Culver City, Calif. (November 16, 2009) – Coming down the pipe is a full-impact visual thrill ride as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment delivers the gripping documentaries Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants on high-definition Blu-ray Disc™ on January 5, 2010, each for the SRP of $24.95. Both of these films are retrospectives about the subcultures surrounding extreme sports. The story of Dogtown and Z-Boys began as an outgrowth of the skateboarding counterculture movement in Venice, California in the 1970s. Similarly, Riding Giants was borne out of a surfing subculture in Hawaii in the 1950s; young people whose sole purpose in life was to ride waves. These two films examine the cultural zeitgeists that grew into permanent lifestyles and that are still practiced today.
At the heart of Dogtown and Z-Boys are the 12 Zephyr Boys or Z-Boys who resuscitate the dead sport into a pop culture phenomenon. Directed by one of the original Z-Boys, Stacy Peralta, and narrated by actor Sean Penn (Academy Award® Winner, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Milk, 2008 and Mystic River, 2003), Dogtown and Z-Boys features interviews with the legendary Z-Boys and the people they influenced including, singer-songwriter, raconteur and spoken word artist Henry Rollins, Jeff Ament of the band Pearl Jam and iconic skateboarder Tony Hawk. Lauded by the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 with the Audience and Directing Award, this film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary in 2002. Dogtown and Z-Boys Blu-Ray is loaded with all new added value including a brief look at Tony Alva’s art gallery show featuring pro-skaters and their art and an interview with pool skating pioneer Tony Alva and pro-skater Bucky Lasek exploring the evolution of pool skating.
Riding Giants, Peralta’s follow up to the acclaimed Dogtown and Z Boys, chronicles the history of surfing from its start in Waimea Bay, Hawaii to its migration up and down the west coast shores. The film also examines the man versus nature dialectic of the sport as well as the overwhelming obsession to find The Big Wave. Famed surfers Jeff Clark, Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox and Titus Kinimaka supply the narrative of the film. Riding Giants soar to greater heights when viewed in high definition, capturing the larger-than-life thrills of these renegade sportsmen and the crashing roar of the waves heard via Blu-ray’s lossless audio.
Dogtown and Z-Boys Synopsis
This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice’s Dogtown, a tough “locals only” beach with a legacy ofoutlaw surfing.
Special Features:
· All new look at Tony Alva’s art show
· Evolution of Pool Skating with Tony Alva and Bucky Lasek
· Commentary with Director Stacey Peralta and Editor Paul Crowder
· Lords of Dogtown Webisodes
· Three Featurettes
o Bicknell Hill Session
o Jeff Ho 2000
o Mar Vista 2000
· Multi-Angle Freestyle Branching Scenes
· Deleted Scenes
· Alternate Ending
· 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Dogtown and Z Boys has a run time of 91 minutes and is rated PG-13 for language and some drug references.
Riding Giants Synopsis
From acclaimed director Stacy Peralta comes Riding Giants, the story of big wave surfing. Breaking the mold of traditional documentary filmmaking, Riding Giants uses its dynamic, cross-generational approach to profile the lives and times of the intrepid surfers who, over the decades, have dedicated their lives to finding and successfully challenging the biggest waves on Earth. We meet Greg Noll, the pioneer, whose relentless push into Hawaii’s big surf in the late 1950s earned him the nickname “The Bull.” There’s Jeff Clark, Northern California’s lone frontiersman, who, after discovering the massive waves of Maverick’s near San Francisco, rode there solo for over a decade. And finally Hawaii’s Laird Hamilton, the prototypical “extreme” surfer, a rare breed of athlete/innovator and considered the best big wave rider who ever waxed a board. Through a fast-paced combination of mediums that include classic archival photography, spectacular movie footage – both current and vintage – and contemporary interviews with the sport’s greatest surfers, experts and storytellers, Riding Giants captures the rich visual history of one of the most dramatic athletic adventures of our time.
Special Features:
· Commentary with Director Stacey Peralta and Editor Paul Crowder
· Commentary with Writer Sam George and Surfers Greg Noll, Jeff Clark and Laird Hamilton
· Two Featurettes
o Making-of Riding Giants
o Fuel TV’s Blue Carpet Special
· Deleted Scenes
o Surf Talk
o Wave Complexity
o Half Moon Bay
o Original Ending
o End Credits Sequence
· 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Riding Giants has a run time of 105 minutes and is rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
