Bustin' Down the Door (2009) |
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Bustin' Down the Door (2009) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Documentary |
Featurette-Fuel TV's Blue Carpet Special Teaser Trailer-and Trailers (3) Gallery-Photo-Dan Merkel's Slide Show Featurette-Santa Barbara International Film Festival Additional Footage-Surfing Footage Deleted Scenes-(8 Scenes) TV Spots-Surfrider PSA's (2) |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2009 | ||
| Running Time | 95:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Jeremy Gosch |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Jeremy Gosch Monika Gosch Phil Jarratt Robert Traill Wayne Bartholomew Ian Cairns Tom Curren Edward Norton Mark Richards Kelly Slater Shaun Tomson |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Stuart Michael Thomas |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
The marvellous thing about some documentaries is their ability not just to tell a contemporary story but to take us back in a time machine to a moment of white hot releveance. The genuinely marvellous documentary Bustin Down the Door not only functions as a record of the time when young Australian and South African surfers helped crete the World stage for pro-surfing. But for baby boomers and early Gen-X'ers it is also a nostalgic time capsule - taking us back to the 70's when surfing was King.
Don't get the wrong idea- surfing today is a vibrant culture and professional sport. But in 1975 surfing was the culture - you either surfed or you didn't. Even foamie tragics like me felt part of the excitement of surfing as every house (and beach house) coffee table spilled over with surfing magazines; Surfer, Tracks etc and we read the exploits of a pig called Captain Goodvibes and a bunch of bronzed Aussie surfers ripping it up in the mecca of surfing - the North Shore of Hawaii.
Bustin Down the Door is the story of the formation of the professional surfing scene in the mid-70's. In fact it hones in on three exciting years in the sport -1974, 1975 and 1976. In that first year a bunch of Australian surfers, including soon-to-be household names Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholemew, Mark "M.R." Richards, Ian Cairns and Peter "P.T." Townend and some South African stars including Shaun and Michael Thomson, descended on the North Shore of Hawaii determined to make names for themselves. They were young, brash and very talented. Their surfing was athletic, courageous and innovative. It was a hard world to break into. The surf competitions held in Hawaii at the time were invitational and non-Hawaiins barely got a look-in. Despite surfing their hearts out these young men were lucky to get an acknowledgement let alone an invitation.
At this time surfing was a pastime more than a professional sport and these great sufers earnt less in a year than today's pro-surfers spent on board wax. The first third of the movie acts as an introduction to these men and the forces that drove them relentlessly to pursue their dreams of surfing. These were no beach bums. Each was dedicated to their sport, surfing on days when others would leave the boards inside.
The challenges were extreme. Yet they remained determined to be the best. It was the Smirnoff Classic of 1974 at thundering Waimea Bay that began the shift. That day remains a touchstone of surfing lore and made heroes of the men who surfed that competition. Peter Townend gives a spine-tingling desciption of that day but every surfer who was there gives a different account. Were the waves 25 foot, 30 foot or 35? No matter, the footage from the day shows supreme athletes tackling conditions that would drive the ordinary surfer to hysteria. By the end of that year the invaders had begun to dominate surfing on Hawaii and, when going home for the off-season, they (well Rabbit mainly) let everyone know it. The Aussies were the best surfers in the World and the Hawaiians were losing their grip on their own turf. The proud Hawaiians reacted angrily and the overseas surfers found their return to the island to be greeted less than hospitably by the natives. Death threats, beatings and open hostility threated to tear the island apart and destroy the future of surfing as an international sport. That it didn't happen is a tribute to the intervention of influentual Hawaiians and a dose of luck. By the end of 75 and 76 pro-surfing was on its way and the final third of the movie describes the launch point for the pro-surf comp and pays tribute to the trailblazers who made it possible.
Bustin Down the Door is a must watch, a must own indeed , for any surf fan. It deserves a place alongside Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants. What is most pleasing is how enjoyable the film is for non-surfers. Anyone with an interest in sport, Australian history even, will get a buzz out of this well researched and well presented documentary. Anyone with a heart can't fail to be moved by the final scenes consisting of cross cutting between the legends as they paddle out to surf as elder statesmen and their 70's nimble frames darting through the surf.
Highly recommended.
Bustin Down the Door combines a variety of sources including Super 16mm, 35mm and Digital Video. The effect of the final product is impressive. The film was presented cinematically at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and this ratio (or near enough to it) has been preserved for the DVD release. It is 16x9 enhanced.
People buying this DVD probably aren't looking for visual perfection, after all some of the footage goes back 40 years, but everything comes together in a seamless and neat package. The grain is obviously higher on the old material and the colours vary according to that age. The fleshtones on the interview segments are accurate and there are no technical problems such as compression with the transfer.
There are no subtitles.
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The sound for Bustin Down the Door comes in two varieties - Dolby Digital 5.1 running at 448Kb/s and Dolby Digital 2.0 running at 224Kb/s.
Both flavours of audio track are suitable for the material. The voices can be heard clearly and the lack of subtitles is really no problem.
There is a nifty soundtrack of original music and some select borrowed tunes. The most appropriate of these is the Them Terribles track Dreamers which plays at the credits and sums up the ethos of the film.
The surround track doesn't add much to the piece but the presence of the sub-woofer is keenly felt in the big surf scenes. Waimea Bay is no doubt less frightening in the lounge room than on a board but the thunderous bass rumble of the big swell still managed to throw fear into my heart (and cause my cat to leave the room!).
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This 32 page booklet contains photographs by Dan Merkel and quotes from the legends. Awe-inspiring stuff!
Fuel TV strays from the beaches and skate-parks only long enough to present the occasional Blue Carpet Special. This is part Making of and part premiere interview session. The heroes and the current stars of World surfing are interviewed about the film (which they haven't seen yet) and there is some footage from the movie. Amusingly, the director says that the hardest part about the production process was getting the subjects out of the surf and into the interview room!Pretty light stuff but worth a watch.
Three different teasers and trailers on show here.
The slide-show is a tribute to iconic surf photographer Dan Merkel. Each of the images is a classic in its own right.
A short feature on the presentation of the film at the Festival including some enthusiastic exit polling.
As a non-surfer this feature, which consists of over 30 minutes of surfing, struck me as a bit long. But for surfing fans this could well become the background at parties for the next few years to come. Break after break on the North Shore with only a few non-surf inserts and a rock score as accompaniment.
Two Public Service Announcements - the first is about untreated sewage getting into the water and the other, well I can't remember what it is about though it does feature a walrus driving a beach cart!
There are 8 deleted scenes on offer. They are:
No commentary is given for these deleted scenes. All are interesting and it appears that, as usual, time was the reason for the omission. The scene on the North Shore gives a deeper understanding of the attraction of the location. Rabbit tells a neat story about the look on his Bank Managers face when he told him he wanted to borrow money to be a professional surfer! In the final scenes Da Hui tough guy Eddie Rothman explains that he is just a pussycat and he can't recall any harsh words during the 70's!
Predictably some other surf films (Shutter Speed, Green) get a look in here as well as Eric Bana's Love the Beast.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This is an all Regions DVD.
Whether to buy or rent Bustin' Down the Door is an excellent documentary that manages, like the best documentaries, to make you feel that you understand something of a sport without being part of it. The film is great because the stories are so compelling and the characters sometimes larger than life.
The audio and visuals are good all round and the range of extras is extensive and interesting catering for the surf nut who can't get enough tube riding.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer BDP-LX70A Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output |
| Display | Pioneer PDP-5000EX. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR605 |
| Speakers | JBL 5.1 Surround and Subwoofer |