Under the Boardwalk (1989)
It is the final weekend of summer and a group of Californian teenagers are looking forward to an upcoming surf contest. Rival gangs the 'Vals' and the 'Lowks' are confident that they will take home the trophy, but things become complicated when Reef Yorpin - leader of the Lawks - discovers his sister Allie has fallen in love with 'Val' surfer Nick after meeting at a beach party.
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Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Two L.A. surf gangs, The Vals (the rich kids) and the Locs (the poor kids) are rivals but one of the Vals falls for a Loc's sister and all hell breaks loose. This is all in the middle of a big surf competition that the Locs (basically Reef, the leader) are desperately trying to win. There's constant fighting, surfing, partying and two people falling in love who agree there's more out of life than surfing. And there's Gitch, she's just a bad-ass chick that does her own thing. She teaches country bumpkin Andy all about fitting in. The movie is definitely not a household name and I'm sure about 99% of the population hasn't seen it. But for some reason, as a girl who grew up in the Midwest, this movie ignited my obsession with surfing. It's cheesy and totally 80s but it is my favorite movie ever! When this movie finally became available on DVD a few years back, my sister-in-law (also her favorite movie) surprised me with it. I thought I would realize the corniness after all these years but it is still as good as the first time. Basically if you like surfing and cheesy 80s movies, I totally recommend it, dude.
This is the surfing version of the skateboard movie "Thrashin'" (I am not sure which one was made first). Plot is guy falls for girl and finds out she is the sister of his enemy. Subplot is whether or not he wants to become mainstream sponsored or not. It is entertaining for an 80s movie. Roxanna Zal as "Gitch" is hot, at least from what I remember. This movie is not as good as "North Shore" but it is entertaining none the less. I am still waiting for it to come out on DVD, I just have a copied version on VHS. Other good surf movies to watch are "Big Wednesday" and "In God's Hands". "North Shore" offers the most catch phrases but all four are entertaining surfing movies.
Under The Boardwalk is a great guilty pleasure film. It has eighties lingo, cheesey music,and comic relief. A b-movie cast list including Keith Coogan and Danielle Von Zerieck. The film is basically about surfers who have beef. You have the rich surfers and the poor surfers who don't get along. When Nick Ryan falls for Jenny a enemy's sister there'll be hell to pay. Check it out for b-movie night.
...and frankly, I'm amazed at how highly it's rated by the few IMDB users who have seen it. But then despite playing an unnamed surfer in the film, I don't have much interest in surfing or surf movies.The plot is very pedestrian, alternating between a surfing competition and light romance. Pretty bland fare. During filming (under the working title "Wipeout") most of the crew knew they were creating bad cinema.Note: the day shots were filmed in Seal Beach, and the night shots were filmed in Manhattan Beach, although they are supposed to be the same place in the film.