MOVIE THOUGHTS

LORDS OF DOGTOWN

(Google search)

(Thrasher Magazine)

One would think, with how long I've been skateboarding, I would have watched this movie closer to it's release date (2005). The image of the July 1986 cover of Thrasher (skateboard magazine), was my 1st issue. This means, I got my 1st skateboard under the Christmas tree in 1985. That puts me at 10 yrs old and me being in 5th grade. (or per magazine cover, the summer between 5th and 6th grades) I bring my history because I thought I started in 1987. The reality is, I started in 1986 (rounding up) which means, I started snowboarding either when the snow fell in 1986 or it was a year later in 1987. (Rented boards from Fallout Records and Skateboards; Burton Elites. I remember started snowboarding a year later)

I knew of the movie back then. I also knew of some of the primary players but didn't quite know the history. The magazines only covered so much and it was tough for us little grommits to learn the history. A lot of it was in the past, one that Thrasher didn't always write about (and Transworld was like, the safe magazine; staying away from the punk, skater lifestyle that Thrasher embraced). Knew names, didn't know what they had done or gone through. It's good that Stacy Peralta decided to tell this story. I don't know how much is fictional and how much is real; but there are aspects where as a kid, I only knew of things visually (without content?). I'll try to explain more in-depth which might becomes less of a review but the difference between reality and little kid experiences and most importantly, assumptions.

(Skip Engblom. Google search)

Where to start. I'll start with Skip Engblom. I knew of him as being the owner of Santa Monica Airlines, the skateboard company. It was an odd, small company, having 1 pro on the roster (Natas Kaupas). I also know that SMA ended up being two companies (Steve Rocco, former freestyle rider for Sims) got involved. His side became World Industries and a global (ie; mass market skateboard company). SMA, the real version, stayed small and was best known for their (cute) cool logo. (Which I had a few of their shirts) The Skip I was aware of was the one in the image. He looks like a guy in his 40s or 50s, like an uncle. Just a guy, right? The movie showed him very differently and whether he was really like that, I have no idea. That is where me as a kid saw him one way, the reality was most likely very different. 

Therefore, I knew of the historical entity known as the Z-Boyz but I was aware more of the mid-1980s version. It was often related to the term 'Dogtown', which as a kid, I knew as a skateboard company. I had a couple of their decks (Eric Dressen v1 and v2). Their pros got a decent amount of coverage; aforementioned Eric Dressen, Scott Oster (known for his g-turns), and Aaron "Fingers" Murray (he was missing a finger or two and his board kinda had a spider-web groove to it). That was the mid-80s and as far as I knew, they were the Z-Boyz (there were a few other names possibly related to it like Jesse Martinez and Christian Hosoi). Basically, it was all about Venice Beach.

Jay Adams. I only knew of the name. Maybe a photo now and then and iirc, it was never him skating. I had the understanding he was part of the era before I started. But I had no idea that he was such a huge part of the skateboarding scene. Shaved head and tattoos, that's what I saw of him. I had heard the phrase "Punk as f*ck" was about him. The fact he was friends with Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta is such a trip. Same sort of effect as in Oppenheimer when you see who the other contemporary scientists and theorists were.

Tony Alva, I knew as the owner of Alva skateboards. I had a couple decks from them. Most notably, a John Thomas deck which looked great but wasn't so hot to use. (My buddy, iirc, had a Bill Danforth (or was it a Chris Cook?). Let me supply the viewer with an image and well, that's how the magazine-reading skater kids saw Alva. (The image is considered a 'later' image of the team; when they took on the 2 Zorlac skaters; John Gibson and Craig Johnson)

(Google Search)

Stacy Peralta was one of the more better known names in the skateboard world. As one half of Powell Peralta, his skate team got the most publicity. When I say publicity, it's not just the demos. It's the amount of photos of them in the magazines but the fact Stacy pushed the videos. Back then, it was all about company-specific videos (at some point, Mack Dawg would showcase whoever he could; it wasn't company-based or biased as far as I know). The Powell videos allows us skaters to see their heroes in action. Pushed so hard that for a time, they were the only company who did it well. Santa Cruz tried but it didn't have the same energy or vision. For that matter, Vision/Sims/Schmitt Stix didn't push hard enough. A lot of companies didn't push the home video hard enough. Contest videos did well enough showcasing skaters but to a degree, it was only the top 14 or top 10. So if you take Alva as pictured above, I remember Bill Danforth, John Gibson, and Craig Johnson getting the most coverage. Viewers got a tiny glimpse of John Thomas in the 1st Savannah Slamma contest video. Anyway, the portrayal of Stacy shows a staunch difference between Alva and Adams. Probably done on purpose but I believe his view was very different than Alva's. (there's an analogy here. Powell Peralta was like Burton, the snowboard company. Cleaner image, great riders, lots of coverage. Who was the punk side of snowboarding? Hard to say; companies may have shied away from 'dirtier' types because snowboarding was new and not widely accepted by the ski resorts whose clientele were middle upper class/upper class. They didn't want 'the kids who hung out in front of the 7-11' on their ski slopes)

Image is of the mid-1980s Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's skate team. Not all pros are shown; missing are Kevin Harris and Per Welinder. Very different looking than Alva's team, yes?

(Google search)

The movie itself, or rather the story, is sad to me. A bit like Stand By Me, it's a group of tight-knit buddies who faced with fame (and money), separate from not just each other, but the Zephyr skate team (thus leaving Skip Engblom). Back up a second, the story is old skool for me. Like, it's a snapshot of a time before I started skating by nearly 10 years. Maybe I didn't worry about seeing it because it was before my time. The movie is kinda frantic but that's more about how it was filmed. What I found fascinating is that the viewer is seeing the early careers of 3 people got very big names. (The focus is Dogtown so other companies like Sims, Vision, G&S kinda are left in the dust) But what the story does is show the differences between the 3 main characters. And to a degree, the rise and fall of Mr Engblom who really had a huge role in shaping skateboarding. Certainly, all the companies that were created all pushed skateboarding and showed just how competitive it could be. Did I know Stacy and Tony knew each other? Nope. Hell, I thought Tony Alva was situated in the southern states! I thought most of his team were from there! 

Stacy and Tony's rivalry, was it real? Hard to say. But you look at the images provided and you can see a distinct difference in vision. The characterization of them for the story (and Jay Adams) almost mirrors what happened in the mid/late 80s (again, kiddy perspective here). At that time, the top 2 skaters (contest-wise and visually) were Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi. From what I read (fairly recently), Hosoi was the rock star (which is how they portrayed Alva). Hosoi also had drug problems and ended up in prison for a time. Tony Hawk, while skilled, was a businessman (he did leave Powell to create Birdhouse). The two were consistently going head-to-head in contests. To note, they had opposite styles too; whether there was any indication of that with Peralta vs Alva, I'm not sure. (for a worse analogy, I can use how Cobra Kai worked. lol)

I had IMDB open as I watched. I was trying to figure out who was who, if the characters were who I thought they were. In that process, got to see all the cameos too! I know I discussed the 3 main characters. There were other names I had seen in the magazines; Shogo, Peggy, Red Dog (brother of Suicidal Tendencies singer, Mike Muir!), Stecyk, etc

I thought it was a good film. Great to see Stacy Peralta do his thing. Other than run a skateboard company, he wanted to be a film maker. The movie was met with mixed reviews. How much was fictional and how much was true, I believe it was capturing a moment of time. For that pocket of territory in California, that's how crazy it was.

For the technical details like cast and crew visit:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355702/

The reader might be surprised at some of the names involved.