| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Dogtown and Z-Boys: Special Edition
Columbia/Tri-Star // PG-13 // August 6, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I've recently watched the extreme sports IMAX documentary "Ultimate X" for the third time, not only because it's an entertaining feature, but for the kind of craft apparent. I learned nothing about the sports involved, but that film is a rush of sight-and-sound that pulls the audience into the experience. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is an entirely different creature indeed, but one that's just as enjoyable and even functions better as a documentary.
"Dogtown" really captures the birth of extreme sports. While the film is not as slick as "Ultimate X", it uses a mixture of black-and-white interviews, old footage and other materials into a masterfully edited collage of imagery that also manages to teach the audience about the culture, the time and the place. The place itself is Dogtown, a low-rent beachfront area in California where, in the late 70's, Stacy Peralta and other members of the Zephyr Team started a revolution in skateboarding (done when they couldn't surf in the middle of the day) and, apparently, were largely responsible for pushing the sport forward.
The well-organized picture does not simply offer the interviews and footage of the Zephyr team. The picture even gives a history of the sport during one point early on, talking about the revolution that occured in the 60's when the boards originally became popular, before they dropped out of sight, only to reappear years later. As the film moves forward in time, we're told how skateboarding started to grow and expand as the sport moved away from the sidewalks into emptied local pools. Now, many local communities seem to be growing more intelligent about skateboarders. Rather than shooing them away, I've heard of some towns who have built skateboard parks and charged a small fee for monthly access.
The interviews with the now grown-up Zephyr team are quite interesting, as the group talks in-depth and intelligently about the society that had come together during the era, which included such tactics as pushing out outsiders and punishing those who released the locations of the secret pools without consulting the group. Once skateboarding really took off, the group really became rock stars, promoting the sport on an international level. Other interviews include Ian Mackaye of Fugazi/Minor Threat, Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament. Sean Penn provides the film's narration.
Overall, "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is certainly one of the strongest documentaries that I've seen in quite some time. Not only is it put together in a visually enjoyable way, but it provides a richly informative and entertaining look at a time, a place and a culture.
The DVD
VIDEO: While I enjoyed the picture quality offered on this release, I was a little confused by the aspect ratio. While the Internet Movie Database lists the title as being presented theatrically in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the film's mixture of old footage, new interviews and other location shooting looks as if it was composed for full-frame. That aside, the picture quality seems to be a fine representation of the material, varying in quality, but not showing many flaws that weren't already a part of the film element. Sharpness and detail were generally very nice - the newly done interviews were certainly the most crisp and well-defined aspect of the show.
As noted, there are some flaws that are part of the film element. A fair amount of the film is made up of what appears to be old 16mm footage, which does show some mild wear at times, with noticable marks and scratches. The new intereview footage remains completely clean and crisp, with no wear or other faults. Pleasantly, edge enhancement and pixelation were not spotted, although a little shimmer was seen in some of the still pictures. Colors generally looked natural, although they could appear faded in some of the older footage.
SOUND: "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0 by Columbia/Tristar Home Video. The film's wonderful soundtrack, which includes everything from classic rock to pieces of score to punkier tunes, is really the one element of the soundtrack that uses the surrounds, filling the room nicely. Otherwise, the soundtrack is pretty much a front-heavy affair, concentrating more on the film's interviews.
MENUS: Nicely animated main menu and a cool, see-through blue DVD case.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: director and former Zephr Team member Stacy Peralta and editor Paul Crowder provide a screen-specific audio commentary for the entire picture. Browsing through the track, I found that both provided a relaxed and informative discussion of the film. They split their time between talking about the production and financing and also expand upon the stories told in the picture. Quite interesting are the comments over the end credits, where the two talk about the minimal release they thought the film would get (the film won multiple awards and made $1.3m in domestic release, which is certainly a fine success, given the low budget).
Trailers: Trailers for "XXX", "Groove", "Grateful Dawg" and "Dogtown and Z-Boys".
Also: Extended footage, deleted scene.
Final Thoughts: Skateboarding fans should love "Dogtown", but even those who are completely unfamiliar with the sport may want to try this well-crafted, fun and informative documentary as a rental. Columbia/Tristar's DVD provides good audio/video and supplements. A definite recommendation.
I've recently watched the extreme sports IMAX documentary "Ultimate X" for the third time, not only because it's an entertaining feature, but for the kind of craft apparent. I learned nothing about the sports involved, but that film is a rush of sight-and-sound that pulls the audience into the experience. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is an entirely different creature indeed, but one that's just as enjoyable and even functions better as a documentary.
"Dogtown" really captures the birth of extreme sports. While the film is not as slick as "Ultimate X", it uses a mixture of black-and-white interviews, old footage and other materials into a masterfully edited collage of imagery that also manages to teach the audience about the culture, the time and the place. The place itself is Dogtown, a low-rent beachfront area in California where, in the late 70's, Stacy Peralta and other members of the Zephyr Team started a revolution in skateboarding (done when they couldn't surf in the middle of the day) and, apparently, were largely responsible for pushing the sport forward.
The well-organized picture does not simply offer the interviews and footage of the Zephyr team. The picture even gives a history of the sport during one point early on, talking about the revolution that occured in the 60's when the boards originally became popular, before they dropped out of sight, only to reappear years later. As the film moves forward in time, we're told how skateboarding started to grow and expand as the sport moved away from the sidewalks into emptied local pools. Now, many local communities seem to be growing more intelligent about skateboarders. Rather than shooing them away, I've heard of some towns who have built skateboard parks and charged a small fee for monthly access.
The interviews with the now grown-up Zephyr team are quite interesting, as the group talks in-depth and intelligently about the society that had come together during the era, which included such tactics as pushing out outsiders and punishing those who released the locations of the secret pools without consulting the group. Once skateboarding really took off, the group really became rock stars, promoting the sport on an international level. Other interviews include Ian Mackaye of Fugazi/Minor Threat, Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament. Sean Penn provides the film's narration.
Overall, "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is certainly one of the strongest documentaries that I've seen in quite some time. Not only is it put together in a visually enjoyable way, but it provides a richly informative and entertaining look at a time, a place and a culture.
The DVD
VIDEO: While I enjoyed the picture quality offered on this release, I was a little confused by the aspect ratio. While the Internet Movie Database lists the title as being presented theatrically in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the film's mixture of old footage, new interviews and other location shooting looks as if it was composed for full-frame. That aside, the picture quality seems to be a fine representation of the material, varying in quality, but not showing many flaws that weren't already a part of the film element. Sharpness and detail were generally very nice - the newly done interviews were certainly the most crisp and well-defined aspect of the show.
As noted, there are some flaws that are part of the film element. A fair amount of the film is made up of what appears to be old 16mm footage, which does show some mild wear at times, with noticable marks and scratches. The new intereview footage remains completely clean and crisp, with no wear or other faults. Pleasantly, edge enhancement and pixelation were not spotted, although a little shimmer was seen in some of the still pictures. Colors generally looked natural, although they could appear faded in some of the older footage.
SOUND: "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0 by Columbia/Tristar Home Video. The film's wonderful soundtrack, which includes everything from classic rock to pieces of score to punkier tunes, is really the one element of the soundtrack that uses the surrounds, filling the room nicely. Otherwise, the soundtrack is pretty much a front-heavy affair, concentrating more on the film's interviews.
MENUS: Nicely animated main menu and a cool, see-through blue DVD case.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: director and former Zephr Team member Stacy Peralta and editor Paul Crowder provide a screen-specific audio commentary for the entire picture. Browsing through the track, I found that both provided a relaxed and informative discussion of the film. They split their time between talking about the production and financing and also expand upon the stories told in the picture. Quite interesting are the comments over the end credits, where the two talk about the minimal release they thought the film would get (the film won multiple awards and made $1.3m in domestic release, which is certainly a fine success, given the low budget).
Trailers: Trailers for "XXX", "Groove", "Grateful Dawg" and "Dogtown and Z-Boys".
Also: Extended footage, deleted scene.
Final Thoughts: Skateboarding fans should love "Dogtown", but even those who are completely unfamiliar with the sport may want to try this well-crafted, fun and informative documentary as a rental. Columbia/Tristar's DVD provides good audio/video and supplements. A definite recommendation.
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||