I had the opportunity to sit in a regular sized theatre twice recently, and see two surf movies that are getting lots of press and interest.  The movies were “Bra Boys” and “Archy: Built for Speed”.  Both these theatre excursions were work related.  Outside of these films, I haven’t been in a theatre to see a movie in at least 2 years.  I’ve lost track of the “Spiderman”, “Batman”, “X-men”, “Scary Movie”, “Saw” franchises numerically.  The missus and I rent DVDs after release.  The last movie we saw? “No Country for Old Men”.  Brilliant.  So… we’re slow, but not completely out of the loop.

I was in for a surprise though…Everything on the big screen is bigger. Surfing movies aren’t simply “head high”, they’re “epic”.  The breaking waves have a kind of thumping quality to them, like tortured woofers in some random rap-playing import car parked in front of your house.  The ledge at Cyclops in Western Oz, hovering over Kobe Abberton’s head, reminds me a little of Michael Myer’s poised blade from “Halloween”.  Only bigger.  A Matt Archbold ariel, fully five feet above the lip is framed in a nearly tangible halo of spray and mist.  You can almost smell the ocean.  In the darkened theatre, you don’t merely feel like you’re at the ocean, you feel like you’re in the ocean.

The “Surf Movie” used to be big.  In the 60’s, there were film tours that packed auditoriums on both coasts.  “Endless Summer” and the Bud Browne films were the staple of the day. There were surf bands, and the overall scene was kind of tribal.  When the 70’s & 80’s came around, things slowed a little. The era of “The Surf Star” was just starting.  Your still had “Five Summer Stories”, “Blazing Boards”, and others, but it just seemed liked the surf movie was destined to go the way of the 8-track tape.

But it was not to be.  VHS came into play, and suddenly surf films were available in a new format.  Hard core surfers and surf film fans snapped them up.  You could watch them over and over, and keep the stoke alive.  And a whole new crop of filmers and athletes hit the scene.

Then, a couple of years ago, Hollywood came calling.  Hollywood films are BIG.  Hollywood released “Riding Giants’ and “Step into Liquid” in theatres, and all of a sudden, boom….the surf film is back.   And it’s still here.  And I for one, hope they never go away.  I’m not a hardcore surfer.  I don’t surf everyday.  I don’t have lots of different boards and wetsuits.  I do have a vision of big.  And I like that vision…That’s the world we play in.    GO BIG.