GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

SnoopyStyle In 1975, Craig Stecyk wrote a series of articles about Zephyr Skateboard Team and an area of California called Dogtown. It's a rundown seedy seaside area where former amusement parks had fallen into ruins. In 1972, Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, and Craig Stecyk set up a surf shop in Dogtown. They were the rebels of the surfing culture and gathered a group of hungry local kids. Then new wheels allow the kids to skateboard while the waves are down.The style is functional to edgy rock indie. Sean Penn is giving a flat performance as the narrator. The best part of this is watching from people on the inside who were there at the time. It's a fascinating piece of popular culture in a fascinating place. It's an interesting doc for not just surfers and skateboarders.

zepandzap For those of us who are old enough to remember the impact on the sport, &,know of what we speak...these guys re-energized the sport.I'd been f'ing around on a skateboard since I was about 7 or 8.But when I picked up my first issue of Skateboarder mag I was turned on to a whole new way of riding.And these guys were the first wave of vertical/surf style riders. The only thing was that all we had to go on were photos.So we had to figure out how to get to the point of having that one wheel on the coping...and then how to get back down without losing it.We weren't able to see the whole completed move.We never even knew if THEY were really pulling off some of that stuff.To watch this & be able to SEE them riding was still a rush for me LONG after I'd given up riding.In retrospect,it's easy to view them as being bitter.But when you put aside all of the personality issues...These guys did for skating what Zeppelin did for Rock.And you can only fully appreciate that if you were there.For TRUE skate fans...this is a history lesson.

mrp mrp This is an excellent documentary about the pioneering 1970s Zephyr skate boarding team. They were called the Z Boys and they came from Santa Monica, CA. The team totally revolutionized skate boarding and made it both a true sport and also an art. The film details the origins of the team. It also shows where their moves came from. I certainly agree with the Grammy nomination for best compilation soundtrack. Check out the great clip played during the credits. It sounds like a multi-instrumental homage to one of the great "surf guitarists," but it's not done by a group that you would expect ... you'll see. The film really draws you in. If you like documentaries you should see this film. Besides the Z Boys there is also commentary from Tony Hawk and Henry Rollins. What more could you want?

blippster Dogtown and Z-Boys is a documentary about the Zephyr Skateboarding Team, and their influence on skateboarding. It also focuses on the history of skateboarding. It was directed by Stacy Peralta, a member of the original Zephyr Team, and was written by Stacy Peralta and Craig Stecyk, another member of the team. The documentary stars the members of the Zephyr Team and is narrated by Sean Penn.The documentary talks about the beginning of skateboarding, and how it evolved from surfing. It discusses skateboarding's popularity in the late 60s and the 70s, its decline in the 80s and its 'rebirth' in the 90s. Skateboarding was introduced in Dogtown, the nickname of the poor side of Santa Monica, California. The Zephyr Team originated from the Zephyr Surf Shop, which manufactured the first modern skateboards. The documentary mainly consists of the original Zephyr Team members talking about the past in the Zephyr Team, the competitions they won, and their popularity and prestige. It focuses on three particular members of the team; Peralta, Tony Alva, and Jay Adams, three virtuosos of skateboarding, and probably the best three members of the team.The interviews in the documentary were usually voices over archival footage from Dogtown in the late 60s and 70s. Very rarely to you actually see the people being interviewed, but when you do, they are shown in black and white, while the archival footage was in colour. I think Stacy Peralta used this technique to show that the documentary was about the past (i.e. the Glory Days of the Zephyr Team) and not the present. The documentary is very fast paced, in that we often see clips of impressive skateboarding over up-beat music of the era (such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie), and the interviews tend to be quick and to the point. Knowing nothing about skateboarding (i.e. not even knowing how to ride one straight along the ground) I was very surprised that I found this documentary so interesting. The reason is that this doco was more about the Zephyr Team than the actual sport of skateboarding, so while I couldn't relate to skateboarding, I could relate to the boys in the team. Because it was made by actual members of the team, it gives it a little more depth and authenticity.All in all, I would have to say this is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. It gave me a whole new insight, not just into the Zephyr Team, but into skateboarding as a whole. For those who love skateboarding, I can only imagine how it must be even more interesting. Seven and a half stars out of ten.