many considered to be a pastime for drug-crazed counter-culture rebels to a multi-billion dollar sport is examined in debut director Jeremy Gosch's documentary about the group of Australian and Sout
07/27/08
Packed with awesome footage and revealing interviews, it's one to bust down the cinema doors to catch.
09/04/09
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.
09/04/09
While it’s pleasurable to watch surf legends wax nostalgic about fissures in the precorporate surf lifestyle, Bustin’ would be better served by delving a bit deeper into the erosion of a native culture.
07/24/08
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.
09/04/09
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.
09/07/09
Perfectly captures the bittersweet moment when the once-free sport of surfing became the big money phenomenon that it is today.
01/14/09
Will likely be of interest to surfers and surfing fans only.
07/24/08
[An] insightful account of the rise of a, pardon the pun, new wave of surfers that transformed the sport in the mid-1970s.
07/30/08
Forget the questions, bro', and just watch vintage footage of these Aussies and South Africans riding giants off Hawaii's North Shore and showing those big kahunas what's what.
07/25/08
Some of the talk gets a little bombastic, but it's hard to deny the thrill involved.
07/25/08
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.
09/04/09
Jeremy Gosch's documentary about the origins of professional surfing shines a light on four wave riders -- three Australians and a South African -- who helped transform a counter-culture life style into a billion-dollar industry.
07/25/08
Almost all of the surfing footage is beautiful stuff, though you'll likely want to see even more.
12/24/09
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.
09/04/09
Happily, the filmmaker, Jeremy Gosch, puts his wide-eyed narrative together with an easy touch. With its amazing wall-to-wall footage of oceanic derring-do Bustin' Down the Door plays like visual air-conditioning.
07/25/08
Latest News for Bustin' Down the Door
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