Rating: 
Summary: Awesome!
Review: A really well put together documentary.
Made me want to go out and hit the streets!
Rating:
Summary: I lived it on the East coast
Review: This movie brought me back to a time I had almost forgot about. In high school we lived to skate (Cape May area (NJ)). Actually the surfers did not skate much. The less pretty of us from the surrounding areas built the half pipes and did all the riding. Back then I studied every issue of Skateboarder magazine. I stared at the images and the faces of the people. In the film I saw the exact same photographs! I remembered so many of the shots from the magazines. Now I was able to see those images talk, skate, become real people. It brought back way too many memories of my youth. We had a crew of riders from all over the county and one guy was black (unheard of back then!) We rode on my wooden half pipe, on the street, and anywhere else we could get the wheels on. We were even featured on a local TV show. It was more a culture than sport for us. I had an Alva board. My pipe had Alva's name painted on it! Skateboarding was a popular commodity but we lived the lifestyle. It was not about clothes-the look. Soon they built a indoor skate park in Cherry Hill, NJ. It was reputed to be one of the best, if not the only park on the upper East coast. There was also a small park in Sommers Point, NJ. I mention these places only for those who knew and loved them. If any of you remember me post a response. The people in the film really were the founders of the moves you see. OK, maybe somebody somewhere else did it first or would do it eventually but they got the "patent" so they wear the crown.
Yes. I still skate at 41.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisitely produced slice of pre X-Games sporting angst
Review: I'm a big fan of documentaries. Especially documentaries about the cooler things in life. 'Dogtown and Z-Boys' is an excellent production, giving a fascinating insiders perspective on the evolution of modern Skateboarding. Produced by Stacey Peralta, with assistance from the expert photographic lens of Craig Steyck; 'Dogtown' ... you in with it's exquisite juxtaposition of still photos, old home movies, classic rock, and interviews. Even if you don't care about Skateboarding, this film definately merits your attention. Artfully constructed, visually rich, and full of great anecdotes, 'Dogtown and Z-Boys' is one of my three favorite documentaries released in 2002.
Rating:
Summary: OldSkewl Sk8r goodness
Review: Shows an amazingly honest portrait of the early days of skateboarding. Incredible footage of some of the early greats in their prime, as well as their commentary on the current state of the skating universe.
Rating:
Summary: Even uncool old geezers like me can like this film
Review: The first time I saw this amazing documentary was when the punky types on the night shift at my local video hut were watching a bootleg VHS copy a few months before the video actually came out. Nearly every customer in the store craned their necks up towards the screen, and sat transfixed, watching the history of modern skateboarding unfold onscreen. [Note to self: if it was that absorbing in the video store, be sure to get it when it comes out!]"Dogtown And Z-Boys" is a thoroughly engaging, well-produced film which recalls the dim, pre-punk origins of the skateboarding scene that came out of LA in the 1970s and has grabbed hold of antisocial daredevil types across the world ever since. I was transfixed by this film, from beginning to end, and found there wasn't a dull moment or false note in the entire production. I should hasten to add that I have never been much of a skateboarding fan; when I moved to Berkeley in the mid-1980s, skateboarding was already firmly identified with punk rock rebelliousness, with swarms of leather- and denim-clad losers barrelling down the sidewalks at top speed, tediously intent on messing with the minds of all the uptight squares who dared to be less cool than they were. As a punk rock fan who prefers walking to knocking others off the sidewalk, I intensely dislike the culture of show-offy, in-your-face self-centeredness and machismo that skateboarders have adopted; in the 1990s, when the scene went mainstream and became commercialized as an "extreme" sport, it became even that much more tedious and trivial. But this film shows where it all started, with a motley bunch of scruffy teenage Santa Monica beach bums who took the elegance and attitude of the world's best surfers and adapted it to the humble (and then quite primitive) skateboard. The documentary appealed to me both aesthetically and personally -- the Dog Town skateboarders were all undeniably hella cool, and their story is pretty amazing. Also, I remember having the same sort of restlessness and rebelliousness during the post-hippie, pre-punk years of my adolescence, and watching the old footage of the Dog Town crew, I was powerfully reminded of my own proud years as a 1970s juvenile delinquent. The film's tone rang true, which isn't surprising since it was produced by guys who were part of the original Z-Boys clique. It's a captivating, funny, stylish and very creative film, which exhalts a sexy urban subculture without exploiting its subjects or leaving out any members of the audience who might not skate themselves. Great soundtrack, too. A+ all the way around.
Rating:
Summary: History Lesson in the Old School
Review: Hey Henry (Hester), good job on the review. I still have one of you're old G&S stick's, was curious to know, still skating or ? people- Penn does this film right, a great depiction of what it used to be like in the dayZ of old. Word, Cab
Rating:
Summary: This Movie Rocks!
Review: A great documentary that really depicts the mood and the attitude that made all of us want to be Z-Boys. A tribute to the guys (and gals Peggy!) that changed skateboarding from Venice Beach to Washington Square Park. To the naysayers... shine on.
Rating:
Summary: Tripping down memory lane, a great film!
Review: No, I'm not a skateboarder fanatic, although I did own one and I'm a contemporary of many of the protagonists of this film. However, this movie was a blast for me because I grew up on LA's Westside and went to school with several of these guys. The "surfing and skating" crowd at Venice High School in Los Angeles might have radicalized the sport, but they were never viewed as evil or with distain by the most of their peers. In fact, the surfers were viewed as a kind of a "cool" group because so much of the summer culture revolved around the beach. However, as they state clearly in the film, they did feel somewhat marginalized from the mainstream. Furthermore, their sport and efforts never got the full measure of respect from their peers at the time, although, time, fame & fortune and several prestigious awards from the Sundance Film Festival have changed all that. What I do recall from those days though, is that Stacy Peralta and Nathan Pratt were pretty decent guys and it is nice to see them featured in this entertaining and enjoyable film. Well done, guys. I'd recommend this film to anyone, whether they are interested in surfing and skateboarding or not. It perfectly describes a very real slice of southern California culture of the 70's.
Rating:
Summary: You can only relate toward, if you skateboard........
Review: This movie brought back so many good memories of my young skating days. Names like Peralta, Adams, Alva are big in the history of skateboarding. There is some great footage and information I had never heard before. The Z Boys pushed the envelope building a base for future skaters to emulate and expand on. The Z Boys skated because they loved to do it and it is absurd to state that they weren't as talented as skaters who came after them. The skaters of the 80's to the present have the Z Boys to thank for bringing skateboarding back into the the limelight. In every area, there are people who came before who helped carve the way. In climbing it was Hillary. In Jazz, it was John Coltrane. Sure skateboarding was a subculture and the Z-Boys were misfits but that should not detract from the contributions they made to skateboarding.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Style, They Said; Engaging Documentary on Skateboarding
Review: I'm a teacher at college in Japan; I'm no skateborder, and will never be. I bought this video simply because one of students in my English class said how cool the film was, and I just checked it out to see if I can use the film in my class. The result turned out more engaging than I expected, and "Dogtown and Z-Boys" is pretty awesome documentary for those who are interested in the hot summer of 1970s. "Dogtown" follows the rise of local youth, hanging around the beach of Santa Monica in the 70s. Around that time, once prospered amusement park by the seaside had been long deserted, and the seaside area had become a place for local surfers. They made the rule of "only locals" which means, you cannot mess around the place, just coming from outside the town. And after their dangerously exciting surfing in the sea (among the ruined piles), they spent time doing another thing: skateboarding. While doing that for fun, they gradually developed the style, making it their own. Finally, taking advantage of unused swimming pools (that means, trespassing, of course), the boys (though, actually, the original members include a girl) went on to set a new style, using the edge of the pool, which, according to the film, led to today's vertical ride of skateboarding. They become famous; they become cultural icons. (One of them appears as a cameo in original TV series "Charlie's Angels" as, who else, a skateboarder; this brief scene is also included in the film.) In short, they set the style. You must face it; the film sounds like self-advertizing at times. But still, "Z-Boys" gives very interesting information on skateboarding, which by the end of the 20th century has become one of the independent category of sports (you will see, for instance, the difference between skateboarding in Jan and Dean era, and the Boys' own style). The original skatebording footages are also noteworthy, which, with all its faded color and shaky camerawork, telescope the free spirits of the 70s into the exciting moments of their skateboarding practice or contests. The film is also unusual in that the director himself appears before the camera, giving his own interview of the film. This kind of attitude would invite criticism of the film's taking unbalanced view. But they somehow get away with it, probably because it is clear that they love the sports, and really want to say something about it. "Dogtown and Z-Boys" lets you look at the world of street culture of the 70s West Coast in a quite unique way, and anyone who is interested in this sort of thing should watch it, whether or not he/she has ever experienced skateboarding. The film ends with the reports of the original members' life today, many of whom seem to have settled down, and leading a family life. That is most interesting, you might say. Sean Penn (who was one of the fans of the "Boys") provides narration, but I wish he too gave his own account of the boys. And it seems some part of the film is missing -- I want to know whether or not they ever got injured; what they were doing in the 80s and 90s, and so on, but perhaps it is not our business after all. Still, I enjoyed watching the film.
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