Includes of some of the most extraordinary surf footage seen since Bruce Brown’s early Endless Summer films.
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06/27/08
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Bustin' Down the Door (2008)
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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
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Reviews for Bustin' Down the Door
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.
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
Fuelled by nostalgic anecdotes rather than insightful comment, the film really comes alive in the superb archive footage.
09/04/09
Packed with awesome footage and revealing interviews, it's one to bust down the cinema doors to catch.
09/04/09
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
Will likely be of interest to surfers and surfing fans only.
07/24/08
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.
11/27/08
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
02/12/09
Perfectly captures the bittersweet moment when the once-free sport of surfing became the big money phenomenon that it is today.
01/14/09
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
Once or twice – making it all worthwhile – an interviewee touchingly chokes up at his own memories, and brims with sudden tears.
09/04/09
The documentary celebrates the athleticism and creativity of the sport's unsung Nureyevs and Nijinskys.
09/04/09
[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
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
[Bustin’ Down the Door] will leave surf junkies and novices alike longing to get their feet wet.
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
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
Bustin' Down the Door entertainingly captures surfing's last great hoorah of no-holds-barred radicalism.
07/25/08
Top CriticSome of the talk gets a little bombastic, but it's hard to deny the thrill involved.
07/25/08
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