“Riding Giants,” the latest comer in a recent mini-revival of films about board-riding thrill-seekers, is narrower in scope than last year’s winsome encomium to surfing, “Step Into Liquid,” but no less appealing. Skateboarding legend turned budding media mogul Stacy Peralta, who scored in 2002 with his autobiographical documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys,” catches the right wave here with a comprehensive examination of big wave riders, past and present. Surfers, skaters and anyone who just plain enjoyed the aforemen-tioned fare will no doubt get a rise out of “Riding Giants,” but there’s also plenty here to capture the imagination of damn near anyone with the slightest sense of adventure.
In walking us through the history — at times a bit too leisurely — Peralta focuses his lens on three giants of this mythic, elementally violent world: Greg Noll, surfing’s most legendary hotdogger, who is credited with opening the holy grail of big wave surf spots, Hawaii’s Waimea Bay; Jeff Clark, who discovered America’s big wave capital, Mavericks in Northern California, and spent 15 years surfing the huge break alone; and Laird Hamilton, the bronzed god from the North Shore of Oahu who is widely considered the most intrepid rider ever to brave the waves. The film is an entertaining and highly informative tutorial featuring a tsunami of archival footage masterfully cobbled together by Peralta and editor Paul Crowder. (Rated PG-13 for brief strong language. Running time: 105 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 9, 2004. Read the original PDF.