Lords of Dogtown (Unrated Extended Cut) (DVD)

Lords of Dogtown didn't really capture my fancy but that doesn't make it a bad film. It's got an interesting visual style, some cool action, and an innovative muse in the origins of professional skateboarding. Unfortunately the film's strength was something I'm not terribly interested in, which is skateboarding in general.

Lord of Dogtown's basic plot is as mentioned above, the origins of today's style of skateboarding. It follows the path of a group of kids called the Z-Boys and is loosely based on Stacey Peralta's 2001 documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys. Before the Z-boys it was all headstands and lame 360's. The kids pretty much invented pool skating and half pipes. They created a trend where none had previously existed. They revolutionized the game, just like Tupac.

If you are interested in the subject matter you should go buy the DVD immediately because you're going to wait a long time to see a film as visually pretty as this one. Lords of Dogtown loves skateboarding, surfing, and the Z-Boys, and why not? These were kids who had nothing, came from nothing, and yet did something. Their tale is a uniquely American one, lost boys finding hope in a sport and each other. The other real epiphany of this film is Heath Ledger as Skip, the boy's mentor/friend. He's tremendous in this role and should have received far more critical acclaim for it.

The DVD has some really good features. I watched the "Unleashed" version which evidently has coarser language. You'll be left wondering how the hell the ratings board comes up with any ratings at all when you see what had to be revised or cut. You also get to meet the director, Catherine Hardwicke, who is a breath of fresh air every time she's talking about the film on her commentary and introduction. You can tell she loves the kids, the movie, and the story.

Another don't miss is located under the featurettes section which shows the story of a skating bulldog, need I say more? Finally, you'll want to check out how exactly they got all those tight shots of skateboarding action. I could tell you, but that would ruin the fun. Lords of Dogtown is a DVD that treats the format right, and even though I wasn't thrilled with the story I couldn't help but be impressed with the special features.

I'm going to rate this film a "modest buy". I think having Catherine Hardwicke's films in your collection is going to make sense as the years go by. She's a director that is gearing towards complexity which is something old Mr. Oscar dearly loves. In Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown she's directed two innovative films and it's only a matter of time before innovation hits good subject matter.