Waveriders (Joel Conroy, 2008): UK, Ireland

Reviewed by Chloe Seaman. Viewed at The Santa Barbara Film Festival.

In order for a surf film to succeed, it really needs to be creative. If not, then it will just be a name on a list of movies about surfing. Take Bruce Brown’s films The Endless Summer and The Endless Summer II. Those are films that do surfing justice in a creative and enjoyable way. Waveriders, is just a name on the list; a film that makes no advancement for surf documentaries, or any film in general.

Waveriders is a surf documentary that explores several different realms of surf culture. There is the topic of George Freeth, a surfer from Ireland that moved to Hawaii and then California and became known as California’s first lifeguard. They tell the story of how he heroically saved fishermen in a storm by jumping off a pier, and how he modernized the idea and role of a true “waterman”. The film also explores Irish surf culture and growth with a look at the Malloy Brothers; three brothers of Irish descent that realize the potential of surf in the cold, gray weather of Ireland. This was a typical documentary consisting of interviews with surfers of all backgrounds including nine time world champion Kelly Slater, Hawaiian surfing legend Rabbit Kekai, and of course the Irish surfing brothers, Malloy. There was archival surfing footage and photographs, as well as modern surfing footage from Hawaii, California, and Ireland.

Being a surfer and seeing a lot of surf documentaries and films, I have to say this one didn’t impress me at all. The story was one that I have heard over and over before. It seems that every surf film feels the need to somehow capture the true feelings of a soul surfer – how apart of nature they are, and how being in the water is just such an escape to be yourself. I’m not saying these things aren’t true for the surfers saying them, it’s just that the same lines are repeated in every movie about surfing. It’s getting old for me and I was ready to see a film about surfing that was different. It also comes off in the description as a film that is all about Ireland surfing and culture, and the beauty of Ireland when it isn’t. Of course there is a lot about that topic, but it also explores Hawaiian and California surf culture. The different topics could be intertwined and related to eachother, but because all other surf films have been mostly about Hawaii or California, this film should have been innovative and tapped into a part of surfing that has not been shown. Instead it was the same old same old.

It also didn’t capture the beauty of Ireland or surfing they way I thought it would. Not once did I gasp at any beautiful shots. The way to convey nature’s beauty was a quick montage of close ups on flowers and branches and stuff like that. And I have watched way better surfing footage than what they showed. The surfing shots they showed were boring, just like everything else to this film.

Nothing about this film got me excited to be a surfer, or to travel anywhere else like most surf films have done for me. I never saw the beauty in the locations or waves they shot. It was uninspiring, boring, and just an addition to the stack of film surfs, instead of the innovative and creative piece it should have been.