The Endless Summer 2

This is another shaggy, low-key Bruce Brown surf docu. Endless Summer 2 has a tone very much in keeping with the chill surf culture, giving you some interesting history and wrapping it all together with some well- choreographed surfing scenes. It is endlessly enjoyable.

I remember this picture screening at a discount second-run house, and walking into the run-down downtown theatre simply to get out of the rain and kill some time before meeting some friends. Little did I know when I sat down that, by the end of this movie, I would totally flip for the sport and that this movie would be the impetus to get me surfing too.

Endless Summer 2 is just a slight, breezy little picture, a DIY travelogue with great scenery, big waves and daring surfers, Most of all, it just made surfing look like it would be a whole lot of fun - like anyone could do it. And I am here to tell you, it really is fun... and you really CAN do it.

There's plenty of other pictures that have dramatized the sport - Blue Crush, Point Break, In God's Hands, Chasing Mavericks etc - but this film is just a simple, pleasant 90 minutes that has a reverence for the sport, the power of nature and those who discover the world while in search of the next big pipeline.

Be warned: this movie will encourage any landlocked viewer to ditch work and catch a wave, too.

ENDLESS SUMMER II was written, directed and edited by surfer-filmmaker Bruce Brown with his son Dana 30 years after Bruce created the original.

ES2 has much the same "feel" as the original but the technical quality is on a higher level with a much bigger budget, bigger production staff and a studio and sponsors behind it from the get-go. Problem is NEW LINE CINEMA was in a state of transition when the ES2 was coming to market and it never got the promotion that any film needs. Although it was made in 1994, like many people, I never even knew it existed until I was surfing the internet in 2006.

This "sequel" is quite comparable to the original and if you enjoyed that, you will definitely want to see this.

The photography is absolutely spectacular – much of it actually better than the original - and many of the shots literally take the viewer right INSIDE and UNDER the waves.

Fantastic surfing, great action, beautiful scenery, magnificent waves, gorgeous color, good soundtrack – what a treat – like a 2 hour mini-vacation.

The original seems more authentic but this film is excellent as well.

Pulling off all the necessary logistics and photographing this round-the-world adventure and including some of the best surfers on Earth was a major achievement and an entertaining one at that.

There's a little too much real-life risk-taking the film - much of it OUT of the water "playing" with lions and clowning around at the top of a precipice near a waterfall.

Nevertheless, the film makes a great armchair adventure for those of us who no longer surf. It also serves as a beautiful inspiration to those who do enjoy surfing or might want to try it. Just don't be as daring as these guys. They've been at it a long time and even with that, they come up with some nasty wounds along the way.

Interesting too that one featured champion surfer is smart enough to wear a helmet surfing the big waves over coral reefs. I think there's a good lesson in that.

This movie is one of the best surfing movies that I have seen. The scenery is awesome. Not to mention the lives and personalities of the surfers in it.

i carnt say much more than... its the best surf/movie ever! and each time i watch it, it just gets better no other surf movie can beat it! and if there is.. then i wanna see it!

I found this sequel much better than the more-famous "Endless Summer" which had been made 30 years before this film. That was good, but this is far better and a big reason is better camera lenses and techniques.

The photography in here is spectacular and I'm not a fan of surfing but this is amazing footage....and who isn't awed by huge waves? The camera puts you inside and underneath some of these mammoth waves and they aren't just spectacular; they are beautiful.

As in the first film, the narration and the travelogue is interesting and humorous. Bruce Brown, the man who narrated both films, is consistently entertaining in this area as he navigates us to distant countries and islands. We see, for example, the beaches of Australia, France, Fiji, Alaska, Indonesia, Africa, on and on - just magnificent scenery.

Also featured are wild animals, poisonous reptiles, a topless beach and assorted other goodies. It also was interesting to see familiar faces from the mid- 1960s movie and see how they've aged.

It all makes the 110-minute film interesting for anyone, surfers or not.