The director Stacy Peralta who brought the world of cinema Dogtown and the Z-Boys (2001), a documentary about the south Californian subculture that brought the world the evolution of skateboarding, documents the life of some daring surfers and why they are looking for big waves.   Peralta is a devoted surfer and skateboarder who knows how to capture these moments as she brings a fearsome adventure to the audience through a well-made documentary.   The waves that these surfers want ride with their surfboards will most likely cause fear leading to tremors as the waves are as tall as five story houses.

The documentary begins with a quick 2-minute history lesson illustrating one thousand years of surfing history and how it once was banned through missionaries that thought the relaxed mingling of sexes and the little clothing on surfers was outrageous.  It is after this quick and rather amusing introduction that surfing of giant waves begins as the story displays some of the pioneering surfers.

Riding Giants displays generations of big wave surfers as it evolved from regular surfing where people ride small four feet waves to extreme surfing where people ride 50 foot waves.  These individuals are fully aware of what they are doing and the dangers that come with big wave surfing as they began to seek new locations to surf.  Some of these locations were considered too dangerous such as Waimea Bay, which once had urban legends intensify the fear for the area.  Nonetheless, the world got its first big wave representative through the no-nonsense Greg Noll who wore his rebellious black and white stripped swimming trunks with a no-fear attitude as he surfed Waimea Bay.

In present time Laird Hamilton is the world's leading big wave surfer as he began to use smaller surfing boards and jet skis to increase the ability to catch bigger and bigger waves.  Hamilton's ideas has also brought a sense of teamwork to the surfers where they require each other for survival in case of a wipe-out.  Unfortunately has the world also seen many tragic accidents such as Mark Foo who drowned at Mavericks outside San Francisco after having wiped out after a second surf.  Despite these tragic losses the surfers continue to surf as they are aware of the dangers, but it is the danger that provides the opportunity for these select few to fully live life as the are looking to ride the next wave.

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

USA / France

Filmography links and data courtesy of