Customer Reviews

Five Summer Stories

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the best surf films I have seen and, for the first time it was a little more than 30 years ago. Gerry Lopez at his best, Jeff Hackman at Sunset, lots of frames that make me go back to old issues of The Surfer. Action, sense of humour, skateboard action, good soundtrack, magic footage by Greenough... Even today a collector's piece and enjoyed by surfers that were not born when 5 Summer Stories were "told" on the screens around the world.

As a surf shop manager, I see most everyone surf video that comes out, and yet this is still my absolute favorite. The fact is this video perfected the surf medium; good pacing, varied location, small bits of humor, and absolutely phenomenal music.

I've seen this movie hundreds of times, and yet it never gets old. Buy this, even someone who doesn't surf can still enjoy it.

First,I dont think anyone can come close to this classic.I was on the

north shore when they were shooting some of the footage.I was in middle

school at the time;o.c. and riding my skateboard was all i did.when 5.S.S.

came out at newport mesa theatre.I saw it 3 times.What a great impression

it made.Cause, I never forgot it.Now this dvd is an updated version.

So I cant give it a top 5 stars. If they re-release the ORIGINAL I wont

think twice about 5 stars.

This re-release is not the original movie, but then again it is!! I was dissapointed to not find it in the original form that the jacket cover suggests it to be . That said, I was 'there'(Huntington Beach Surf Theatre) when this movie came out and it was followed by 5 Summer Stories Plus 1, ..then 5 S S Plus 2..etc.. I think they got up to about ' 5 SS Plus 4 ' or so, I lost track ! This ' Version' is a carefully crafted montage of 'all' the 5 Summer Story films.... Yes I want the ' first / original 'un mixed' version too !' This should be titled something like 5 Summer Stories the Mixed Chronicles.. but that might confuse 'Spicoli' so guess they kept it simple and figured many were too buzzed to know the difference this many years later... LOL.. Still, lots of stoke and it's the closest thing you can get to that point in time and day ... many good memories. P.S. Buy the Honk CD for the best Honk tunes that were in the original release of the movie, much cleaner studio recordings, especially of the tune, Pipeline Sequence.

I was lucky enough to catch this movie in Laguna when it was new. Corky Carroll, David Nuuiwha, Mike Hopps, Rocky (thanks for the ride home, bro), and a crowd of hooting locals watched it. Honk produced a thumping soundtrack in sync with the action, the beat punctuated with saxophone; the intervals pulsing with piano. Gerry Lopez captured the imagination of the surfing world in this movie. A dozen copy-cat movies would follow. Everybody started riding seven-six pintails at California beach breaks hoping to emulate Gerry. Mac/Freeman got rich off this movie as they re-released it or toured the surf movie circuit with it again and again, with updated versions. It was really popular.

I especially enjoyed the insightful commentary by the likes of Dru Harrison (a really hot South Bay surfer that passed a few years ago, RIP), Drew Kampion (one of the few surfing writers with any literary talent), and Chuck Dent (an anti-hero of the highest order). Some of the sixties (which lasted until 1973) philosophy seems dated today, but most of resonates truth. The surfing seems stiff and simple, compared to the manuevers done today, but it was state of the art at the time. My old surfing buddy, Mike Hopps, for example, shown on 3 waves (blond guy on a white board at Rocky Point and Pipeline), really labors just to complete a bottom turn and off-the-top. The portraits of David Nuuiwha and my high school classmate, Brad McCaul (one hardly ever saw him in Algebra II, because he was always in Hawaii) focus on the best California surfers at the time. McCaul's surfing at the Santa Ana River Jetty used to blow my mind. Nuuiwha's surfing was poetry in motion, smooth, like a yoga or zen master would surf. Mike Purpus, hated at the time, surfs really well in this movie. But most of the surfing features Hawaii, glorifies "da country" (it's not the same anymore on land) living, and especially Gerry Lopez. Chuck Dent's (RIP) diatribe at the commercialism creeping into the sport was prophetic. Rick Griffin (RIP), a famous surfing and psychedelic artist, did a neat poster for the movie.

The movie documents the end of the golden era of surfing, when it was done for the love of the sport, not money, fame, or competition. It was a great time to live, and I'd love to do it again on today's boards, to tell you the truth.

If you were a surfer in the 70's, you've probably seen this movie already. It will bring back memories. If you haven't seen it, it's a good look back into the history of the sport.

I was in Junior High at the time when I saw this film at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It was always a treat to see surfing films there because as the movie went on it became increasingly difficult to see the movie half way thru due of all the Reefer smoke clouding the screen. Good Times!

Da Kine Bra!!

If you surfed in the seventies, you had to hear about this film. It was perhaps the best portrail of the period in surfing. With an excellent soundtrack by "Honk" it is a must have for older surfers and new ones alike. It has been out on Video (VHS only) for several years, and when I first saw it I was reminded of the first time I saw it on Screen in the 70's. I like it now as much as I liked it then- check it out!

Just bought 5 Summer Stories and while we enjoyed the film clips, much of the orginal music was gone. What a dissapointment as this is 1/2 of the 5 summer stories. My husband is a surfer (40 yrs now) and has a lot of memorilbilla, and looked forward to getting this DVD, but was really let down by the music used (modernized). Bummer! Definately not one of his favorties in his DVD surf library.

I never saw the original film at the movies, but I have to think that Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman would not have filmed something that looks like it was made by sitting a camera in front of a TV set. The station identifier was even in the lower-right corner of the screen. For the price, this was a very disappointing purchase. The only reason for the second star was because of the content. Great movie, great soundtrack, but the quality was terrible.

Good movie from the 70's of surf/beach culture of the time. Good music, fun animation, lighthearted entertainment.