Riding giants takes us along surfing's timeline from its early Polynesian roots, to its rebirth in the early 20th century, to the development of a fledgling surf culture along the coast of Southern California in the 1940s. The film highlights the group of extraordinary adventurers that emerged: surfers who, not satisfied with the mere recreational and social aspects of the sport, began searching for bigger and bigger waves, pushing the boundaries of performance to explore the "unridden realm".
Riding giants is the story of these big wave riders, of where and how their quest began, of the classic characters who throughout the eras chased their dreams out into the blue water, and of the surfers who still do today, riding 15, 18 and even 20 metre waves in a manner once considered the realm of fantasy.
We meet Greg Noll, the pioneer, whose relentless push into Hawaii's "unridden realm" in the late 1950s and 60s earned him the nickname "The Bull." Then there's Jeff Clark, Northern California's lone frontiersman who, after discovering the massive waves of Maverick's near San Francisco, rode there alone for over a decade. And finally Hawaii's Laird Hamilton, the prototypical "extreme" surfer, a rare breed of athlete/innovator considered the best big wave rider who ever waxed a board.
Special Agent Matti
*
M (Low level coarse language)
101 minutes (1:51 hours)
Film: 10 March 2005
