Philip Boston directs the extreme surfing film Billabong Odyssey. A team of surfers tour the world's best beaches looking for the toughest waves. Features some of the top names in West Coast surfing, including Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Flea Virostko, and Barney Barron. Also contains profiles of innovators in the sport (Ken Bradshaw, Rush Randle) along with the women's surfing world champion Layne Beachley. Footage comes from the coast line of California, Washington, Hawaii, Mexico, Spain,
France, and Australia. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Eventually suffers from its accumulation of admittedly spectacular but repetitive images and would probably benefit from both extensive trimming and projection on a large-format screen.
A superb documentary that delves into the science, emotions and danger surrounding the handful of men and women who risk their lives searching for the ultimate thrill.
A dog's dinner of profiles, repetitive narration, safety tips and banal 'insights' into the joys and dangers of cresting waves that sometimes reach 70 feet.
With its emphasis on global positioning devices, Jet Skis and computer-designed surfboards, Mr. Boston's film is very much concerned with the stuff and very little with the spirit of professional surfing as practiced today.
Pretty much everything here -- tow surfing, hydrofoil boards, token bit on women surfers -- already appeared in this summer's equally halfass Step Into Liquid.
The roles of several competitors are almost non-existent, and it's hard to keep track of the numerous surfers who score screen time as the crew wanders the world.
The participants include a who's who of surf greats, from Mike Parsons and Layne Beachley to 49-year-old Ken Bradshaw (the father of big-wave/ tow-in surfing), who continues to ride the fearsome breaks like they were kid stuff.
Can't get enough of these tow surfing docs. Seems a little more dated and would recomend "Riding Giants" over this. Once you see that.... this movie gets more into the preparation and training going into how tow surfing got started.
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