Lords of Dogtown

Remember when we were young; running out in the rain chasing the ice-cream man, chewing gum in church, and climbing out onto the highest and weakest branch of a rambutan tree?
Remember all those “nothing is impossible” movie staring Kevin Bacon, Sylvester Stallone, Rachel Welch, Demi Moore and all those other pretty faces with funky overblown hair-dos of the eighties?
Remember a time when we were young and anything seemed possible? Some of us wanted to be rock stars while others dreamt of becoming stunt riders, world champion boxers, suffer dudes, super commandos, superman and much, much more.
Remember dreaming that someday we’d do great things and travel the world?
Remember the Z-boys?
You probably won’t.

The Z-Boys were to skateboarding as Mohammed Ali was to boxing. They were the pioneers of extreme skateboarding as we know it today. Barely touching the prime of their youth, these boys created tricks and styles that were ahead of their time. The movie Lords of Dogtown follows the lives of Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams and their friend Sid, a group of young-teens living in the rough neighbourhood of Dogtown located in all-year summer city of Venice, California. They surfed at Bay Street and dominated the dilapidated Pacific Ocean Park amusement park. Undeterred by conformity and having nothing to lose; they put all their energy and hopes into the one thing that they knew – skateboarding. Each of the boys were different and yet they were all the same. They were first young surfers out to prove themselves and skateboarding was just additional practice until they were introduced to urethane wheels for their skateboards. These wheels were smoother and had better grip enabling them to climb steeper surfaces with more control. Suddenly skateboarding took on a new light amongst these teen surfers and when Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger) one of the owners of the “Zephyr Shop”, signed the boys into a state level competition, he had no idea that he was about to begin a chain reaction that would cause a revolution in skateboarding. He was first responsible for the formation of the Zephyr Skateboard Team (Z-Boys) of which all four boys were part of. Their daring and youthful eccentricity gave birth to extreme skateboarding. They transferred their surfing skills to sidewalks, alleys and dried up swimming pools during the seventies drought season; then shocked and awed judges and audience at competitions with every new trick they learnt. It was a time when skateboarding was a growing fad and the Z-boys gave the sport that extra spice that it needed to capture the interest of the nation. Their surf style manoeuvres inspired skateboarders all over and slingshot them to fame and fortune. They caught the attention of hot Californian girls, sports magazines and major sponsors; and before you know it, Alva and Peralta were sporting names who till today are famous for their skates. Although Jay Adams never went on to make a name for himself, he is credited to be the spark that ignited sport.

Lords of Dogtown is a compelling true story of friendship, dreams, broken homes, heartaches, innocence, indifference, puberty and all the pains of growing up against the odds. In a place where the surf, the sun and tanned bottoms were all a dream come true for most and where few would dare dream beyond; even fewer faced the harsh realities of life and unwittingly stepped up. Where the dream is the only thing that gets you out of bed each morning and passion is the only thing that’s keeping you alive. Youth and innocence were forced to step aside to give way to aspiration; and friendship is a bond forged from the emotions and experiences of shared memories.

Lords of Dogtown they truly were.

'Nuff said!