'Step into Liquid' vs 'Riding Giants'

I prefered "Riding Giants." I just felt it was a better movie, and it told a better tale about the sport. Greg Noll is a one-of-a-kind personality, and Peralta captures him perfectly. "Step Into Liquid" is still a good movie, but I don't think it quite captures surfing as well.

"We are here and it is now. Beyond that, all human knowledge is moonshine." H.L. Mencken

BLUE HORIZON!

I feel that the cinematography is better in Step Into Liquid. But Riding Giants has a less "earthy/hippy" tone about it. I still love both movies though.

Speaking as someone who has never surfed a day in his life, I recorded Step into Liquid off cable one day. Watched it over and over. Watching that movie was like finding a new religion. Riding Giants was also an excellent film and really got me interested in the pioneers. But like Greg Noll talking about those Hawaiian waves being his first love, Step into Liquid is it for me. Because of that movie, I made a promise to myself to get my fat ass into shape and learn to surf. I don't care if all I ever catch is a 4 foot wave.

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Riding Giants, hands down. Step Into Liquid is pretty good, but it doesn't capture the pioneering spirit that is at the heart of surfing as well as Riding Giants does. Giants also does a better job of showing how surfing has evolved to where it is today. I found the old archival footage of the guys who were out living the dream on the North Shore in the late 50's-early 60's fascinating. Step Into Liquid takes you to some pretty cool locations, and it shows some of the really cool connections and communities that surfing fosters, but it's not as well written as Riding Giants.

I give Riding Giants a 9/10 ; Step Into Liquid I give a 6/10.

What did I think? I basically trashed Step into Liquid after seeing it in the theater. I thought it was very poorly done, and said so. The 'dude' talk was embarrassing. That's why I like this big wave movie, instead. And they pointed out that they didn't use the word, dude, even once (though they tried to sort of fake it in a scene which was deleted). The only thing missing, oddly, were the hydrofoils, which were the big concluding scene in SIL, which I believe Hamilton has used himself. Instead they showed him with a short solid balsawood board and footstraps when he attacked 'choopoo' in Tahiti. And that was the conclusion. That was another deleted scene. They WERE going to conclude with the hydrofoils - the feeling of flying.

So they didn't show the Cortez Banks, I believe it was, which I guess doesn't break all that often. Heck, they cancelled the Eddie tournament again, and then Mavericks, this year, 2007. But this movie did show what these guys think or do when the ocean is flat. In other words, this movie seemed about real guys really surfing instead of including some pretenders as well. But that wasn't the only reason I didn't like SIL. I liked some of the photographers commitment, except on the Cortez Banks (I thought they could have stayed outside on that and watched the complete drop).

But others here are right - as well. What they want to say is, who cares? As long as the wave means something to you, get out there, learn from it. Change your life. And that's partly what this big wave movie is also about, even while showing stunts that only a specialist with both a inborn knack and years of experience can barely handle without getting killed. I think this movie makes that point a lot better. Find your own wave. But if other are moved by SIL, then fine. That's what moves them.

While both good movies, I have to go with Giants. The Mavericks stuff is outstanding.