Endless Summer

Monterey, color, PG, 100 min. plus supplements, stereo, fullscreen, $19.95, Street: Sept. 30; First Run: L, June 1994, $2.1 mil.

Nearly 30 years after the release of his definitive 1966 surfing documentary Endless Summer, Bruce Brown returned with a sequel, 1994's The Endless Summer II. Many considered the sport little more than a fad in the '60s, but Brown's smooth narration and spectacular slo-mo wipeout cinematography introduced an entire culture that, long before the sequel, had spread worldwide. Surfing's current generation will already appreciate ESII as a fascinating relic, because Brown wisely chose an old-school longboarder (Robert "Wingnut" Weaver) and a new-school shortboarder (Pat O'Connell) to catch good waves in choice locations ranging from Hawaii to Costa Rica, South Africa and France. Hardcore Brown fans will particularly enjoy segments featuring both stars and locations from the original movie. Supplementary material includes surfer bios, a photo scrapbook, two making-of documentaries produced in 1994, a "surferspeak" dictionary and the particularly charming Bruce Brown Reminisces, in which the filmmaker proves that his work is a real family affair. Along with his sons (and his grandson behind the camera), Brown recalls his career, including the production of both films, in a no-frills, laid back session that appears to have been shot in his living room. --C.S. O'Brien


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