STORM SURFERS 3D

SYNOPSIS:
Big wave surfing and innovative 3D cinematography converge as this documentary follows Australian surfing legends Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones together with Meteorologist Ben Matson, 25 crew and over 1,000 kg of equipment on their mad, high-stakes race against the clock to conquer and film some massive waves.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
They've got miniature cameras on the tips of their surfboards and on hand-held poles they hold while they ride e'm high in this wild and watery doco about big wave surfing. And they mean BIG. As you'd expect from a film dedicated to the subject, there is an amazing amount of surfing footage, and yet the editors have managed to include telling interview footage of the two surfing greats who are the stars. They have been close friends for decades and as they approach 50, their friendship remains solid - albeit filled with irritations, just like any relationship.

The extreme nature of the challenge is matched by the enormity of the film undertaking, which stretched across the southern winter from May to August 2011, when the great storms heave giant waves around the southern ocean.

Spectacular, awe-inspiring waves turn these guys on; they feed off the adrenalin rush and have done so for decades. It's infectious and energizing, entertaining and amazing, even for those who, like me, have never surfed. I can see the appeal.

Structured to end dramatically with the expedition to the never-before-surfed Turtle Dove reef off the Western Australian coast, where Tom almost loses his life, Storm Surfers manages to keep the tone light and easy - much like the two men approach the risks they take. It haunts them, but invisibly.

The filmmaking team deserves special credit for the way this doco was conceived, filmed, edited, scored and turned into mainstream entertainment.