Once in a while there is a surf movie that actually gets to break into the main film industry and conquer the appraise of most critics. I could enumerate many reasons for this breakthrough and maybe the easiest ones would be to point that this is not an hardcore surf movie, which is true - it is a documentary -, I could also say that the narration by Edward Norton must have attracted people that otherwise would´nt give a f##k about it, which, if you think about it, is also true.
However, the secret for the imense success that the film attracted relied mostly on a group of crazy ozzies and south africans that almost alone revolutionized surf.The personalties of these mad, fearless but overly talented surfers reverbate in every minute of the movie. Solely, they are the soul and matter of what the film is made.
But let´s take it from the beginning. In the early seventies the surf spots of Australia and South Africa were not the surf meccas they are today. Those places were overshadowed by mighty Hawaii and its bunch of feared pro surfers. By the time, the famous Nort Shore was the place were the best surfers of the world came to show what they were worth. Reputations were either destroyed or gained.
Locals were dominating the scene, but not for long. In the year of 1973, six underdogs called Wayne "Rabbit", Peter Townend, Mark Richards, Ian Cairns and the cousins Michael and Shaun Tomson came to take the center stage for the surprise (and envy) of many. Their agressive style impressed the otherwise laid back hawaiian surfers and set the beginning of a strong competition in the years to come. Those bad boys with strange accents and rude attitudes were about to change the surf sport forever.They left everything to show americans what the dangerous waters were they grew teached them. What follows is pure adrenaline filled surf history...
Bustin´dow the door is after all a story about growing up and defying everything to make your own goals come true.
