Have you heard the hype, seen the trailer? Do you know who Dane Reynolds is, or even care? Despite the frenzy surrounding this release, Dane’s just a 20-year-old kid from a small town 45 minutes north of Los Angeles who co-directed a video showcasing his own surfing skills. Very few surfers will ever have their own signature surf video, especially at such a tender age with little life experience to boast about. However, Dane’s video isn’t only worthy, it’s one of the best examples of modern radical surfing that’s out there. Sure, if Kelly, Andy or Parko dedicated a year to filming, we’d expect an equally stand-out production. But to even be put up on the same scale as those guys is an accomplishment in its own right.
The video format is pretty standard – going location by location, showing the best sessions and maneuvers in order as Dane and video guy Jason Blanchard spend a year traveling to different countries looking for waves. They score really fun sessions at various locations, including a stand-out segment filmed at Durban’s Cave rock, Morocco’s right points, Europe’s beach breaks, Australia, including fellow pro surfer Ry Craike’s home in WA, and Fiji. The mandatory Hawaii section is included, as well as a ‘at home with friends section’.
There’s not much room for creativity in surf vids these days, but who cares. We buy surf DVDs to see surfing and Dane knows this. He also knows what good surfing is. He didn’t let any bad clips make the final cut. Every air is big and technical, every cut back on rail, and every top turn blasting the tail out. It’s almost discouraging watching how good he surfs. The production is tight, and the music, while not everyone’s style, was all hand-picked by Dane; indie heavyweights Modest Mouse, Fugazi and Primus alongside the less widely-known likes of Blonde Redhead, Wolf Parade, The Ponys, Rock ‘A’ Teens, Olivia Tremor Control, The Old Haunts and more give the soundtrack a ‘understated’ feel. The DVD itself presented like a scrapbook, with Dane’s scribbled notes reproduced on inserts to give the packaging a personal touch.
If you are just learning to surf and are hoping to get pointers, this might not be for you. I doubt the general non-surfing public could even comprehend what Dane’s doing half the time! But, if you love surfing and want to see something state of the art, then this is the best DVD on the market.