The Endless Summer (1966)

Awesome movie

It is not only a fantastic surfing movie; it is a fantastic look at the world in 1968. They couldn't say what they say in this movie today. It would NOT be PC. There is nothing offensive about this movie socially, but the left wing PC'ers of the world would not let these guys describe the world so accurately.

As far as I am concerned, this is the all time best manly movie about surfing around the world. Makes me want to walk out on my job, grab my son and surfboard and travel the world surfing!
September 21, 2008

The Endless Summeer

For people who live in a hot summer climate, I live in Texas, this is a classic escape flick. It is a perennial favorite. Two fellows who are well liked, and a great narrator--searching for the perfect wave for their surfing. Where? Around the world. On my computer I found modern day pictures of the fellows. Yes, each had changed from their appearance in the early years of the 1960's, but much fun to view the DVD. Thanks. JM September 6, 2008

All Good Summers Must Come To An End

I suspect everybody has certain movies that became almost mythic for them, even though they never quite got around to seeing them. ENDLESS SUMMER was such a film for me. It debuted in 1966 when I was in junior high school, and, like the BEACH PARTY movies and the motorcycle flicks of the era, it was a film I wanted desperately to see, but one I was just a few years too young for. "Youth culture" was a very ill-defined term at the time, but anything that seemed to smack of freedom from familial and societal restraints, i.e. just bumming around, was inherently intriguing to me. Unfortunately, my mom and dad didn't always agree.

Within a few years, surf culture probably started seeming relatively wholesome compared to the more illicit activities that were starting to gain a foothold in the culture. But even as a young teen, I was vaguely aware that there was sort of a Beatnik underside to the surfing scene. Sure the Gidgets of the world would grow up, and Frankie and Annette would settle down in the suburbs. But there were also those guys you'd hear about, like the two dudes in this movie, who were doing wild things like traveling the world searching for the perfect wave in "an endless summer." There was something Romantically "Kerouac-ian" about people like that.

Or so it seemed 'til I finally saw the movie. For years I had labored under the impression that the two guys at the heart of this documentary were the hardcore, near-beatnik beachbums who would spend their entire lives on this kind of quest. Turn out they were a couple of average Joes (or given their surfer dude status, maybe I should say "average Chads") who probably jumped at the chance to make this doc and travel around the world for one GLOBAL summer (but hardly an "endless one") before heading to business school or wherever their real life career paths would lead them.

Still, the cinematography--while perhaps a bit primitive by today's standards--is good enough to suggest something of the thrill of the sport, and there are plenty of scenes that give the viewer a feel for the Zeitgeist. But it's still pretty much a conventional documentary, with a "youthful orientation" that hasn't aged all that well. And, yes, some of the non-PC commentary about native tribesmen and customs in the various locales IS grating, even if it's more or less understandable given the era. Gripes about $30.00 a night hotel rooms and $1.00 cups of coffee (and--EGAD-- $1.00 per gallon GAS!!) are bound to give contemporary viewers a chuckle or two.

Worth a look-see, but this viewer was somewhat disappointed to find out after all these years that "The Endless Summer" was really more like "a protracted spring break." Maybe somebody will do the Miki Dora story sometime. Now that could get into some Neal Cassidy-type territory.

August 23, 2008

Ok video, but not as great as Endless Summer II

If you get both Endless Summer 1 and 2, be sure to watch 1 first and its a little of a letdown if you want 2 first (because the videography is so much better, and narration alot more humorous in 2) July 10, 2008

Endless Summer For Bruce Brown - Endless Winter For Me

This is only one of three surfing movies I have ever paid to see in a movie theater.

I can honestly say that this movie changed my life. I started surfing, and that was the beginning of the end. It directly resulted in my being sent away to military school in Texas. No surfing for 4 years. Good thing I wasn't a senior in high school. (It would be interesting to see how badly California college enrollment dropped in the fall of 1966.)

I have owned this movie in every format since it came out. I can watch it today with the same pleasure that I did when it was first released 40 years ago. It is a timeless classic.

It also started US Surfing Imperialism; so now, no matter where in the world you go to catch waves, someone has already been there. June 7, 2008

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