Parents' Guide to

Dogtown and Z-Boys

By Kelly Kessler, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Before Tony Hawk, skateboarding had the Z-Boys.

Movie PG-13 2002 91 minutes
Dogtown and Z-Boys Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

W-storff
W-storff Adult
June 3, 2020
age 12+

Kids growing up in a difficult neighborhood find an identity through exceptional skill at surfing and skateboarding.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much swearing
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Skateboard culture exploded in the 1970s when a band of renegade surfers in the rubble of Venice Beach, nicknamed "Dogtown," brought a sexy, guerilla version of skateboarding to the masses. DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS chronicles the Zephyr skate team and their roots as surfers, through a series of contemporary interviews and historical footage. Mostly street kids of broken working-class families, the Z-Boys would scour the then drought-ridden region for abandoned swimming pools, transforming the dormant pleasure land into a concrete tidal wave. Finding public success in the wake of the 1975 Del Mar skateboarding championship, the team would splinter as the members joined more commercial teams. Zephyr co-founder/writer Craig Stecyk would bring national-renown to Dogtown kids through a series of illustrated articles in Skateboarder magazine. These are the young men and women credited for skateboarding's 1970s explosion and who foreshadowed today's aggressive skate style.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

Dogtown and Z-Boys effectively combines film and still-photography to capture the spirit and style of the period. The filmmakers use tinting, a mixture of film stocks, slow-mo, quick rewind, and a rockin' underscoring to transform this history lesson into a visual and aural thrill ride. Those at the Sundance Film Festival stood up and took notice. The film won both the audience and director's awards for documentary, and it garnered a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize. The film also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture. Dogtown and Z-Boys revolves around interviews with a collection of Zephyr team members. Examining their rising stardoms and futures, the film presents a combination of wild successes and lost chances. Disaffected 1980s bad boy--and teenage California skater--Sean Penn (Taps, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) narrates.

Parents may find some of this film to be a bit risqué, and should definitely contemplate relaying the consequences of illegal actions such as breaking and entering and drug use into conversation before viewing. However, they might want to consider allowing their teens, especially skateboarding enthusiasts, to watch not only for the skate tricks, but also as a means of learning the potential negative effects of achieving fame so quickly and at such a young age.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the present skateboard culture today compares with that of the 1970s. Both Stacey Peralta and Tony Alva chose to embrace product sponsorship as they climbed the ladder to success. Would you consider this selling ut? After leaving the Z-Boys, tacey and Tony became archrivals. How did money and celebrity contribute to the demise of their friendship? Jay wound up shunning sponsorship and succumbing to drug use. How do you think environment played a role in his actions, specifically the neighborhood in which he was raised and the people he associated with? The Z-Boys garnered instant success, having little means to cope with it. Parents may want to relate this experience to the ways in which pop stars like Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff have handled their celebrity.

Movie Details

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