For almost twenty years, HERC's Hideaway has celebrated the arrival of Summer with two traditions: we blast Alice Cooper's "School's Out" on repeat and we enjoy a screening (or two or three) of Bruce Brown's Endless Summer II.
While HERC chooses not to surf (Jaws remains the the most horrifying movie he has ever seen!) the carefree surfer mentality and beautiful locations as captured in 1994's ESII are more than enough to deliver a surfing sensation in HERC's huge head. He is not not what one would call an avid fan of surf movies.
A sequel to Brown's classic 1966 original Endless Summer, ESII finds two young surfers (Pat and Wingnut) retracing the surf-steps of 1966's original duo updating the journey with new technology in both surfing and cinematography as well as highlighting the global sport that surfing had become in the ensuing quarter century plus.
The film features many breathtaking shots of beaches, waves and surfers riding those waves - often in slow motion - and set to a variety of music, most of which is played by guitarist Gary Hoey.
Bruce Brown's son, Dana, filmed what is considered the third in the Endless Summer trilogy, Step Into Liquid in 2003. The film features more surfers and more global surfing spots and is worth your time if you like ESII.
I did not like ENDLESS SUMMER II as much, I think because I had heard the soundtrack first and thought "this ain't right. This sucks." But as a huge fan of surf movies, I may have to revisit this.
ReplyDeleteSTEP INTO LIQUID is great, and definitely worth repeat viewings.
Some of my favorite surf films include:
"Crystal Voyager" (famously known for its use of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". In exchange, Pink Floyd would use the fish-eye lens surf footage and use it during performances, primarily for "The Great Gig In The Sky". As a sidenote, "Crystal Voyager" was shown quite a bit during Disney Channel's first year. Seems odd now that they had to fill up their programming with what is now called a great "stoner surf film".)
Hot Lips & Inner Tubes
Shelter
Five Summer Stories
I still have to see the one that is a documentary about one of my favorite surfers, Rob Machado. I have it, just have to find some time to watch.