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Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:84
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Dogtown and Z-Boys is a colorful, exhilarating look at the skateboarding subculture.
Theatrical Release:Apr 26, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $1,187,606
Synopsis: In the late 1960s, a group of burnt out teenagers from broken homes ambled together and began to surf along Venice, California's Pacific Ocean Park pier, a ghostly shell of a former amusement park... [More]
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Reviews for Dogtown and Z-Boys
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 3/5 |
Marred by a self-importance and heavy-handed assertion of mythic status that some may well find misplaced or just downright ridiculous. Full Review |
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You want to know more about their private lives than you get. But most viewers may be too stoked by the sheer adrenaline rush of the subject to care. Full Review |
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Package is lively, if loosely structured. Full Review |
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This propulsive, highly satisfying 2002 documentary concerns a group of daredevil skateboarders from an economically depressed and dangerous area of Santa Monica known as Dogtown who reinvented the sport in the 70s. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
I know exactly nothing about skateboarding, but this wild, exuberant documentary puts it all in perspective, outlining a crew of 12 surfers-turned-skaters who pioneered the sport -- and, some say, the art form. Full Review |
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Infectiously exuberant. Full Review |
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Using the Zephyr team's creation, its sudden fame, and death by defection, Dogtown documents genuine 20th century tribalism. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
The straight cuts illustrate how the Zephyr team's revolutionary, riffing style was both an extension of surfing and aesthetically beautiful. Full Review |
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There is something I find deeply disturbing about a documentary made about one's own life that never acknowledges its first person status. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Quite possibly the best documentary about youth and sport since Hoop Dreams. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
The film fearlessly gets under the skin of the people involved ... This makes it not only a detailed historical document, but an engaging and moving portrait of a subculture. Full Review |
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4/5 |
It's an entertaining study for anyone, as it makes you believe that skateboarding is the ultimate guerilla sport -- taking something that exists and is shrugged off and turning it into something amazing. Full Review |
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B |
An enthusiastic ode to a few of the pioneers of extreme sports. Full Review |
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An affectionate look back at those heady days. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Despite its lack of perspective on history or the evolution of the sport, Dogtown and Z-Boys does what documentaries do best: It makes even viewers who have never touched a skateboard feel a part of the action. Full Review |
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4/5 |
It also paints a vivid portrait of a place, time and tribal gathering where environment, attitude, innovation, athleticism and emphasis on style spawned an accidental revolution of sorts. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
Dogtown and Z-Boys does precisely what a documentary movie should do: it makes its subject fascinating whether you actually give a damn or not. Full Review |
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What there's too much is interviews with middle-aged, self-proclaimed radicals indulged in endless back-patting sessions for having spawned 'a revolution.' Full Review |
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A truly fascinating case study of just how an underground sport ascended on the world. Full Review |
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Has all the depth of a wading pool. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Dogtown and Z-Boys
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