“Many surfers ride summer and winter, but the ultimate thing for most of us would be to have an endless summer; the warm water and waves without the summer crowds of California. The only way to do this is by travelling around the world, following the summer seasons as it moves around the world.”
The Story:
To surfers, there is nothing more fulfilling than finding the perfect wave; a curl in the liquid that goes on for as long as one can stand on a board. For Mike Hynson and Robert August, the search for such gratification takes them on a journey that spans the seasons, yet sees little change in temperature. Alongside documentary director and our narrator Bruce Brown, Mike and Robert ride the wild surf from continent to continent, culture to culture, risking injury and potential death to truly live on a yearlong, heart-pounding journey where warm summertime never ceases.
The Review:
The Review:
The Endless Summer is exhilarating and therapeutic. When it comes to the traditional sporting events of the teen comedy; skiing, surfing and snowboarding (with beer pong quickly firing up the rear), without question surfing is the most enchanting to admire. Watching a guy (actually, preferably a gal in a tight bikini) hang 10 on a glassy ocean top is a relaxing thing of beauty, while utterly terrifying if you put yourself on their board. With gigantic waves weighing in at somewhere around infinite throwing humans about with such force that the board can actually split the body in two, or so the documentary says – and I wouldn’t have the balls to question it – the thrill of The Endless Summer is as everlasting as the title suggests. Bruce Brown captures nature at its most brilliant like it was no big deal, delivering near perfection in each and every frame. Released in 1966, the film stock and age don’t quite do it justice, but it is marvellous nonetheless.
A fairy tale for surfers, The Endless Summer covers the globe in search of new waves without ever having to dip into frosty waters (technically untrue, but fantasize with me a bit) and taking advantage of the best spots no one has ever heard of. During their voyage through Malibu, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and finally Hawaii, our subjects surf good waters, terrible waters, places that supposedly don’t have surf and beaches that haven’t been touched by humans in a decade. In these spots, the subjects mingle with Aussie beach babes, hitch a spontaneous 2000 mile ride with a pranking snake handler, are chased by zebras and emerge from the drink with plenty wounds and cuts for their troubles. As an obvious and ultimate complimentary piece to the AIP beach film series, you’d almost think the breathtaking, gargantuan shots and oddball scenarios are taken straight out of a teen surfing comedy. Yet this is real life, from deserts to oceans that are miles deep to table-top mountains, The Endless Summer locks you in a trance early on and like a gnarly wave, won’t let you go until it says so.
Their intercontinental journey actually begins in West Africa, setting the human tone of the film that captures one from the get-go by spending a good 30 minutes of Robert and Mike surfing amongst beaches belonging to native tribes. The Africans don’t understand a word coming out of their mouths and vice versa and even with such tribulations a bond forms between the people as the Africans see and participate in the sport of surfing for the first time. Their smiles are as endless as the summer and the film never manages to reach the heights of greatness achieved in these almost philanthropic scenes. Then again, few reach such levels in the first place.
As the end of the adventure looms, they find themselves in Hawaii, the best place on earth to surf not only due to their oceans, but the fact that the climate is truly an Endless Summer. Seeing the world through the eyes of a surfer is a blast, and the feeling they must get being on a stretch of land of 5 miles that separates the Indian and Atlantic Oceans is a trip; especially since the water temperature difference between these two bodies of water so close together is upwards of 20 degrees. Little factoids and feelings subtly rest in your mind after viewing The Endless Summer. Lamer men would have just relaxed in the comforts of the Aloha State, but the romanticism of a neverending summer around the world just seems to make more sense. Only with The Endless Summer does romance not a feel like dirty word on B.A.L.L.S. Academy. (Brett H.)
As the end of the adventure looms, they find themselves in Hawaii, the best place on earth to surf not only due to their oceans, but the fact that the climate is truly an Endless Summer. Seeing the world through the eyes of a surfer is a blast, and the feeling they must get being on a stretch of land of 5 miles that separates the Indian and Atlantic Oceans is a trip; especially since the water temperature difference between these two bodies of water so close together is upwards of 20 degrees. Little factoids and feelings subtly rest in your mind after viewing The Endless Summer. Lamer men would have just relaxed in the comforts of the Aloha State, but the romanticism of a neverending summer around the world just seems to make more sense. Only with The Endless Summer does romance not a feel like dirty word on B.A.L.L.S. Academy. (Brett H.)
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