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7 Girls (White Knuckle Extreme)
Image // Unrated // June 4, 2002
List Price: $19.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
7 Girls follows seven well-known female surfers in their journeys across the world, including stops at such tropical locales as Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji, Indo, and likely many other spots I'm forgetting that make generous use of the letter 'i'. The participants are Layne Beachley, Serena Brooke, Heather Clark, Megan Abubo, Rochelle Ballard, Keala Kennelly, and Sophia Mulanovich, the latter of whom is described on the DVD sleeve as a "super grom". The Crazy Surfer Slang page defines a grom as "a younger surfer that older surfers torture." Apparently Mulanovich suffers torture particularly well or something. 7 Girls takes advantage of its exotic locations and offers a bit more than just random offshore shots of the seven women surfing. The film provides some insight into what it's like to be a surfer and to interact with so many different people from so many different backgrounds...or whatever...
I have to be honest. I'm not entirely sure why I was assigned the task of reviewing a surfing DVD, as I don't know the first thing about surfing. Actually, that's a mild exaggeration. The first thing about surfing would presumably involve obtaining a surfboard. From there, I would assume that the prospective surfer would find transportation to a beach of some sort before marching boldly into the deep blue sea. The fourth thing about surfing, now that's where I'm lost. I have no first-hand knowledge of surfing, and what precious little I do know stems largely from the Atari Lynx version of California Games and Shane McDermott's monologues in the underrated 1993 classic Airborne.
If anyone from the production reads this review and is horrified by my comments, I apologize. I mean no disrespect, but I'm far, far, far outside the target audience for this sort of DVD. If a comprehensive study were conducted to determine who should not be reviewing 7 Girls, I have the utmost confidence that I'd rank somewhere in the top quarter percentile. I don't look down on surfing, but at the same time, I've never had any particular interest in the sport. I genuinely don't even have the faintest idea what good surfing footage looks like. Perhaps 7 Girls includes some of the most stunning surfing ever captured on film, but I found myself completely underwhelmed for the forty minute duration. The one exception would be the truly terrifying home video footage after the credits, which nearly brought me to tears. No, and not in a good way either. If 7 Girls had been wrapped around the plot of a film like The Beach Girls and the Monster, perhaps I would be a tad more enthusiastic. As it is, I don't know how to make heads or tails of the DVD in front of me, so I guess I'll move onto the disc's technical merits.
Video: 7 Girls is a combination of footage shot on 16mm and reasonably high-end video. The nature of the material doesn't compel me to delve into ridiculously detailed discussions of color saturation or shadow delineation. The full-frame image is free of any issues that would make any difference in a purchasing decision, for what that's worth.
Audio: The Dolby Digital stereo audio is primarily an unremarkable compilation of the sorts of music one would expect from a "white knuckle extreme" collection, ranging from electronic-lite to punk to ska to hip-hop. Every once in a while, there will be brief comments from one of the titular seven girls (sorry, had to sneak a 'titular' in there somewhere). For the most part, though, the audio is just music over surfing footage. Again, there's nothing in this respect that would make or break a purchase.
Supplements: "16mm - Behind The Scenes" is a seven minute promotional featurette that consists almost entirely of clips from the movie (or whatever it would technically be considered) and the gals saying how great everything and everyone was. There's also a Flash animation entitled "Surf Divas" and a Vans commercial.
Conclusion: If you've been waiting with bated breath for a forty minute collection of girls surfing, congratulations -- 7 Girls is the DVD for you. The disc carries a list price of $19.95. I have no idea whether or not that's an appropriate price. I don't even know how much replay value a collection like this generally carries. I am so sorely out of my element that I'm going to just shut up and hang my head in shame.
I have to be honest. I'm not entirely sure why I was assigned the task of reviewing a surfing DVD, as I don't know the first thing about surfing. Actually, that's a mild exaggeration. The first thing about surfing would presumably involve obtaining a surfboard. From there, I would assume that the prospective surfer would find transportation to a beach of some sort before marching boldly into the deep blue sea. The fourth thing about surfing, now that's where I'm lost. I have no first-hand knowledge of surfing, and what precious little I do know stems largely from the Atari Lynx version of California Games and Shane McDermott's monologues in the underrated 1993 classic Airborne.
If anyone from the production reads this review and is horrified by my comments, I apologize. I mean no disrespect, but I'm far, far, far outside the target audience for this sort of DVD. If a comprehensive study were conducted to determine who should not be reviewing 7 Girls, I have the utmost confidence that I'd rank somewhere in the top quarter percentile. I don't look down on surfing, but at the same time, I've never had any particular interest in the sport. I genuinely don't even have the faintest idea what good surfing footage looks like. Perhaps 7 Girls includes some of the most stunning surfing ever captured on film, but I found myself completely underwhelmed for the forty minute duration. The one exception would be the truly terrifying home video footage after the credits, which nearly brought me to tears. No, and not in a good way either. If 7 Girls had been wrapped around the plot of a film like The Beach Girls and the Monster, perhaps I would be a tad more enthusiastic. As it is, I don't know how to make heads or tails of the DVD in front of me, so I guess I'll move onto the disc's technical merits.
Video: 7 Girls is a combination of footage shot on 16mm and reasonably high-end video. The nature of the material doesn't compel me to delve into ridiculously detailed discussions of color saturation or shadow delineation. The full-frame image is free of any issues that would make any difference in a purchasing decision, for what that's worth.
Audio: The Dolby Digital stereo audio is primarily an unremarkable compilation of the sorts of music one would expect from a "white knuckle extreme" collection, ranging from electronic-lite to punk to ska to hip-hop. Every once in a while, there will be brief comments from one of the titular seven girls (sorry, had to sneak a 'titular' in there somewhere). For the most part, though, the audio is just music over surfing footage. Again, there's nothing in this respect that would make or break a purchase.
Supplements: "16mm - Behind The Scenes" is a seven minute promotional featurette that consists almost entirely of clips from the movie (or whatever it would technically be considered) and the gals saying how great everything and everyone was. There's also a Flash animation entitled "Surf Divas" and a Vans commercial.
Conclusion: If you've been waiting with bated breath for a forty minute collection of girls surfing, congratulations -- 7 Girls is the DVD for you. The disc carries a list price of $19.95. I have no idea whether or not that's an appropriate price. I don't even know how much replay value a collection like this generally carries. I am so sorely out of my element that I'm going to just shut up and hang my head in shame.
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