Lords of Dogtown (Unrated Extended Cut)

WOW WOW WOW is all I have to say about this film! It portrayed a piece of Americana history so accurately and convincingly, it could have passed as a documentary (OK- not really, but you get the point). I'm 48 now, but I can clearly remember the skateboarding scene back in the 70's, since my brother and I were afficionados. Even back in the NYC area and Jersey, skateboarding caught on bigtime because of the media attention brought on by skate giants like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. I can remember the many skateboard shops that opened up, even in music/head shops or bicycle shops as a 'side business'. We then even built our own 'half pipes' in our backyards, and ate up every issue of 'Skateboarder' magazine. We found out where skateboard parks opened up, and had our parents drive us there (before we were old enough to get a driver's license). We pored over, and debated about Bahne, G&S, Alva, and Banzai boards. Ditto regarding which wheels and trucks were the best (I liked Bennett, Tracker, Red Rider, Green Alligator, and Bonez). I digress. Anywho, major kudos to all involved in making this highly entertaining film, and thank you for transporting us back to that era and subculture! GREAT JOB!

I had ordered this movie for my son and he ahd already seen it and loved it. I also received the order rather quickly after I had placed the order, thank you for getting it to me so fast,

Movie made me feel like I was there. Main characters gave a great performance, in that I felt that they were the real people. The sets, props, clothing and stunts brought back many wonderful memories if you grew up in the 70's. Was also educational for younger skateboarders, to see who started it all.

This movie has great music from the 70's that I used to listen to, has a great story line, and the sound effects when they guys are skateboarding is really neat!

I bought this movie, because I loved the direction Catherine Hardwicke provided in Twilight...I wanted to check out more of her work. I was not disappointed. She just "get's teenagers." She brought each character to life, and the photography was really fantastic. The young actors each brought so much to their characters, that I wanted to know and see more about the actors and the people they portrayed. Needless to say Heath Ledger was as always over the top in the restrained way, he brought to all of his roles.
I highly reccomend this movie to young and old.
I also would reccomend "Thirteen" another Catherine Hardwicke directed movie.

I don't give a whit about skateboarding. It's got to be the most annoying activity known to man. But this movie is a real thrill-ride, not because of the content, but because of the quality poured into the technical aspects. Shot in a violently saturated color motif, it's full of 70s surfer dudes who look quite contemporary as they depict the morphing of surfing into skateboarding in a true tale written by one of the dudes portrayed in the film. Great 70s soundtrack, to boot. I'd never heard of any of these people, but evidently they are legends in the field. They all appear in the extras, and some are extras in the film. Very entertaining from a film standpoint, if not content. The late Heath Ledger plays a stoner surf shop owner who invents the notion of a skateboard team back in Venice, Ca., when it wasn't full of tourists.

This video was hard to find. My son has been wanting it forever. Thanks for having it.
It arrive in less than a week, was new and exactly what it said it was on the site.
I would buy from this seller again...Thanks.

Delivery was quick, no scratches on disk. Cover was not in perfect condition. Have no complaints. I would buy from this seller again. Love this movie!!!!

so here i was thinking i had seen every possible movie..or decent or cool movie anyways. when my friend comes home from the navy and we sparked a dark knight conversation. in which i go on to say what an awesome job Ledger had done in it. so he then goes on to tell me "yea, but i really liked his role in Lords Of Dogtown" now i had heard of the whole dogtown skateboarding , surfing trailblazing crew before. but somehow this movie and who all was in it passed me by when it came out. i dont know where i was at the time when i should have been watching and hearing about it. but i had missed it. so he tells me its a definate good flick and a definate good staple DVD to own. So boom im on my favorite website to buy any cd's dvd's and other things...Amazon.com where i was very happy to find it from a decent seller at a decent price. i watched it. loved it. kicked myself in the head for missing it in its glory of first coming out , and went on to buy the soundtrack too..

P.S.... it's awesome trust me.

It was very interesting to see a movie based on the origins of skateboarding. The story was a little choppy in the beginning. It basically went from the boys being poseur surfers, to them skateboarding competatively all of a sudden. Despite that incomplete transition, I still found the movie to be highly enjoyable and entertaining.

Emile Hirsch, as he tends to do in his movies, completely stole the show, along with Heath Ledger, who also did a fantastic job.

I give this film 4 stars out of 5. I've already recommended it to several people, and I will continue to via amazon, as it's really a movie worth seeing.

Ok the documentary Dogtown and the Z Boys is more historic and correct, but I enjoy watching this much more. I started skate boarding in 1965 at Collage on a flat wooden board with steel wheels. Jan & Dean's song "Sidewalk Surfing" had spread it nation wide that spring. It was fun but nothing sensational, there was no skateboard culture. This movie,and yes the documentary tells the story of how a group of teenagers changed everything. Haggling about details changes nothing, this was a radical transformation by a small group of teenagers. Eat your hearts out Hippies.
I watch this movie every year before the X Games to remind myself how they really started.

Okay, this movie is supposed to be about three teen boys. However, I didn't know this when I tried to watch it with my grandson, and they looked to me like twenty-somethings who had never grown up. I guess they did to my grandson as well because, although he talks frequently about skatboarding when he gets a little older, he lost interest in the movie barely a third of the way through it. I felt the same about it - it was intensely boring to me to watch what looked like a bunch of immature guys doing their thing. Maybe if one is really into skateboarding this movie might be of interest. For me, and for my grandson, it wasn't worth the time spent watching it.

LORDS OF DOGTOWN is both a coming-of-age saga, exploring three young men who take three very different paths, and it is also a skate-umentary, if you will. Due to a drought in Venice, California, the teenage skateboarders discover the joys of skating drained swimming pools. This and other styles of extreme skateboarding are depicted with great care, and also sheer joy and excitement. And finally, there is also the story of the surf shop would-be mogul who forms them into a skate team, but ultimately tries to exploit their talent and is left behind. The part of Skip was played by Heath Ledger, and he really immersed himself in his role. I didn't know it was him until after his untimely death, someone mentioned it to me. He looked totally different, and, like Sean Penn will sometimes do, was bravely unconcerned about whether people would like him, or like his character, and he also didn't seem concerned with his looks. He was a skuzzy skankster, indeed.

The three main characters, Stacy Peralta (John Robinson, Elephant), Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys), and Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas) are on three different paths. Stacy is very serious about the sport, and works at it. At first he isn't asked to join the team because Skip feels he is not an "outlaw." Tony Alva becomes a "star," but has to realize that his entourage of hangers-on and partyers doesn't have his best interest at heart. Jay Adams is shown as the instigator, the spark that ignited the radical new style of skating. One of the funniest moments is when an ad exec from Wham-O! tries to get him to shill for Slinky! He attempts to sing the Slinky! Theme, but quickly realizes that it is not for him. But then he becomes a thug. This may have been slanted a bit, to make for a more dramatic story. In bonus footage, the real Jay Adams complains that he actually accomplished a lot more than mere thuggery with his life. The script was written by Stacy Peralta, and his character was a hard working and dedicated skater who didn't let the temptations thrown at the young stars divert him from the path to success. I wouldn't argue with that, but since he wrote the script he could've sanitized it. I would have liked to have seen him act out a little more, maybe throw a few punches. Something to show that characters are not all good or bad, but everyone has parts of both.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) The Lords of Dogtown shreds and thrashes, like a good skate movie should. In bonus footage it is revealed that while filming the skate sequences in the drained swimming pool, Hardwicke got so enthralled with the shredding action that she fell in, broke a few bones, and had to be rushed to the hospital. As a director she showed much better judgement in her choice of the little details that define an era. Like when the skaters are partyin' the skater girls perform a dance routine choreographed to Cher's "Half Breed." What a time it was, the mid 70s, for the sport of skateboarding. The gnarly cast includes Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass: The Movie), and Nikki Reed (Thirteen).

Dogtown and Z-Boys

Thirteen

Candy

Blackrock

Brokeback Mountain (Full Screen Edition)

Ned Kelly

Casanova

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Elephant: A Film By Gus Van Sant

Raising Victor Vargas

Keeping in mind that this telling of the Z-Boys tale is BASED on a true story, it wasn't bad. Being spoiled by watching "Dogtown and Z-Boys" about 10 times, had problems with some of it. For example, why was Jeff Ho a character in this movie? But since it wasn't intended to be a biographical story, guess that was Peralta's (an original Z-Boy and wrote the screenplay for this movie) call. Have to agree with one reviewer. The moves the boys in this movie are "half baked" compared to what they real boys were doing. That aside, I like this version as a "Hollywood" telling of the Z-Boys story. Heath did a great job capturing Skip's voice, but was Skip really "out of it" most of time. I would highly recommend you watch "Dogtown and Z-Boys".

After slowly getting over the news of Heath Ledger's death, I wanted to watch him again in one of his movies. Although I like Brokeback Mountain, I prefer this one.

It's the story of the Z-Boys, four teenage surfer friends who in the mid seventies take up skate boarding and thus change the world of sports forever.

Heath is "Far Out!" Skip, a surfer and surf store owner who is the first to recognize the kids' talents. He pushes them (calling him a manager would be a little too much), and makes them grow into what they are to become.
More or less drunk for most of the time and always open for yet another trick to spin off a little cash for himself on the side, he cannot hold them once the success and fame hits.
Big managers' promises of fast cars, the prettiest girls and cash in adundance pull the boys out of his loose grip.
Their friendship starts breaking apart as ambition, jealousy, girls and greedy managers take over.
It is only when one of them (who got left behind) falls seriously ill, that the boys get back together and rediscover what their friendship is all about.

Starring Emile Hirsch as the enigmatic and anger driven Jay, Victor Rasuk as the ambitious Tony Alva and John Robinson as Stacy Peralta (who also wrote the screenplay).

Great camerawork, both on and off the skates, terrific acting, solid directing and wonderful production and set design.
The film and the actors do a great job in transmitting the fun and thrill of skating.
My favorite scene is Tyson, The Wonder Dog, the fun loving skating bulldog who simply can't get enough of the sport(also as an extended scene in the special features - he was not trained to do this but took up skating by himself!).
The dvd's picture quality is good, even in the dark and during the rides.
The extended cut has four minutes more. The only reason these were cut were probably the use of too many four letter words, but I wouldn't want to miss them.
Great movie with a wonderful sad and funny Heath Ledger.

That's right. I do things in pairs. After doubly watching the regular version of "Dogtown and Z-Boys" as well as listening to the audio commentary, I decided to watch the Catherine Hardwicke full-fledged Hollywood version of Peralta's voice. With two audio commentaries, plenty of behind the scenes information, as well as a cornucopia of in-your-face skateboarding, I believe I have seen every angle of this film - from Catherine's vision to the completely misrepresented time frame for these three young friends that changed history. This is the "unleashed/unrated" version, and you are in for a treat. Catherine and team left no stone unturned and brought us the Z-Boys with loud 70s music, tween issues, and a story that was connected with the feeblest of string. For those reading this review, I am going to compare the two films - why? Not only because I can, but because these two - both "Lords of Dogtown" and "Dogtown and Z-Boys" are companion films. All due in part to an issue in Rolling Stone magazine, these two films were allowed a green light - one was made with heart, passion, and a sense of nostalgia, while the other (still using the same scribe), was made with the green of the dollar deeply in mind. It isn't the fact that I disliked "Lords of Dogtown", I just finished watching it three times, it was the fact that I think it over amplifies the truth and dissolves the passion that Peralta created with his documentary.

Hardwicke, whom many of you remember as the brain child behind the fabulously gritty drama "thirteen", helms this project with the same gumption that she enlisted for her prior film. Using some of the same crew, same filming technique, and an overhyped budget this film demonstrates that even the dirtiest of teen struggles can be glossed over to Hollywood standards. Egos aside, we are handed a Hardwicke special which includes (but is not limited to) shirtless tween hunks, a sense of invincibility over adults, a rockin' good soundtrack, a time frame that breaks all borders, and finally two actual stars that would be used to introduce an older audience that may not be familiar with teen main characters to pack theaters and make sure someone's child gets a college tuition. I am harsh with this film - again, why? - because this was supposed to be a group that was anti-establishment, anti-normality, anti-boundaries, yet seemed to fit well within this Hollywood box. I witnessed the innovators of a generation, sans Jay Adams, sell their souls for corporate glory. Sure, they may have wanted their story to be told for a new generation of skaters, but there could have been a better way to portray this creativity, struggle, and eventual breakdown of friendships. This was supposed to be like the grittier "Stand by Me", when instead it felt like Disney was an independent benefactor.

I thought Hardwicke's choice of cinematography, camera angle, and story placement seemed dated. She did this already in "thirteen", I wanted her to explore more boundaries, stronger moments, and really define herself as a director. Instead, I watched three times (two audio commentaries plague this disc) a director mimic their already golden film - even the choice of casting some of the same actors from "thirteen". After watching "Dogtown and Z-Boys", I was prepared to see a better side to their story. I wanted Hardwicke to take me places that Peralta's minimal budget couldn't. With Peralta writing the story, I didn't think he would allow anything to slip by. I was wrong. His choice to create small, more insignificant characters to help build credibility in our central three characters was pathetic. I wanted Peralta to interact with everyone from the Zephyr skate team, not just Jay, Tony, and himself. This was a collaborative effort from everyone, and not giving everyone their moment in the spotlight just seemed to make me grumpy. I loved hearing everyone's voice during the "Dogtown and Z-Boys" film, and it hurt to just be focused on three while others were equally as successful. If this were the case, we should have had only one story - instead of trying to intermingle everything together. Stories were dropped, players were disrespected, and the true story became a muddled mess of semi-truth and Hollywood truth. Our actors did what they could, but were shaky as the main characters. John Robinson felt like he was back filming "Elephant 2", I just couldn't see him as any other character. Emile Hirsch was goofy, while I realized that Jay Adams was crazy (as we all know someone from our past like him), he just came off as arrogant and acting like he was a tormented teen. His scene on the burned pier with Heath was laughable at best. Victor, as Tony Alva, didn't carry the weight he was supposed to. He wasn't the best of the group, but he was the strongest, but Victor couldn't put any strength behind him. The three players did a decent job, but it was obvious from the opening scene that they weren't going to win awards for their portrayals.

I must compliment Hardwicke for her choice of Heath Ledger as Skip. From the documentary to the silver screen, Ledger did an amazing job of bringing this pivotal character to life. His voice, his mannerisms, his taut demeanor was exactly like watching the documentary. I loved it. It gave me faith that Heath could pull off The Joker in the upcoming "Batman" film. Alas, I cannot say the same for Rebecca De Mornay (who needs to do some independent work to get back into the business) and Johnny Knoxville. He is growing into an actor, but this was not the right character for him to tackle. Tony's financier needed to be meaner, pushier, and darker - none of which came from funnyman Knoxville. Everyone else involved seemed to hit their stride, as I enjoyed seeing some of my favorites playing cameo roles throughout the film. I must give credit to Hardwicke here as well for really bringing some (not all) of these guys into the project - I just wish she would have listened to them more when developing her style. She should have at least used all of them in the commentary, by just using Peralta and Alva, we knew who her favorites were. Where was Skip's side of the story?

Overall, I cannot say that this film compares in anyway, shape, or form to the documentary that Peralta created. I know that he wrote this film too, but it was obvious that one was written with the soul and the other was developed for the money. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" spoke for itself, giving us a raw taste of what life was like back in the 70s on Venice Beach and in innovation that the surfers had for bringing a new style of sport into the limelight. I loved the music again, "Maggie May" near the end really struck a chord for me and developed Skip into this true player. I cannot suggest this film to friends because I will be devoting my time to suggesting the more impassioned "Dogtown and Z-Boys" - especially the audio commentary - to them. I say watch the documentary, unless you like your stories with glossier endings.

Grade: ** ½ out of *****

You have to be into skate boarding to enjoy this movie, and I have to confess, I'm not that into skate boarding. The only reason I even watched this movie is because the power was out at my house due to a thunder storm and I had available a battery powered DVD player and my sister-in-law has this on DVD. The story is decent, but it does have it's dull parts. If you are not into skateboards now, this film won't convince you to be. This is mainly for those who love the sport only.

The acting is good, but there isn't anything that really stands out, you see nothing more than what you woul don ESPN. But that's the point, the evolultion of how it became a mainstream sport is the entire role of the movie. The problem is that the characters are just one dimensional and it doesn't really matter what happens to the characters during the film. When it is was over, I thought, oh well. It didn't leave me breathless and I don't think I will ever see this movie again, nor do I want to. The highlight of the film was the short cameo of Tony Hawk, but even that was predictable, how can you have a movie about this topic and not have Tony Hawk somewhere in it?

Like I said, if you aren't into skateboards, you won't like the movie. But for skateboarding enthusiasts, you have probably found heaven in DVD form.

Lords is a high energy film that drags the audience speeding along with it, tracing the early history of skateboarding in Venice, California.

We follow the fortunes of four roughly 15 to 17 year old boys and some of their girlfriends along with an alcoholic skateboard entrepreneur named Skip.

The Lords start their day by boarding off the roofs of the run-down rentals of their parents, in Venice. They hook a ride on a city transit bus until the driver spots them in the rear view and starts fish-tailing to shake them off.

Which turns out to be no problem. Our heroes drop off the bus jag, and segue into a line of stalled traffic, weaving in and out of the car line-up at high speed, by turns, dazzling and angering assorted drivers. Later, the most daring of the Four performs the crazy trick of boarding right thru a red light at a dangerous intersection without being hit.

Skip badgers and cajoles the kids constantly. He exploits them to promote the skateboards he is manufacturing at his Zephyr surfing gear and skateboard store. We are at the dawn of the Skateboard craze and Skip is bent on becoming a millionaire early. Only, he drinks quite a bit and shows signs of being a burnt-out 35 year old hippie.

That is the MO of one of the kid's Moms too, played by Rebecca De Mornay, who is so gone she uses expressions like "far out" and "man" and "can you dig it?" Even her kids treat her like a whacked out hippie. There is a heavy subtext of abused kids with parents who've failed to grow up.

At one point, De Mornay's current "old man" is moving out, and asks her reluctant son to help him, cautioning him to put a blanket over an enormous clear garbage bag of marijuana before carrying it to his car, and offering his surf board as a guilty pay-off for abandoning him, a scene both appalling and amusing to the audience.

Skip keeps running his hand-to-mouth manufacturing enterprise, employing other whacked hippies like himself, only working when they need enough jack to make a connection. Its hard to keep a production schedule when your 'groovy' friends refuse to show up for work. I've just realized, looking at the cast on IMDb, that the cool but whacked Skip is Australian Heartthrob Heath Ledger. This part is so good and Ledger so good in it, he deserves an Oscar. I didn't recognize him in his granny seventies blonde long hair. Its his best work on screen.

The Lords are perplexed and demoralized by the growing showbiz that is starting to overtake boarding. They gradually have given up on Skip, and begun to quarrel. But before falling completely apart, they define a new stunt that quickly makes them the crowned heads of sidewalk surfing.

Los Angeles Area pool-owners are ordered to drain their pools. The Lords decide to practice new stunts in empty pools, stealing into backyards the instant the owners go to work. The audience watches as the surfers perform outrageous tricks in the pools. An article appears in Skateboarding, another in People. Suddenly our boys are stars!

Only not all of them like it. An evil presence has intruded into their idyllic childhoods. One of the Lords steals a girl from a more waspish Lord, who looks like he is one of the Hansens singing group. There's a lot of long blond summer surfing hair on these guys. Only one of them has dark hair. One Lord refuses to accept any of the offers. He turns skinhead and starts hanging out with a gang. The Waspish one gets an endorsement deal and starts touring for a board company. Another of the Lords wants all the marbles, and signs with a Hollywood type who travels with an entourage of hangers-on and cheap bimbos in a longish limousine.

The hapless Skip has lost his guys and his business. We see him hand crafting a surfboard in the back of someone Else's surfing store. A clerk from the retail side comes in and asks if he'll have a customer's board ready by the next day. Skip says yeah, sure. When they leave, Skip relaxes, lights a cig, reaches for his hidden bottle, turns on the radio, acts out a lip-synched Maggie Mae that would put Rod Stewart out of business, then quietly returns to work. The whole 45 second turn is the best thing in the movie.

The wonderful ease of the Lords and the culture they created is spoiled by Success. The Lords stop seeing one another until the dark-haired kid develops a brain tumor and the others, finding success is not what its cracked up to be, gather at his father's dry pool for a rendezvous. An American Graffitti-style Epilogue tells us who the Lords become when they finally grow up.

When the lights go up I'm surprised to find two pairs of girls the only audience viewing the film with me. Voila!, why didn't I see it? This is a chick flick, even a skin movie for girls, since there is quite a bit of bared male surface in it. In the lobby, I notice two of the girls are dressed totally in black, wearing the wool knit hats cool black guys now affect year around, and sporting chains that run from the belt loops of black pants to enormous truckers wallets in their back pockets.

Lords reminds me a little of the stylish Fast and the Furious of a few years ago, but its ten times better. I'm still trying to figure out those two girls.

I purchased this as a gift for my 15 year old son, who is an avid skateboarder. I found this PG-13 DVD only available at Amazon. There is an R rated version out however, I recommend the PG-13 for your teens.
I have not seen the movie myself.

This retrospective docu-drama ("inspired by a true story") was written by Stacy Peralta, one of the central characters in the film who also wrote the earlier genuine documentary called Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001). Set in Venice Beach in 1975, it follows the fortunes of three teenage surfers-turned-skateboarders who discovered the magic of attaching polyurethane wheels to the bottom of mini-surfboards: "They come from oil, and they grip. You can ride on walls." The film has very little plot or character development, a lot of drugs and alcohol, and the dialogue seldom moves beyond verbal towel-snapping, but there is enjoyable footage of these "wood-pushers" careening on car tops, weaving between traffic, carving empty swimming pools, hitching on the rear bumpers of buses, and competing in the first national skateboard competitions. This film hardly rises to the quality of what Riding Giants did for surfing, but it still provokes some interesting questions about how a small group of stoned beach bums who were greatly disenfranchised from mainstream society jump-started what is now a billion dollar industry complete with X-Games on ESPN.

Love the movie...I had seen it before. The particular DVD I got from Amazon was damaged though and it won't play.

When I was a teenager, I had a few friends who skate boarded. It looked fun, so I tried it. I went down a steep hill, hit a pebble, flew off the board and landed on my head. I spent the next three days in the hospital with a concussion. The only person who visited was my mother. I decided skating wasn't my thing.

I still liked my skater friends, though, and enjoyed their company, so I tried making skating videos. My first one was of an angry old man in a Cadillac running over a street full of skaters a la "Death Race 2000." My friends were annoyed, said it wasn't how these videos were supposed to be, and showed me what they wanted. I never could get it right, and they eventually quit returning my calls.

I still miss my friends, and when I want to see them again, I resort to watching their doubles in films like "Lords of Dogtown."

"Lords of Dogtown" is a good film -- hardly the "Endless Summer" of skateboarding films, but it's got good performances and some decent skating scenes. Be sure and get the Unrated Extended Cut, not only does it have extra footage, it features a few extra shorts and behind the scenes features. I'd say if you're really interested in the sport, watch the documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" first.

I suppose if I'd been a skateboarder, I'd probably appreciate "Lords of Dogtown" more; even though the film goes into detail about the skaters' personal history and relationships, the scene's insularity still feels preserved, which makes the film far less engaging, even cold. More objective filmmakers probably would've done a better job with the "you are there" illusion, as it stands everyone here looks like Josephine.

This movie was for my son who is 9 and begged for it. He lost interest in about 30 minutes into the movie. I was able to watch some of it and quite frankly....it was very boring!!! It almost had a documentary setting rather than a movie which made it hard to follow. Anyway, I'm sure it has potential to be a good movie for a certain age group. Just not the young or middle aged group.

I got into this film because John Robinson and Emile Hirsch are young kids I follow. It is good film making.

I found myself unexpectedly drawn to this movie about the teenages who pioneered skateboarding in the 1970s. The film's strengths include it's low-fi documentary-style cinematography, credible dialog and strong performances all around. There is much to like. Skateboarding aficionados will enjoy the ample footage. There's also plenty for those with no interest in skateboarding at all as this is a classic tale of innocence, friendship, broken dreams, greed and daring. And anyone who lived through the 70's (as did this reviewer) will feel nostalgia for the period. Did I mention that the soundtrack is great?

This movie was great. The acting was supurb. The three main characters, Jay, Stacy and Tony were very well played by some great young actors. But Again, Heath Ledger stands out. As Skip Engblom, the always stoned surf shop owner who gave the Z-boys their first push toward fame, Ledger is amazing. If this is really how it went down, Skip Engblom is to be commended. He gave these kids free skate boards (that he made himself) and T-shirts to start their skating team the Zephyrs. Then when the kids started winning competitions, they abandonded him for the big time, signing on and selling out to the establishment, as skate boarding soared into big business. After a brief display of anger and bitterness (throwing the surfboards he created with his own hands off the roof of the shop), he seemed to hold no grudge against the boys who were trying to make something of their lives. The best part, though, were the special features. It was great to see the older Z-boys with the actors who played them in the movie.

I saw the previews for this movie and almost missed it. I am glad I didn't. You don't have to be into skateboarding to like this one. It was extremely interesting to see how the X games were started. Let's face it, between these guys and Evel Knievel, the X games were invented. I had always wondered what possessed anyone to go airborne on a skateboard in the first place, and where did the halfpipe come from? These questions are answered and in a very entertaining way.

The acting is superb, the music is of course 'classic', and it's rare to see a movie where there's drama, comedy and educational value all wrapped up in one.

Thumbs up.

I used to skate when I was in junior high and got fairly good at it until I got more into basketball and quit skating. Seeing this movie and the history of the culture/phenomenon of skating as it exists today made me pick it back up again. The director's style I wouldn't normally care for (I didn't like it in the movie "Thirteen"), but it works very well in this movie. Victor Rasuk as Tony Alva is awesome (he needs to get more roles). The movie is really good at depicting the story of the Z-boys fairly accurately (I believe the Sid storyline was partially fabricated - except for the end). The movie is inspiring - watching the Z-boys take over the sport, and sometimes sad - watching Jay, Stacy and Tony split up. The end of the movie is perfect tho. Anyone who has ever been into skateboarding, or thinking about getting into it, should check this movie out.

The best part of this is it is about real people who had a special talent. The movie does not try to clean up the image of the people it portrays they are gritty and rough people.I enjoyed it I first saw "Dog Town & Z Boys" A doc. about the same people. The actions sceenes are great the actors are believable in the parts. Both Heath Ledger and John Robinson out do them selves in this movie. I found my-self dis-liking the people this movie is about but enjoyed the movie very much.I do recomend seeing it and Dog Town & Z Boys.

The Z-Boys were a group of Venice Beach teenagers who, in the 1970's, pioneered a whole new style of skateboarding that is still popular today and which earned the boys status as instant international celebrities (at least within the tightly circumscribed world of skating). In 2001, one of the original members of the group, Steve Peralta, wrote and directed a documentary on the boys entitled "Dogtown and Z-Boys," which featured interviews with many of the original members of the group. Then, in 2005, a "fictionalized" version of the story came along, "Lords of Dogtown," also written by Peralta, but this time directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

It's understandable that in her approach to the material Hardwicke would want to preserve as much as possible the roughhewn, documentary flavor of the original. Thus, virtually the entire movie has been shot on grainy film stock using a handheld camera, which creates a sense of immediacy and spontaneity, and nicely approximates the look of the time period in which the story is set. The best scenes involve the boys performing harrowing, death-defying stunts, as they glide through and around pedestrians and vehicles along the traffic-clogged streets of their Southern California neighborhood. However, this impressionistic style also means that the narrative is often diffuse and unfocused, making it hard for us to distinguish one character from another and to know just who we should be concentrating on at any given moment. The ostensible protagonist seems to be Peralta himself, although it is roughly 45 minutes into the film's running time before even that simple fact becomes apparent. However, about halfway through the film, the dramatic elements finally begin to come together, we get to know some of the boys as individuals, and the movie ends on a genuinely touching note.

In the rare moments when the camera actually manages to settle down and an individual scene is allowed to play itself out, we begin to sense that some of the boys playing the skaters may actually have some real talent as actors (we can certainly see that they are damn fine skaters), and a few of them I suspect we will be hearing from again in the not too distant future. In a non-skating role, Heath Ledger plays a sort of mentor to the boys and the owner of the surf shop which served as the launching pad for the movement. Unfortunately, with his half-hearted attempt at mastering a slacker/stoner persona and accent, Ledger seems to be merely marking time in this film, counting down to that moment when he would stun the world with his soul-shattering performance in "Brokeback Mountain." Who could have foretold from his work here that he had THAT up his sleeve?

"Lords of Dogtown" is moderately informative to those who know next to nothing about the history of skateboarding, but I imagine it is the true aficionado of the sport who will get the most enjoyment out of the movie

This movie is very good, and I believe a very good account of the lifestyle in Dogtown. It does not present a very glamorous lifestyle and is down-and-dirty.
Some of the skateboarders have been remarkably successful, and others met their downfall. It is fairly typical of skaters/surfers, and a good movie for aspiring athletes to look at.

Some spoilers contained here.

Honorable Mention: Every time the stoned-out-of-her-gourd mom says anything.
5. Poor Peggy. She just seemed to be thrown into several scenes just for the sake of posterity-yes, there was an Asian girl on Team Zephyr, but we never actually give her anything to do.
4. Tiki, Tiki, Tiki.
3. The skateboarding dog-great sardonic humor on Peralta's part
2. The Slinky pitch
1. I turned to my cousin at the ending, with the cancer patient and the friends miraculously reunited as bros for one last skate together in the pool. I said "Are you buying this?" I added later "If Sid gently passes away while watching them, I'm going to puke." My cousin said, "I'm waiting for them to take his wheelchair down into the pool." Sure enough. And when they did, I had my biggest laugh of the movie.

Overall, a unique flick. What a different lifestyle. Some very good action and some sweet camera work.

There is not a whole lot of story to the cinematic adaptation of Stacy Peralta's memoir of his experience in the mid 1970s with the popularization of skateboarding. Nor is there a whole lot of character development in these teenagers addicted to skateboarding among other things. But what LORDS OF DOGTOWN is, is a spectacular cinematic excursion into the risks and exaltations of the sport of championship skateboarding: watching the thrills of these kids doing dangerous leaps, twists, airborne stunts in empty swimming pools is truly entertaining.

The film is set in 1975 when surfing was all the rage, especially in Venice, CA where one Skip (Heath Ledger) owns a surfboard shop. He befriends a scrappy bunch of teenagers who live their lives for skateboarding along Venice Beach and in private homes where empty swimming pools (this was the era of water conservation!) provide provocative arenas for their skills. The lead among them is Jay (Emile Hirsch) who is out to explore new challenges and when he and his confreres Stacy (John Robinson), Tony (Victor Rusak), and Sid (Michael Angarano) demonstrate the way skateboarding pleases crowds and girls, Skip cashes in on the enterprise by forming Zephyr, a club for championship skateboarding and enters his groupie into the competition circuit. As the boys gain fame they are tempted away from Skip into higher profile gigs and the group disintegrates only to reform after a tragedy befalls one of them.

The screenplay was written by Stacy Peralta (and that may explain why his role is a bit too goodie-two-shoes when compared to the antics of the other boys) and while there isn't a lot of dialogue of significance, there is a lot of communication very much in tune with the historic time of the action. Catherine Hardwicke has an amazing sense of the teenage attitude and vulnerability and keeps the story 'skating' with staggering momentum. The cast is uniformly fine: Heath Ledger shows he can be something other than the Hollywood leading man type and Emile Hirsch, Victor Rusak, and John Robinson are all on target with their roles. Newcomer Michael Angarano shows the promise in this film that resulted in his superb role in the current 'One Last Thing' - his screen presence is magnetic.

In all this is a recreation of a wild period of life in a bizarre era staged in a rickety old version of Venice, CA and it gives the viewer a slice of atmosphere that will likely not be re-created as well. Grady Harp, May 06

I cried at the end of this movie. It is a great movie, and I am a big wussie.

I liked this movie alot because i am into the 70's skateboarding thing. The only thing that I didn't like is that it wasn't called the zephyer shop it was the Jeff ho and Zephyer shop. They totally left out Jeff ho which was a huge impact on the Z boys. Also Stacy Peralta was always on the team he wasnt an independent skater at Del-mar. Also sid wasnt on the team he was just a skate enthusis and thats not his real name. But other than that it was a great movie.

The movie has its ups and downs. A mix of a lot of stuff like humor, action, and sadness. You almost want to cry at the end.

Stacy Peralta, played by John Robinson (Elephant), Tony Alva, played by Victor Rasuk (Raising Victor Vargas) and Jay Adams, played by Emilie Hirsch (The Girl Next Door) all live in Venice Beach, CA (Dogtown) where they go from surfers to becoming skateboarders...part of the Zephyr team. They are all lead by Skip Engblom, played superbly by Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) who turns his surfing shop into the area where all the skaterboys come to and they also skate empty pools since everyone drains them because it's drought season. They then become famous skateboarders all seperating from one another by the fame and fortune. Fantastic story gives off what it was like to be in that time period and I think they did a good job of recreating the areas, atmosphere and the cast is great as well. Also starring Michael Angarano (Sky High) as they guys other friend Sid who later died of brain cancer. Rebecca DeMornay (Risky Business), William Mapother (Tv's Lost), Johnny Knoxville (The Ringer), Nikki Reed (Thirteen), Julio Oscar Mechoso (Blue Streak) and Elden Henson (Idle Hands) also star. The following people also star in bits and pieces: Charles Napier (Austin Powers), Alexis Arquette (Pulp Fiction), Bai Ling (The Breed), Joel McHale (Tv's The Soup), Sofia Vergara (Four Brothers), Mitch Hedberg (comedian, R.I.P.), Shea Whigham (Tigerland), Jeremy Renner (Dahmer) and of course Mr. Tony Hawk (some skateboard guy...gots a lot of video games) who plays an astronaut. Tony Alva, Skip Engblom, Stacy Peralta and Jay Adams have small parts as well. Not the best movie ever but it still was a great ride...man. If you like this check out the Documentery Dogtown and Z-Boys...that's if you havent seen it yet, you should and its narrated by Sean Penn.

As a kid growing up in the 70s, Tony Alva was my favorite skateboarder and truth be told he still is so I had to watch this movie. It's a good story, and I enjoyed it.

I was disappointed because the stunts portrayed in this film are not indicative of the type of stuff these guys were doing. Alva did some awesome stuff back then, but the movie only shows stuff the average kid does on a playground. And they had the stunt doubles capable of doing an aereal three feet above the lip. A few shots like that with a California blue sky in the background would have made this movie a timeless classic (the way Endless Summer and Blue Crush are for surfing). Instead it's just a pretty good movie.

Ok first things first....to that deuche bag who said it needs less scenes with skateboarding: this is a movie about skateboarding, and clearly you don't skate. Anyone who didn't enjoy the skate scenes shouldnt be watching this movie in the first place. This movie is so well made. The characters are drawn so well, and you feel like you know them at the end. There is some great scenes that just make you smile when you see them too, but I don't want to give anything away. So just see this movie-it is indescribable.

The movie was great. This dvd has tons of extras, with bails and wipeouts, deleted scenes, and four extra minutes in the movie with lots more. This one is highly recommended over the normal Lords Of Dogtown DVD.

Movie: 4/5
Bonus Features: 5/5

This is a Hollywood-style retelling of the true story of the lives of the Z-Boys, but one that actually succeeds due to an excellent independent director (Catherine Hardwicke of Thirteen fame), a screenplay by original Z-boy Stacy Peralta, Z-boy Tony Alva teaching the actors the moves and the aura of the decade, and a cast of talented unknown young actors. The story is about friendship, boyhood bonds, the stresses of making it big, and the consequences of fame and life in the fast lane. The skating shots, especially those in big, empty swimming pools, were absolutely exhilarating. This is highly recommended for anyone who wants a nostalgic moment or to those who like a good drama.

I give only three stars to `Lords of Dogtown' not because I didn't like the film. I did like it, but as you all know, the same story is covered by the superb documentary `Dogtown and the Z-Boys' which I liked better. So why did they make another film about the Z-Boys?

Those who have seen the documentary about the Z-Boys already know the story, which focuses on the three characters in this film - Tony, Jay, and Stacy. That means, Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacy Peralta, and Peralta provided the script for the film. The boys are to form the basis of skateboarding team Z-Boys, whose gravity-defying style influenced the modern skateboarding as extreme sports, and they became cultural icons.

The stories about the boys who practiced the techniques in the empty swimming pools (and to do so, they sneaked into the houses) are now a legend, and you can see how they did it in `Lords of Dogtown' with the professional actors Victor Razuk as Tony, Emile Hirsch as Jay, and John Robinson as Stacy, and I think all of them did a very good job. The skateboarding scenes are all exciting, and the camera sometimes invites you to share the POV of the skateboarder. When they fell off the skateboard, you feel the pain too.

But there is a big flaw among the otherwise perfect story, and that is the dramatic element of it. The boys' `rags to the riches' story does not have the impact of the images, with too episodic narrative and ineffective presentations of the principal characters' personalities. Success is expensive and fleeting for them, we are told, but the price they paid is not explained enough. We know they suffered thanks to the good acting, but the suffering comes too sudden without the building-up process of it. In short, their skateboarding is radical, but the drama part of the film lacks the radical power of their style.

And some viewers might object to some part of the film. Female characters are not given substantial roles except Jay's mother played by Rebecca De Mornay, and though Nikki Reed (`Thirteen') appears, her role as Stacy's girlfriend is so small. And the owner of the surfboard shop and the boys' unofficial protector Skip (Heath Ledger with a long hair and beard) appears, but Skip looks always as if under influence of substance, but Ledger is, I think, did it too much. Was the real `Skip' so ... eccentric? Maybe so, and you can check it out in the `Z-Boys' documentary.

To her credit, Catherine Hardwick (`Thirteen') did a perfect job in evoking the times of the 70s, with good soundtrack music. Hardwick's keen eye for detail, which served her very well when she was an able production designer, didn't fail her, and the film manages to bring onto the screen the hot air of West Coast you felt in `Dogtown and the Z-Boys.' Skateboarders might find some things strange - and I cannot skateboard - but overall everything looks convincing to me. But it still must be said that more convincing is the documentary, made by the same Stacy Peralta, the protagonist of `Lords of Dogtown.'

Watching "The Lords of Dogtown" makes the viewer realize how critical the director is to a film. Catherine Hardwicke, whose only previous directorial credit was "Thirteen" has done such a perfect job realizing Stacy Peralta's screenplay that the thought of any other director tackling the film makes you cringe.

Of course, Hardwicke had plenty of help. Tony Alva was involved in almost every aspect of this film, from coaching the actors on skateboarding to providing dialogue he remembered from nearly 30 years ago. Peralta was there, as were many of the original Dogtown skaters including Jim Muir & Alan Sarlo. But it was Hardwicke's decision to utilize these resources & not to try to recast their lives in a rosier light that shows how valuable she was to this production.

Watching the DVD of Lords of Dogtown allows the viewer to really analyze the performances & editorial choices that may have slipped by in the theatre. For instance, Emile Hirsch's portrayal of Jay Adams can only be truly appreciated when you see him & the "real" Jay sitting side-by-side in one of the extras. Then Hirsch's performance seems almost spooky it is so accurate. John Robinson captures Stacy Peralta's mix of shyness & determination, good boy/ rebel down to a "T" while, although I initially had reservations about Victor Rasuk as Tony, no less an authority than Peralta himself says that Rasuk re-creates Alva's intensity & competitiveness flawlessly.

The grittiness of early 70's Venice/Santa Monica is brought back to life along with Pacific Ocean Park Pier. In the extras you'll find out how much of POP is CGI & how much physical. The clothes are perfect; Hang Ten shirts, OP's with briefs poking out the top, tube socks & Vans...the costume department doesn't hit a sour note. The skating sequences are edited so well that it takes Tony & Stacy talking on the commentary track to clue the viewer in on when it's the actor & when it's a stunt double (or Tony or Stacy themselves) doing the skating.

The commentary with Tony & Stacy makes buying the DVD truly worthwhile. It's amazing how many of the scenes *really* happened as the film shows, and were not just convenient tools for a Hollywood portrayal. Their comments truly bring an extra dimension to Lords of Dogtown. Other extras include clips of cameos played by the original Zboys, deleted scenes, recreating POP & the West Coast of the 1970's, Catherine Hardwicke's commentary & a music video.

This is really a great film, and for anyone who enjoyed "Dogtown & Zboys" a must-own. Definitely get the Unrated version; although the added bits total only about 4 minutes, they add to realism of the film, being the pieces that had to be cut to achieve a PG-13 rating (such as Jay taking a hit off of a joint). If you don't already own Dogtown & Zboys, buy both of these DVD's to truly appreciate them.

I went into this film not knowing much about the topic, and not knowing what to expect. The performances were great, and the story was good. I would recommend this!