Dalbert Pringle Being something of a surfing enthusiast, myself, in my younger days (I've surfed in both Australia and Hawaii), The Endless Summer certainly turned out to be a very entertaining and enjoyable documentary, highlighting the thrills and excitement of this tres' exhilarating sport.From sunny Malibu Beach, California, to the uncharted waters of West Africa, to the shark-filled seas of Australia, to the tropical paradises of Tahiti and Hawaii, 2 young, American surfers accomplish in a few months what most people never do in a lifetime - They live their dream. And that dream for Mike and Robert is to find and ride the perfect wave.The Endless Summer is an imaginatively photographed travelogue, from the absolute height of surfing-mania in the mid-1960s, that thoughtfully captures the joy, danger and humor of searching the world for that ultimate, most perfect wave of all.Director Bruce Brown's whimsical narration in The Endless Summer gives the whole production a very comfortable, easy-going feeling that greatly contributes to its overall charm and appeal.

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) The name Bruce Brown was a name I hadn't heard until I saw The Endless Summer. Apparently, he is the king of surfing documentaries, a thing I didn't know there was a king of. The Endless Summer is allegedly his quintessential surfamentary and it's really the only one people talk about. It chronicles the journey of two ace surfers as they follow the Summer season around the globe to ride the waves in all sorts of exotic locations like Africa, Australia, and Tahiti. The film has no dialogue from the people in it, only Bruce Brown's narration which fills us in with all the information we need to know to follow this story of an endless summer.This is a particularly light hearted documentary that is solely for entertainment value to those who find its subject matter interesting. If you're interested in surfing I suppose you would love this movie because about 90% of the footage of the film is actual surfing. If you don't really care about surfing, like myself, The Endless Summer doesn't do much for you. I personally found it a little bit boring and somewhat pointless. However, I can't say that it's a bad film because it's easy to tell what a great surfing documentary it is, even if you couldn't care less about the sport.Even if you don't care about surfing there are still all sorts of beautiful locations that the two surfers and Bruce Brown visit in this film that are marvelous to look out. In this film you see some of the most beautiful ocean water you will ever see, and some truly perfect waves that you won't see on any beach in America. I can appreciate this and it makes The Endless Summer a slightly more interesting film to someone who has no interest in surfing. Of course, this film is all about the surf, and no time is really devoted to the beauty of the locations or the variety of cultures traveled to here. All the focus is on surfing, and we have to take it upon ourselves to notice the kind of beauty this subject matter is immersed in.You have to constantly remind yourself that this is nothing more than a documentary about surfing, so you have to cut it slack for not devoting time to things a non-surfer would find more interesting. However, one of the truly strange things about the film is it's sense of humor at times. It's a very easy going documentary with a light hearted and sarcastic sense of humor, but this humor is also a bit awkward at times. Some of the remarks about the African natives sometimes come off as insensitive, though not blatantly so. It's nothing that makes you do a double take, and I'm sure Brown means well in his narration, but there are a few remarks that just seem off. Who knows. Maybe it just comes with the times. It didn't bother me much, but I couldn't help but notice it, and it stayed on my mind throughout the film.The Endless Summer is perfect for a surfer who wants to watch a surfing documentary. If you're not a surfer and you want to watch a surfing documentary you might feel just a little indifferent about this film. It's not bad, in fact it's well made overall, but it won't really stick with me by any means.

wes-connors It's a brilliant thesis for surfers - if you had the time and money, you could keep traveling around the world, participating exclusively in each location's surfing season. Thus, "The Endless Summer" would provide limitless opportunities for catching waves! Out searching for the elusive "perfect wave," surfing director Bruce Brown (he photographed, edited and narrated) follows Malibu surfer pals Mike Hynson and Robert August around the world with a camera. The young men follow the sun to one glorious location after another. My pick for the perfect wave is the one found in Cape St. Francis but you may prefer the big ones at Waimea Bay. The waves aren't the only things perfect in "The Endless Summer" - so is the photography, narration and soundtrack.Hey, surf's up! Forever... ********** The Endless Summer (6/15/66) Bruce Brown ~ Bruce Brown, Mike Hynson, Robert August

romanorum1 You do not have to know what "Hang Ten" means to enjoy this wonderful surfing documentary. In 1963-1964 two surfing buddies, Michael Hynson and Robert August, simply decided to follow the summer sun around the world, from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern back to the Northern. The travails of the two are documented by Bruce Brown, whose apropos tongue-in-cheek narration is a howl. The photography is breathtaking. In the early scenes we see some noted personalities on the Californian and Hawaiian surfs. Hawaii's air and water temperature were a perfect 75º F. But California was cooling down by November, as attested by Santa Cruz' nighttime temperature of just 48º F (California does get a winter).So it was off on a flight across the Atlantic to Senegal and Ghana in West Africa, where the two leads demonstrate that they may just have been the first surfers there in world history. Before long the locals were converted to enjoying the waves. Incidentally, the beach temperature was 70º F and the surf better than that of California. A gas station was appropriately named AGIP (a gip), as the price for a gallon of gas was $1.00, or twice as much as in the USA at the time. Next stop: Nigeria just north of the equator. Water temperature: 91º F and air temperature of 100º F! It was so hot that the wax on the surf boards melted.Then Bob and Mike fly across the equator to the southern hemisphere, to South Africa. There were surfers in Cape Town, but just one hundred or so, and the average age of the surfers was older than that of the Americans, about 30. In Durban, on the Indian Ocean side of the country, there were nets to protect the surfers from sharks. The porpoises do seem to get through, though the sharks do not hang with them. You see, quips Brown, "Sharks and porpoises have yet to integrate in South Africa" (!). Further east, at Cape St. Francis, the surfing exceeded that of Malibu.After that, our surfers fly in a wide arc from northeast South Africa to India to Perth, in Western Australia, where there is no surf. So it was on to Melbourne, two thousand miles away. There the guys find that they missed the best surf by six months. Or is "You just missed it" a common refrain? So it was on to Sydney, farther east still, where the surf was minimal ("You just missed it." Hmmm). They do meet Pearl, a surfer girl, who wears a bikini. Bruce Brown explains that, as the girls tend to lose their swimsuits when they wipe out, the thoughtful lifeguards have spare suits.In New Zealand Mike and Bob find the surfing to be great on the west coast. And on Christmas Day, the boys are surfing in a huge cove near Auckland. The next stop is in Tahiti, where, contrary to local reports, there is indeed surfing.Finally the guys are in Hawaii, where they know the surf, the best in the world. We find out that the big wave surf break in Waimea Bay was ridden first in 1958. The waves are two and three stories high, and wipe outs are massive. Surfers who do so must quickly dive deeply into the ocean, lest they get struck by their boards and suffer severe injury.At the end, the boys explain that finding good surf is a hit or miss proposition: they were lucky in Africa, not so in Australia, and OK in New Zealand. But the guys reflect on the wonderful events that they have experienced in their exciting young lives.Hang ten (stars, not toes)!