Rise Dvd Review » Laurie Saunders' Review

Rise is one of those DVDs where the film-makers have travelled to loads of spots and filmed loads of surfers. There is plenty of solid surfing and we do see some sweet looking (and some pretty big) waves but as a whole package the film just didn’t appeal to me and struggled to hold my attention.

I went into this DVD entirely blind. I don’t know who’s in it and where it’s made and by the end of the film I’m in exactly the same position. During the film there are no clues as to where we are or who’s surfing we are actually watching. I think we see places such as Hossegor, Caithness, Menakoz and Mundaka but only because I recognise them from magazines or because I’ve actually been there.

The same is true of the surfers featured, when the credits roll at the end the quality of the names surprised me. Gabe Davies, Alan Stokes, Taj, Kalani Robb and even Mick Fanning are just some of the standout names but it doesn’t always feel like it. You often feel that you are watching stuff that probably wouldn’t make the cut in a ‘bigger’ DVD. The surfing didn’t look as good as the names suggested it should be.

I’m not saying there is no love or effort put in to this film. These guys have spent a lot of time travelling round Europe (and from the looks of the later sections featuring monkeys and board shorts) further afield. Unfortunately it often feels like we are watching someone else’s home movie without any commentary. The only way it would stand many repeated viewings would be if you were actually one of the featured surfers being filmed... and even then I’m not sure!

You could argue that the films flaws are it’s charms and these filmmakers were going for a soulful, maybe artsy kind of feel but to me it just comes across as a bit tedious! Even the ‘experimental’ sounding music grates after ten minutes or so.

To Conclude: I’m really not trying to be a grouch - I’m one of those guys who absolutely laps up anything at all to do with surfing – even that cartoon with the penguins! It’s always nice to see a home-grown surf product such as Rise but I can’t get enthusiastic about it. It’s all there, there’s nothing really wrong with it but it just doesn’t float my boat. Worth one viewing but not a lot more. Sorry!