Izzy Adkins
The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.
David Allen
"Endless Summer Revisited" (2000) Is A "Must See" For Admirers of Bruce Brown's "Endless Summer" surfing movies ------------- This is a documentary which explains how the two Bruce Brown (1937 - ) ENDLESS SUMMER (1964 and 1994) "surfers surfing around the world" movies were made.The ENDLESS SUMMER (1964) movie really captures the spirit of the early 1960's, it's optimism, possibilities, and joy.The 60's, in my opinion, got grabbed by bad people and exploited, but the ENDLESS SUMMER (1964) movie (and the later one in 1994, too) really communicates the spirit of those days (51 years ago!) at their very best.Life really could be and should be (and for a few years in the early 1960's was, for some of us in our early 20's) as simple, yet as fulfilling as depicted in the ENDLESS SUMMER (1964) movie.I can't praise it enough.It is a statement of "the ideal life" and a description of it.At the time the original ENDLESS SUMMER movie was made (shot in 1963), it was entirely possible to do just what the two protagonist surfer heroes of the movie (18 and 21 year old guys) did.....Spend a year traveling around the world on the cheap, having wonderful, memorable, edifying adventures.It was the time when books were being published with titles like EUROPE ON FIVE DOLLARS A DAY, and Icelandic Airlines charged $100 for a plane ticket from NYC to Paris.Greyhound Bus Lines charged $100 for an "Ameri-Pass" which allowed unlimited Greyhound Bus travel anywhere in the USA for 3 months.American Youth Hostels charged $5/night of less, and were clean, OK places to stay almost anywhere.The ENDLESS SUMMER (1964) movie really captures the promise and possibilities of those times.For me, it's a statement of my ideal politics and social policies! That's the kind of life for me.Bruce Brown's son, Dana Brown, was the director of the movie (he is seen as a 1959 toddler baby in footage shown at the start of the movie).The movie is made up of wonderful interviews by many of the "players" part of Bruce Brown's long career as a movie maker about surfers and surfing.The question "How did we do it?" is answered by Bruce Brown himself, and many other who were surfers in his movies in the 1950's and 1960's and who were part of the team which created the first blockbuster documentary movie hit titled "The Endless Summer" (1964) and the follow up "Endless Summer Part II" (1994) movie as well as movies Bruce Brown made in the 1950's and early 1960's.Home movie footage is included in this wonderful documentary which tells the story of how Bruce Brown and his team "did it," making wonderful, unforgettable movies about surfing all over the world.Anyone interested in documentary and narrative feature movie production and behind the camera problems and challenges should see this movie.It is so good, I can't find the words to say how good it is. Get it, enjoy it, re-screen it often along with the other famous Bruce Brown surfing movies.
