Bustin' Down the Door (2008)

This documentary tells the story of a group of Australian and South African surfers who revolutionized their sport in Hawaii during the winter of 1975.

Director:

Jeremy Gosch

Writers:

Jeremy Gosch, Monika Gosch

Stars:

Reno Abellira, Clyde Aikau, Eddie Aikau

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Reno Abellira	...	Himself (archive footage)
Clyde Aikau	...	Himself
Eddie Aikau	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ben Aipa	...	Himself
Bernie Baker	...	Himself
Wayne Bartholomew	...	Himself
Larry Bertlemann	...	Himself
Ian Cairns	...	Himself
Nick Carroll	...	Himself
Tom Carroll	...	Himself
Tom Curren	...	Himself
Mick Fanning	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jeff Hakman	...	Himself
Fred Hemmings	...	Himself
Michael Ho	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

During the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, surfing was shaken to its core. A group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa sacrificed everything and put it all on the line to create a sport, a culture, and an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world. With a radical new approach and a brash colonial attitude, these surfers crashed headlong into a culture that was not ready for revolution. Surfing was never to be the same again.

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Plot Keywords:

surfing | 

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Taglines:

In 1975 a group of young surfers revolutionized their sport. This is their untold story.

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Genres:

Documentary | Sport

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 2008 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Oahu, Hawaii, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$650,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fresh & Smoked

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (HDCAM)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Morning of the Earth (1971)

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Soundtracks

Down on the Street
Written by Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, and David Alexander
Performed by The Stooges
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group

User Reviews

Mainly for fans of the sport

I have never been on a surfboard in my life, but thanks to surf documentaries like "Endless Summer", I do think the sport of surfing is pretty cool and something I would like to try before I kick the bucket. So I was interested in watching "Bustin' Down the Door" when I found a copy, especially since it promised to discuss something about the sport I didn't know about before - how surfing became a multi-million dollar industry. While I did find the end results sometimes interesting, I don't think the documentary is as strong as it could be. There is some cool surfing footage, but when it comes to the human angle the movie is really lacking. It's mostly a collection of talking heads, and more often what is said by the participants doesn't add much insight or advance things terribly much. It tells the story in a real slow fashion, and once it gets to interesting topics like the resentment of Hawaiian surfers to the outsiders coming in and shaking things up, it doesn't go into great detail and instead speeds towards the end. Another problem is that the movie often seems to be preaching to the choir, assuming its audience knows a lot about the featured surfers and what they experienced. The documentary is not without interest, but I think the only audience that could really appreciate it would be surfing aficionados.