Ride the Wild Surf (1964)

Directed by

Don Taylor

Genre

beach party film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

G

Rating

5.2 of 10 from 11 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a romantic drama set in 1960s Hawaii. It follows a group of surfers who travel to the north shore to ride the famous big waves. The story focuses on their friendships and romances as they take on the dangerous surf.

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What happens

Ride the Wild Surf is a 1964 American romantic drama film. Unlike the beach party movies of the era, this was a departure from the typical Hollywood approach to surfing as it was a drama, not a comedy. It is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in Hollywood films. Likewise, the film has only one pop song – the titular Jan and Dean track, which is heard once, at the end of the film. Tom Lisanti wrote the movie "stands head and shoulders above all the sixties beach party movies... It makes an honorable attempt to portray surfers and the sport of surfing sincerely and to showcase the big waves of the north shore of Hawaii. There are no singing surfers or goofy motorcycle gang members... [It is] the best Hollywood surf movie of the sixties." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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