Waveriders (2009)

56% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
62% of users liked it
(75 ratings)

With this unusual, way-offbeat documentary, Joel Conroy offers an unique take on a familiar subject: the film examines the Irish origins of the west coast surfing culture. Conroy filters this history through the tragic life of George Freeth - an Irish transplant who turned early 20th century… More With this unusual, way-offbeat documentary, Joel Conroy offers an unique take on a familiar subject: the film examines the Irish origins of the west coast surfing culture. Conroy filters this history through the tragic life of George Freeth - an Irish transplant who turned early 20th century Hawaiian kings onto surfing, and thus resurrected a long-buried pastime that eventually spread to the masses. The film immediately delves into Freeth's tale, then travels around the world charting his influences across numerous cultural boundaries - from Hawaii, to sunny Southern California, to the "mother country" of Ireland. The film culminates with the makers' decision to take on-camera rides on colossal, 50-foot waves just off of the Irish coast. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.
Directed By: Joel Conroy
Written By: Lauren Davies, Joel Conroy
Genres: Documentary, Action & Adventure, Sports & Fitness

On DVD: Mar 16, 2010
Studio: Revolver Entertianment

Critic Reviews

Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
Slightly waffly paean to Irish surfing, rescued by the always awesome sight of waves as high as the screen, and consummately skilled, tanned blokes turning them into a canvas.
Cosmo Landesman, Sunday Times (UK)
Strictly for wave fans.
Kezia Clark, Little White Lies
It's an entertaining and thought-provoking take on a sport, and a lifestyle, whose identity and history is increasingly under threat from commercial interests.
, Empire Magazine
Initially, Waveriders looks like surf porn, but quickly reveals itself to be the story of the sport's unlikely genesis.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
Although the action footage is impressive, it becomes repetitive, exposing the rest of the movie as something of a ragbag. Surfing fans may be more enthused.
Richard Luck, Film4
The first essential surf movie since Riding Giants.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
The sensational footage of surfers barrelling through 50ft waves provides most of the appeal. But Joel Conroy's documentary is full of scrapbook curios.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Some awe-inspiring big-wave action.
Tim Evans, Sky Movies
It's a tall tale that suggests the teller has swallowed the Blarney Stone whole.
Jonathan Crocker, Total Film
The footage of the tiny figures riding these ferocious 50ft monsters goes past awe-inspiring into something almost indefinable.
David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]
Riding Giants covered much of the same ground in 2004 - and did it better.
, Sun Online
A few spectacular waves and a bit of interesting history is not enough to sustain a feature-length film. So it is probably just surf fans who will think Waveriders is swell.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
However much you admire the daring of these young surfers, you soon realise that listening to them yarn on about the sport can become very, very boring.
Allan Hunter, Daily Express
a winning combination of personal testimony, history lesson and heart-thumping action footage that chronicles Ireland's contribution to the development of surfing. An impressive insight into a little-known world.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Watchable surfing documentary with some genuinely stunning footage, but you never really get to know the surfers themselves and the film doesn't do anything that Riding Giants didn't do twenty times better.
Victor Olliver, Teletext
Earnest types speak in awe of wave sizes, yet no one once thinks to mount a camera on a surfer for a vicarious thrill. A lost opportunity.