Amazon.com video review:
John Milius charts a decade of social change as three surfing
buddies use the sport as a personal touchstone for their lives while
growing up in the turbulent 1960s. Irresponsible hot-dogging legend
Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent), serious and stable Jack (William Katt),
and mad misfit Leroy, a.k.a. "Masochist" (Gary Busey), are teenage
surf bums in 1963, living at the beach in a perpetual summer under the
sway of surfboard-maker Bear (Sam Melville), guru, mentor, and keeper
of the lore. But the times they are a changin' and boys grow up in the
shadow of Vietnam while adulthood pushes them into hard
decisions. John Milius mixes the nostalgia of American Graffiti
with the reverence of a John Ford cavalry drama. Surfing becomes a
kind of spiritual quest spoken of in awed mythic tones and
photographed with the epic grandeur of a rite of passage. Milius's
heavy-handed direction and reverent attitude slows the films and will
turn off some viewers, but Milius fans will appreciate his macho
stylings and philosophical musings, and surfing fans will love the
spectacular surfing footage, including the dazzling stylings of world
champion Gerry Lopez (who Milius later cast in Conan the
Barbarian). Lee Purcell costars as Matt's supportive wife,
with Patti D'Arbanville, Barbara Hale, and Robert Englund in
supporting roles. Look for Ford stock player Hank Worden in a small
role and Milius himself in a cameo selling marijuana in
Tijuana. --Sean Axmaker
