Masterful Cinema

Admirable film.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Perhaps one of the fondest memories of my childhood, North Shore is full of one-liners that stick with me to this day.Winning a surfing tourney in a wave tank in Arizona, Rick takes his $500 prize and puts off going to art school to "ride the big waves of the north shore." Upon arrival, his buddy, a seedy strip bar owner, forgets that he told Rick he could stay with him. Luckily he meets up with a couple of Aussie surfers who take him to the north shore.When the surfing finally commences, we see how much of a barney rick really is. "Twinnie? No one rides twinnie in Hawaii. He must think he's still on the mainland or something." So, his skills sucks and a local gang, the hui, robs him. With no place to stay and little else to speak of, Rick befriends a local, Turtle, who introduces him to his boss, Chandler, an old school soul surfer.Offering Rick his hospitality, Chandler teaches Rick how to surf for the soul, downplaying the younger attitude of competition. Rick's skills progress in and out of the water and the hilarity ensues.

I am astonished at the major comments here for this OK surf film. It really stems from the "California Dreamin" school of barnyard to beach antics and isn't really plausible. The idea that the lead kid learn to ride a board SO well in a concrete wave pool that he beats the real surfers at their game in the real ocean, is just plain silly. In Australia where most urban teens do surf, this film was laughed at audiences took it all with a grain of sea salt. Made in the 80s but with its heart in the 60s, it is fun to watch and looks and sounds good, but it is not a in a classic class at all. Even the actors didn't outlast this. We're seriously in LIQUID BRIDGE or RIDE THE WILD SURF or BEACH BLANKET BINGO land here. Oz stars like Occy and BIG Wednesday hero Gerry Lopez are drafted in to add head nodding recognition to our farm boy's wave prowess, but it only made the crowd in the cinema guffaw. It is for 10 years olds who do not question much. It's not even IN GODS HANDS and that was silly too.

Yeah, North Shore is awesome. It's the greatest movie ever. Seriously. It's good in a cult way...I've watched this movie probably 100 times in the past 10 years. It's the best, and that fact that they rereleased it on DVD with interviews and deleted scenes shows that I'm not the only person who thinks its cool...I think every surfer has probably seen it at least once, even if just for the hell of it. There are about 1000 quotable lines in North Shore. Who ever wrote the script is awesome. The character "Turtle" has some of the best lines in the movie. Also, the music is really cool in 80s sort of way. I even think there's a Journey song at the end. I wonder if there's a soundtrack somewhere out there...

Don't know how I missed this little gem. Adler leaves the wave machines of Arizona for the real big ones of Oahu. Equal time given to the big three beaches (Sunset Waimea and Pipeline) once he gets there. Film delivers exquisitely on its very simple level. The male version of Blue Crush, only 15 years before it. 10/10