Magic Review: Bustin' Down The Door

In the current age, there is no shortage of sport documentaries however Bustin' Down The Door has qualities which are becoming hard to find. Firstly, it has a story line which focuses on the North Shore Hawaiian island of Oahu where surfing was taking off. During the 1970's a group of Australian and a South African came and displayed there cocky yet brilliant style of surfing which had an amazing ripple effect on what is now the sport of surfing. The effect however on the relations with the Hawaiians' became almost fatal. Secondly, it has character development which focuses on surfing legends Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholemew, Shaun Tomson, Michael Tomson, Mark Richards (MR), Peter Townend and Ian Cairns. The documentary chronicles the way the young surfers exploded onto the surfing circuit however some of the crew displayed a lack of respect for the Hawaiian culture, appreciation of the cultures ties to surfing and continuos taunts through Australian surfing journalism caused the locals to form a protection outfit called the Black Shorts who carried out the message of disapproval of the Australians' which went as far as beatings and death threats forcing some of the surfers to move into exile. Enter surfing Hawaiian legend Eddie Aikau who helped broker a truce between the Australian surfers and the outraged Hawaiians. Peace was made however no guarantees were given for their safety if they were to surf on the island. The documentary then moves on from the indifference's to focus on how the young and brash group of surfers go on to develop the pro surfing circuity turn and develop the sport into a multi billion dollar industry. One thing which particularly stood out for me is the honest and open way that Rabbit Bartholemew and Ian Cairns look back and are so honest and open to the way in which they were insensitive to the Hawaiian culture and how they learnt from that mistake which leads them to become the sports global ambassadors with a handful of other surfers. I would recommend this to any person who enjoys good documentaries and especially good surfing. Personally, I would like to have heard a little more about Eddie Aikau, as growing up I heard a lot about him and his untimely death and its effect on the culture (See"Eddie Would Go") which I felt other people would be interested in. The film is also narrated by Edward Norton (American History X).

Magic Review: 8.1/10