Underplayed Gems

Ride the Wild Surf (1964)

Ride the Wild Surf poster
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
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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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)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.