Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, with music by Mark Mothersbaugh. The film is based on the story of the "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport. Mitch Hedberg, a famous stand-up comedian who appears in the movie, died before the film was released. The movie is dedicated in his memory. Tagline: They came from nothing to change everything. Stacy Peralta, played by John Robinson, is a world famous skateboarder who later becomes a film director. Peralta created the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, from whose story Lords of Dogtown is based, and also worked on the screenplay for Lords of Dogtown. In the film, Peralta is portrayed as a "good guy," not getting into as much trouble as the other characters. Tony Alva, played by Victor Rasuk, grew up with a rugged, sometimes angry father, and is shown as often seeking to be the center of attention. With the rise of the Z-boys and the Dogtown era, Alva develops an ego that drives his friends and family away from him. Jay Adams, played by Emile Hirsch, is portrayed as the most talented of the group. Adams was raised in a broken home and uses skateboarding as an outlet to vent his frustrations. The extreme lifestyle Adams leads draws him apart from the other Z-boys and into a life of gang violence. Sid, a lesser character played by Michael Angarano, is a former skater who can no longer practice the sport due to his cancer. After they become estranged from each other due to fame, Peralta and Alva reunite while skating in Sid's emptied backyard pool. The Z-boys altered public perception of skateboarding significantly. Once thought to be a mere pastime for surfers during periods of poor wave activity, skateboarding began, under the influence of the Z-boys, to be percieved by the general populace as a sport in its own right and a legitimate form of personal expression. Today, practitioners of the sport as well as spectators generally give the Z-boys an immense amount of respect for their contributions to the history of skateboarding. |
