In 1964, director Bruce Brown finished work on his latest surfing documentary, Endless Summer. Thirty years later a sequel crawled out of the spray and onto screens across the world in the form of Endless Summer II. In 2000, a look back on the first two films compiled out of new and existing footage materialized in the form of Endless Summer: Revisited and now, in 2004, Image Entertainment packages all three films into one handy box set entitled The Endless Summer Collection.

The Endless Summer

Filmed on location in Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, California and parts of Africa, Endless Summer does a truly effective job of capturing the spirit of surfing as it was back in 1964. The film follows a group of surfers from California from location to location and captures them not only riding the waves and scouting out the beaches but also communicating with various villagers (some of whom are quite confused and are encountering a Caucasian for the first time) and of course, flirting with the local ladies.

Narrated with a good sense of humor by the director himself, the film is full of gorgeous scenery, interesting people, and obviously, a whole lot of great surfing. Everything is laid out on the line in front of the camera as we witness not only some amazing moves but also quite a few nasty whip outs as well, which not only shows their human sides, but also lends a bit of levity to the action as well..

The Endless Summer II

This sequel from 1994 follows pro-surfers Pat O'Connell and Robert 'Wingnut' Weaver around the world in the quest for the biggest and best waves to ride. Similar in idea to the first Endless Summer film, this documentary follows the pair from Hawaii to Australia to Costa Rica and then to Africa and even Alaska, and it captures some truly amazing scenery along the way.

Of course the surfing takes up the majority of the film, that's the whole point, but as the film progresses we get to know the duo better and see them interacting with the locals, the girls in particular when the visit Costa Rica, and encounter some unexpected wildlife problems along the way.

Once again Bruce Brown narrates and does an even better job in this entry than in the first film. His dry wit keeps things interesting and amusing and that, combined with the excellent cinematography, likeable central actors, and gorgeous scenery makes for a pretty enjoyable one hundred minute trip.

The Endless Summer Revisited

If you dug the first two Endless Summer films, than this companion piece will probably be right up your alley. Essentially, it's an all new documentary comprised of never before seen footage of roughly a dozen different surfers in different locales.

This time out Bruce has had some help from his new collaborator, his son, Dana Brown. A lot of time is given to surfers looking back on their careers in the sport and while it's not as interesting or visually compelling as the first two films in the set, it does wrap it all up rather nicely and there's a lot of interesting facts tossed around in its seventy minute running time.

Video:

All three movies in this set are presented fullframe, which is how they were shot. The first film looks the worst of the bunch but even still, it's a decent looking transfer. The other two entries are very nice as well. For the most part, colors are nice and vibrant, the prints used for all three discs are nice and clean and there is a surprisingly high level of detail present throughout. None of the three are perfect, there is some shimmering noticeable in a few scenes and some print damage shows up here and there, but there aren't any serious issues with the video on this set.