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Lords of Dogtown (2005)

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183 comments in total

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52 out of 68 people found the following comment useful :-
Disjointed story, uninspired performances hobble 'Lords', 2 October 2005

Author: olddayrising from Charlotte, North Carolina

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Stacey Peralta's documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" served as the springboard for "Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized account of extreme skateboarding's birth. Poor teenagers from Dogtown, an area of Venice Beach, CA, emerged from relative obscurity to become superstars and make skateboarding into a true counterculture.

This is director Catherine Hardwicke's second feature. I really wanted to like her first film, 2003's "Thirteen," but like that effort "Dogtown" falls victim to some scattershot storytelling and poor direction.

Events happen with little explanation or background and characters do things that seem totally inconsistent with their past actions. The actors do what they can, but this ultimately seems like a textbook example of poor direction and screenplay resulting in a subpar product.

Heath Ledger, sporting fake teeth, scraggly hair and an everpresent cigarette, hams it up like an actor twice his age as Dogtown skateboard guru Skip Engblom. The main trio of teens, portrayed by Emile Hirsch, John Robinson and Victor Rasuk, are played as little more than caricatures, with no motivation for their performances. Michael Angronaro fares the best of all the actors, playing a doomed rich boy who longs to be part of the Dogtown culture.

It feels like there could have been a good dramatized feature made from this true story, but this is definitely not it. This deserved a director with a true knack for the visual and a screenplay devoid of clichés.

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46 out of 59 people found the following comment useful :-
Lords of Dogpoop, 22 November 2005

Author: jupiter0225 from nowhere

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Okay, I rented this movie the other day in high hopes of seeing a good true story on the lives of the skateboard legends from Venice but I was wrong, very wrong. We will do this Sergio Leone style: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

-----The Good------

-The cinematography is the best part about this film. This film has a documentary look and a very high contrast color tone. The camera is shaky and realistic looking. It makes this film seem more like a true story than the acting does.

-The skate boarding in this film was mostly done by the actual actors. It was fast and true to the 70s era of extreme skating.

-Heath Ledger. Undougtingly the best actor in this film. But he really reminded me of Jim Morrison more than anything else. Oh yeah, he was pretty much drunk the entire film.

------The Bad------

-The Story. It seemed like this story of the Z-Boys really needed more dialog. Most of the film is them skateboarding, then pissing someone off, breaking car windows and then running off. This film did delve into their careers as professional skateboarders but did it in a lagging 107 minute running time, when this story could have been told in 80.

-The Acting. If you had seen director Catherine Hardwicke's last film "Thirteen" you would think that she knows how to push actors to their breaking point, but this film really lacks emotion and effort. The acting is as childish as watching a school play. I guess that the actors were cast for their skateboarding skills rather than their acting.

------The Ugly------

-Rebecca De Mornay. *shutters*. What happened to that hot girl from "Risky Business"? Maybe she got old. Or its the fact that she was suppose to be a crack head in this film, or it is because nobody cared.

-John Robinson. Playing Stacy Peralta looks like he needs some sort of toner on his cheeks. The whole way through the movie I was thinking, "who smacked him in the face?".

So there it is, my analysis on "Lords of Dogtown". If you want to see the true story of the Z-Boys, watch "Dogtown and the Z-boys". This movie was a shot and miss on all fronts.

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22 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Lords Of Dogtown, 22 September 2006

Author: Lucy from Australia

Although there has been much controversy about whether the movie has really portrayed 'Dogtown' and the z-boys accurately, i feel this is not even necessary. If you feel unsatisfied with what you have learnt about the z-boys and Dogtown go and watch Peralta's documentary Dogtown and Z-boys. Lords of Dogtown has the intention of entertainment and i personally exetremely enjoyed it. Lords of Dogtown tells the story of how a group of Venice street kids changed the face of skateboarding (and, to some degree, youth) culture in the mid- to late 1970s. The adolescent adopted the Zephyr Shop, a surf store run by Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger), as their home away from the own dysfunctional homes. Engblom recruited the best skaters for the Zephyr Team. Including: Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk), responsible Stacy Peralta (John Robinson) and troubled bad-boy innovator Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch). With the introduction of urethane wheels (revolutionary for the boys skating style as now the wheels gripped, they could "climb walls")and the timely South Cal drought meaning swimming pools were to be emptied, giving the boys perfect locations to practice their gravity-defying maneuvers, Zephyr became the be-all-end-all of the skateboarding scene.

"Lords of Dogtown" follows the rise and inevitable fall of the team, efficiently conveying the events with a flat accuracy that emphasizes history over character development. Director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen") does an outstanding job of re-creating the seedy '70s atmosphere so much so that you could be forgiven for assuming you were watching archival outtakes from "Z-Boys." Hardwicke really nails that sense of post-Vietnam, rejection of authority of SoCal.

Hardwicke also understands the thrilling nature of speed for these kids. She employs a point-of-view camera from a skateboard's wheel to convey the rush. Hardwicke's most important achievement, however, was how she portrayed that skating was indeed these boys life. You really could see how skating for character Jay Adams was an outlet for the psychological pain he was experiencing. Hardwicke was very devoted to her character's individual portrayals. She has 3 contrasting personalities of main characters and shows this also through camera techniques. Jay being the more kinesthetic, hard, "go-go-go" character has many hand held shots and the zoom is employed more, creating a rough, jerky portrayal. Stacey Peralta being the strangely responsible one with a job has straight on, clean cut shots. Tony Alva, however, our most competitive Z-boy by far is filmed often from below, giving him a larger than life presence.

The movie was composed exceptionally and not too 'Hollywood' ( that is focusing on unrealistic character relations and excruciatingly social-analytical). It moved just fast enough to stop you from being potentially bored by the many skating scenes if you did not fit that demographic. However, even there i felt Hardwicke handled this amazingly too. I have never thought in my life i would ever watch a skating movie but i simply adored this one. Character relations were conveyed so realistically. The boys relationships were almost to real, you could feel the unspoken tension between them as the Zephyr team starts to go their separate ways. Hardwicke shows that true, stereotypical male bonding, that is that their love of skateboarding in the end is what brings them together.

Featuring a great soundtrack - including much Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and the classic Wish You Were Here, i gave this movie a real thumbs up.

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31 out of 53 people found the following comment useful :-
The birth of Skateboarding in Southern Califonia, 23 June 2005

Author: arden09 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was looking forward to see how Skateboarding developed, (in Southern California) and was disappointed in how there was no compelling story. I wanted to like it, but I was bored to tears, and left the movie before it ended. I also remember that my son who grew up in the 70's had skateboards that were much further advanced, so the time line on The Lords of Dogtown, seemed to be in the mid 60's, and not the 70's as the movie depicted

The clincher for me, was how a Producer of Art Linsons stature, could economize on the music. I wanted to hear the soundtrack of the time, but I found the music was very generic........ It's to bad, because I noticed that he worked with his son on this project, somehow the vision was not executed in a compelling manner......

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19 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
You'll appreciate the movie more if you watch Peralta's documentary Dogtown and Z-boys., 3 July 2006

Author: kc1177 from United States

It was the seventies Sam. Materialism was making a comeback. For poor kids this was a way out of the dead end they saw in their future, so many of them jumped at the chance for a corporate sponsor. Watch the documentary. These were real people. Most of the events happened in some fashion to the team members, but to make it a more cohesive story, Peralta put it into one year and focused on the three main characters for the movie. Put the Dogtown and Z-boys documentary on and watch for how well they all match the mannerisms of the real people they are portraying. They also had to be convincing skating and in some scenes surfing. Watch the movie again with Peralta and Alva's commentary running and you will see and hear how close they got it to the real life these guys had. How can you say Emile Hirsch is one dimensional? John Robinson does most of his own skating. Peralta himself doubles for the multiple 360s in the Delmar contest scene. The real Alva does some as well. I've never even skated, but I lived through the seventies and I thought it was like stepping back into the past. Very convincing. The only thing I would have done differently would be to develop Wentzle's character more-he is a hoot in the documentary.

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9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Good by Ledger, 28 January 2008

Author: BeLyt from Midwest U.S.

This was a great movie on friendship in the '70's, and a look at how the sport of skateboarding took off. I'd wanted to see it for awhile, so with Heath Ledger's death, didn't hesitate anymore. I didn't recognize him as the surf shop owner Skip, for the first several scenes. I think he added poignancy to his role, as did others who, in the film, fought their way to who they are. Interesting to know this is based on lives of people still in the skateboarding business, including the man who started off Tony Hawks career. It's good to have work out there yet to see Heath Ledger's talent shine. I'd recommend this movie to people who like to observe people, even if you're neither a skateboarding fan or a Ledger fan.

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7 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
portrayal totally on target, 22 December 2007

Author: adavin65 from United States

I grew up in California and this movie REALLY brought me back to the 70's and what was happening in the skateboard world. The actors were totally on mark with their portrayals of these guys and how things were back then in California at that time. I'm a girl and I was into skateboarding at that time. I saved my own money to buy my own boards. I even remember my mom came home one day and gave me an article from a magazine about Alva. I met him later in the 80's and he's a very down to earth guy. If you grew up in Cali at this time, you will LOVE this movie and if you didn't you will get the true idea of what it was like then. Awesome job guys on this film! A definite classic!

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8 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A decent film with a few engaging scenes and characters., 31 July 2006

Author: christian123

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In the mid-70's, a group of teen surfers from Venice, California formed a skateboarding team known as the "Z-Boyz", turning a fad into a sport by introducing a number of wild surfing-influenced moves that had not been seen before. But the fame and fortune that came along with their newfound notoriety eventually leads to friction between the friends.

I don't really like skateboarding so I thought this film was going to be boring but it turned out to be enjoyable. The characters were realistic and the drama was intense. Also, the skateboarding scenes were pretty impressive even if a couple of them ran longer than they should have. The screenplay was pretty routine and predictable but it was still engaging. It was written by Stacy Peralta who just happens to be one of the characters in the movie. Unsurprisingly, Stacy Peralta was the nicest character in the film and he was also one of the best skaters in the film. I wonder if it really happened like this or if Peralta was just making himself look good. They should have asked all of the original "Z-Boyz" to pen the script even though there's a documentary on the same story.

The first half of the movie was kind of slow and dull. It took awhile for things to get going. However, the second half picked up and it was a lot more exciting. The ending was really nice even if it was a little cheesy. It was my favorite part in the film since it was more than a little heartwarming. Catherine Hardwicke did a horrible job behind the camera. She moved the camera rapidly with quick editing and I guess she was trying to get a documentary feel to the film. It didn't work out very well. It was messy and it seemed like a desperate attempt for drama and excitement. Also, the dialog was exaggerated and annoying. I know skateboarders really do speak like that but only to a point. They really went overboard with it and it was very unnecessary.

The acting was pretty good with Emile Hirsch giving the best performance. His character was the most developed and interesting one. He handled the role well and he should become a big star one day. Victor Rasuk was also pretty good as Tony though a little annoying. John Robinson was okay, a little dull though. Heath Ledger was pretty funny as Skip and his character was a good idol for the young skaters. Rebecca De Mornay gave a horrible performance that was completely fake and unbelievable. Michael Angarano played Sid and his performance was pretty good. It was sad to watch at times because of the illness Sid had and what it did to him. This is why I really liked the ending because it was just the boys skating with Sid watching them. The majority of the film was on the forgettable side but the ending was really touching. In the end, Lords of Dogtown is worth checking out for skater fans otherwise approach with caution. Rating 7/10

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77 out of 152 people found the following comment useful :-
Unnecessarily redundant: the legend askew. (spoilers), 30 July 2005

Author: Pepper Anne from Orlando, Florida

You have two ways of learning about the early history and transformation of skateboarding from kiddie fad to extreme commercial success. That is, through former Z-Boy Stacey Peralta's stylish documentary released in 2002, or through the 2005 fictionalized Hollywood mainstream feature inspired by the events (and directed by 'Thirteen' director Catherine Hardwicke and written by Peralta).

While I thoroughly enjoyed the former, I was quite disappointed with the latter. And, the argument that it can only be appreciated and understood by the most hardcore of skaters is completely stupid. You don't have to skate well (or at all) to enjoy a good skate movie.

Unfortunately, unlike Peralta's fantastic documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys, this fictionalized "legend" paid little homage to the sport itself and the Zephyr team (beyond just Peralta, Alva, and Adams). Lords of Dogtown, without context and with such annoyingly abrupt and disoriented storytelling almost makes it like Stacey Peralta, Tony Alva, and Jay Adams invented skateboarding. Dogtown, the sacred skater tale turned mainstream, has been given a Hollywood polish, establishing a mythical celebration of personal arrogance rather than honest insight for the team and the sport. And that leaves little to distinguish it from other Hollywood productions. Instead, there was little focus on how these teenagers love of skating completely revolutionized the skateboarding in ways that relieved it of a tired 1960s paradigm and transforming and laying the foundation for primitive technology with the most intense performance (not to mention a substantial commercial success even to this day). This this legend is told slightly askew.

Above all else (and I believe this was due to legal problems), critical founders of the team as well as members of the team themselves were omitted entirely. You're just watching the Embloom, Adams, Alva, and Perlata show the whole time. Jeff Ho, cofounder of Zephyr surf shop, was absent. As were team riders Paul Constantineau, Nathan Pratt, and others seen in the documentary (although, I can see why Chris Cahill was out). Bob Biniak was a tremendous skater in his day. As was Shogo. Where were they? (Granted, Shogo has about a two-second scene).

Likewise, the events in the story appear to move too fast and in such a scattered manner, dwarfing their true impact on the changes that skateboarding would undergo. The viewer is never really given time to digest it, or actually, to appreciate what it was about the Z-boyz style of skating that was so important when reviewing the sport. The skateboarding contest was ridiculous and rather condescending, if not simply exaggerated.

Watching this movie was as though you watched the documentary and pulled pieces from it which were to be given greater anecdotal backstory such as Skip Embloom's obnoxious presence at the Del Mar contests, Jay Adam's wild nature (only they thought to reference this at unusual points of the film), or Sid, the young man who died of brain cancer who's Dog Bowl swimming pool sessions in the last moments of his life were credited for reuniting the Z-Boyz for a few last runs (although the documentary features more than just the same three skaters skating in these sessions). But like everything else, nothing was told in a way fully developed enough to give the viewer some sense of order, never mind some sense of appreciation of what the stories of Dogtown. The film actually tries to duplicates sections of the documentary, as well, including the soundtrack ('Old man look at my life...' plays when Jay scores poorly at what appears to be his last contest; Ted Nugent's 'Cat Scratch Fever' cues at the contest). What was the purpose for trying to duplicate what was already a finely crafted documentary? I can't help but to look at this as an exhaustive attempt to praise Alva, Adams, and Peralta, or the Dogtown in general because people could be satisfied with the documentary alone as well-made as it was. Instead, some have found an opportunity to cash in even further on the fact that now the mainstream not only knows the story, but now knows the name of those most recognized from the team (and Engbloom, but only because of Heath Ledger being cast in the film).

Aside from shoddy story telling, the acting wasn't great. Victor Rasauk was a miscast. Emille Hirsch never fully captures Jay Adams as the rambunctious pre-fame youngster and spent most of the film giving his trademark distant stares, regardless of mood changes. John Robinson did alright as Peralta, probably because Perlata himself was able to coach him. My biggest complaint with casting is that they should've hired actual skaters to play the parts rather than succumb to the marketing potential of the pre-teen crowd. (The names are obviously a draw, cashing in on the pret-teen girl market). Although, the skating sequences were nice enough to make you want to grab a board and go out and dig up old snake runs.

If you are in the mood for a Dogtown tale because it is about skateboarding first and foremost, you would do best to capture the history in it's most stylish and honorable form in Peralta's documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys.

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
the documentary was better, 23 January 2007

Author: jentis76 from United States

I think this movie should have flashed "inspired by true events" every half hour to remind the viewer that it was LOOSELY based. If you want a really cool experience you should watch Dogtown & Z-Boys!!!!!!

I did think it was cool that so many of the actual people involved in making skateboarding what it is made cameos throughout the movie. And Tony Alva actually does skate doubles for his character---that's pretty rockin'!!

All in all I wasn't completely disappointed, I just wish it would have focused a little more--it jumped around a lot, and I think it helped that I had seen the documentary as a background first.

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