Movie Review for Dogtown and Z-Boys

Summary: Skateboarding has crossed over into the mainstream population due in large part to the humble beginnings of a group of eight teenagers in an area of Santa Monica called Dogtown. It was there that this mismatched gang of kids from broken homes formed a group known as the Zephyr Team aka Z-Boys. They rode surfboards in the morning and skateboards in the afternoon, creating a style all their own. Desperate to ride, they used guerrilla tactics such as illegally skating abandoned swimming pools in upscale Los Angeles neighborhoods. But by the mid-70s, the skateboard phenomenon had caught on, and a few of the Z-Boys were scooped up by corporate sponsors and offered large sums of money to skate on their behalf. This elevated them from freewheeling street punks to celebrity skaters; they traveled the world, showing off their cutting-edge moves. Director Stacy Peralta, one of the original Z-Boys, reunites the original crew 25 years later to hear in their own words what it was like.

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Jon Lap of Apollo Guide (8/0)
            Voracious visually, unswerving narratively, and stylistically brave.

By Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle (8/0)
            This engrossing, definitive documentary on the birth of Southern California's outlaw skateboardin...

By Laura Bushell of BBC (8/0)
            Although devoid of objectivity and full of nostalgic comments from the now middle-aged participan...

By Meredith Brody of Chicago Reader (8/0)
            This propulsive, highly satisfying 2002 documentary concerns a group of daredevil skateboarders f...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (8/0)
            The film has an infectious enthusiasm and we're touched by the film's conviction that all life ce...

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (8/0)
            Despite its lack of perspective on history or the evolution of the sport, Dogtown and Z-Boys does...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Michael Phillips of Citysearch (4/4)
            A thrilling look at the mostly unknown history of the original extreme sport.

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (8/0)
            What there's too much is interviews with middle-aged, self-proclaimed radicals indulged in endles...

By Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com (8/0)
            Dogtown and Z-Boys does precisely what a documentary movie should do: it makes its subject fascin...

By Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly (8/0)
            A dazzlingly crafted documentary.

By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (8/0)
            A fine, interesting documentary.

By Daniel Steinhart of Film Journal International (8/0)
            At its core is a truly human tale of how a bunch of kids who had everything going against them un...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Rich Cline of Film Threat (8/0)
            The film fearlessly gets under the skin of the people involved ... This makes it not only a detai...

By Tim Sanger of Film Threat (8/0)
            It's an entertaining study for anyone, as it makes you believe that skateboarding is the ultimate...

By Warren Curry of filmcritic.com (8/0)
            ...impeccably blends style and substance...

By Warren Curry of filmcritic.com (8/0)
            A thrilling experience, and one that can be thoroughly enjoyed even if you're unable to discern a...

By Michael W. Phillips, Jr. of Goatdog's Movies (8/0)
            A very entertaining documentary, further proof that a good doc can be as much fun as a fictional ...

By Eric Harrison of Houston Chronicle (8/0)
            Despite its faults, this is a fascinating look at a subculture.

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (8/0)
            Energetic and fun film ... the most memorable parts of the movie are all of the editing tricks.

By Manohla Dargis of L.A. Weekly (8/0)
            Enormously enjoyable, high-adrenaline documentary.

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (8/0)
            Gives a detailed and fascinating picture of the Z-Boys phenomenon.

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (8/0)
            A fast-paced but narrowly-aimed look at the outlaw skateboarding movement of the '70s...disappoin...

By Susan Tavernetti of Palo Alto Weekly (8/0)
            The straight cuts illustrate how the Zephyr team's revolutionary, riffing style was both an exten...

By Frédéric Rochefort-Allie of Panorama (8/0)
            Bienvenue aux antipodes de notre société axée sur le capitalisme, les rêves illusoires et les bal...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Elbert Ventura of PopMatters (8/0)
            Peralta's product may have the whiff of sell-out, but you may find that you're too busy buying it...

By Tor Thorsen of Reel.com (8/0)
            Seeing how 99% of movies are designed to keep you on your keester, you have to respect one that i...

By Jeff Stark of Salon.com (8/0)
            The problem is that Peralta wants it all, and that it doesn't all add up.

By Jean Lowerison of San Diego Metropolitan (8/0)
            An affectionate look back at those heady days.

By Edward Guthmann of San Francisco Chronicle (8/0)
            Exhilarating but blatantly biased.

By Sean Axmaker of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (8/0)
            More than simply a portrait of early extreme sports, this peek into the 1970s skateboard revoluti...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall (8/0)
            If you think a documentary about the birth of modern skateboarding sounds like something worth mi...

By Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine (8/0)
            Dogtown and Z-Boys more than exposes the roots of the skateboarding boom that would become "the p...

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (8/0)
            This flick is about as cool and crowd-pleasing as a documentary can get.

By Ken Fox of TV Guide's Movie Guide (8/0)
            If the sign of good documentary is its ability to enthrall you regardless of your prior interest ...

By Urban Cinefile Critics of Urban Cinefile (8/0)
            A truly fascinating case study of just how an underground sport ascended on the world.

By Urban Cinefile Critics of Urban Cinefile (8/0)
            A truly fascinating case study of just how an underground sport ascended on the world.

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Emily Blunt of Blunt Review (3/5) No reference
            This is one fantastic, enthralling film.

By Susan Green of Boxoffice Magazine (3/5) No reference
            Even people clueless about skateboarding can enjoy Dogtown and Z-Boys.

By Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune (3/5) No reference
            Few sports films catch their time, place and sport so well.

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (3/5) No reference
            I know exactly nothing about skateboarding, but this wild, exuberant documentary puts it all in p...

By Steven Rosen of Denver Post (3/5) No reference
            Watching Dogtown is like discovering a secret history of America.

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/2) No reference
            the subjects are all charismatic and interesting — any of them could have been the focus of their...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Adam Smith of Empire Magazine (6/2) No reference
            Quite possibly the best documentary about youth and sport since Hoop Dreams.

By Jason Anderson of eye WEEKLY (7/1) No reference
            A uniquely visceral (if inevitably self-aggrandizing) piece of documentary filmmaking.

By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (3/5) No reference
            Dogtown & Z-Boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sex...

By Tim Sanger of Film Threat (3/5) No reference
            It's great documentary filmmaking.

By Greg Dean Schmitz of Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (3/5) No reference
            The rebellion, the rock music, and the frenetic introduction to skating culture all combine to ma...

By Duane Byrge of Hollywood Reporter (7/1) No reference
            A wild ride with eight boarders from Venice Beach that was a deserved co-winner of the Audience A...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Stacie Hougland of Hollywood.com (3/5) No reference
            ...cool as f***.

By David Poland of Hot Button (3/5) No reference
            There is something I find deeply disturbing about a documentary made about one's own life that ne...

By Jim Slotek of Jam! Movies (3/5) No reference
            The story of how Santa Monica's Zephyr skate club created a bridge from the ho-dad '60s to the ra...

By Dan Lybarger of Kansas City Star (3/5) No reference
            Peralta's filmmaking is nearly as audacious as his skating. The movie often looks like an undergr...

By Glenn Whipp of Los Angeles Daily News (3/5) No reference
            The movie has an infectious exuberance that will engage anyone with a passing interest in the ska...

By Martin Scribbs of Low IQ Canadian (3/5) No reference
            Using the Zephyr team's creation, its sudden fame, and death by defection, Dogtown documents genu...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            This documentary by Stacy Peralta makes a convincing case on behalf of skateboarding, of all thin...

By Megan Turner of New York Post (3/5) No reference
            You don't need to know or care about the skateboarding culture to enjoy this...

By John Anderson of Newsday (3/5) No reference
            Unless you come in to the film with a skateboard under your arm, you're going to feel like you we...

By Shawn Levy of Oregonian (3/5) No reference
            The overall effect is awe and affection -- and a strange urge to get on a board and, uh, shred, d...

By Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            You may see more important, more moving, more meaningful documentaries in your time. But you will...

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (3/5) No reference
            About nowhere kids who appropriated turfs as they found them and become self-made celebrity athle...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Mark Halverson of Sacramento News & Review (7/1) No reference
            It also paints a vivid portrait of a place, time and tribal gathering where environment, attitude...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/5) No reference
            Delivers a thrilling view of an era when a group of kids, almost by accident, defined 'cool' for ...

By James Hebert of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/5) No reference
            An account that's as raw and colorful as the misfits it mythologizes.

By Joe Leydon of San Francisco Examiner (3/5) No reference
            Fascinating.

By Melanie McFarland of Seattle Times (3/5) No reference
            A wonderful demonstration of how employing the aesthetic values of a subject can produce a raw, j...

By Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine (3/5) No reference
            ...brims with such energetic, time-stood-still nostalgia it's a shame the Z-Boys had to eventuall...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Peter Bernard of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            At times, however, Dogtown and Z-Boys lapses into an insider's lingo and mindset that the uniniti...

By John Venable of Supercala.com (3/5) No reference
            ...this is a great document, and gives due credit to those who truly invented vertical skateboard...

By Geoff Pevere of Toronto Star (3/5) No reference
            This is pop history that blows your hair back.

By Mike Clark of USA Today (3/5) No reference
            Filmmaker Stacy Peralta has a flashy editing style that doesn't always jell with Sean Penn's mono...

By Mark Holcomb of Village Voice (7/1) No reference
            ...unexpectedly giddy viewing.

By Curt Fields of Washington Post (3/5) No reference
            Watch this, and the next time you see the X Games or a skateboarding video game commercial, you'l...

                         Reviews of Dogtown and Z-Boys
By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/1) Not Reachable
            An enthusiastic ode to a few of the pioneers of extreme sports.

By Rene Rodriguez of Miami Herald (7/1) Not Reachable
            An informative, nostalgic trip back to a fascinating era, told by those who knew it best.

By Dan Gross of Philadelphia Daily News (3/5) Not Reachable
            Fast-paced and wonderfully edited, the film is extremely thorough.

By Carrie Rickey of Philadelphia Inquirer (3/5) Not Reachable
            An exhilarating, breathless, must-see chronicle of the skateboarder revolution and evolution.

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/5) Not Reachable
            The people in Dogtown and Z-Boys are so funny, aggressive and alive, you have to watch them becau...

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/1) Not Reachable
            Poetry in motion captured on film. While it can be a bit repetitive, overall it's an entertaining...

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