Before Thrashin’ (1986) or Gleaming the Cube (1989), there was Skateboard (1978), “the movie that defies gravity.” Directed by George Gage and written by Dick Wolf, Skateboard has comedy, drama, and soaring skateboard action. Star Allen Garfield plays a talent agent who banks on the youth “fad” that’s sweeping the nation to bail him out of a jam. The young Leif Garrett and skateboard legend Tony Alva also star as the talented kids that can help launch the trend into the next major sport.
Buy Skateboard DVDManny Bloom (Garfield) is the typical “down but not yet out” Hollywood agent looking for the next big thing that will propel him back to the limelight and clear his gambling debts with a bad bookie named Sol (Anthony Carbone). Bloom stumbles upon a group of skateboarding kids as his car stalls on a street corner and they literally jump over the car. Bloom is impressed and begins to plot how he can exploit this trend and help these kids make a few bucks while keeping Sol from breaking his knees. Bloom assembles the best local skateboarders and turns the rag tag kids into a competitive team he dubs the L.A. Wheels. Together, they will tour the state of California as they perform handstands, high jumps, barrel leaps, and do some ramp riding in small halls and tiny skate parks.
The Wheels are eventually asked to be part of the “first national downhill invitational,” an event where they’ll compete with the best of the best for $20,000 and bragging rights to be called the best skate team in the nation. The gnarly downhill race is where the team’s top star, Jason (Richard Van der Wyk), will get a chance to shine on the largest stage yet but is that what he really wants? The tension mounts as Jason becomes a reluctant media darling and soon succumbs to the pressure of stardom. Jason turns to the usual teen vices of girls and booze before he gets drunk and goes missing before the big event. Now it’s up to hotdogger Tony (Alva) and the small kid with heart, Brad (Garret) to lead the team and win the major downhill event. The stakes are high as the underdog L.A. Wheels face a must-win situation.
Skateboard is a true product of its time and a complete exercise in a movie studio, Universal, trying to capitalize on a rising trend and make an appeal to the youth market. Skateboard is better than expected overall and does have some genuinely funny moments as well great skating performances by the young skaters involved. The skateboard action represented relies on standard tricks that date back to the 1960s including barrel jumps, races like slalom and downhill, and freestyle moves like handstands and riding two boards at once. There are some shots of Alva and his cutting-edge style of pool- and pipe-riding sprinkled throughout.
Alva and the other kids, though a bit stiff, do well as actors with the lines they are given and allowed to improve a little. Their easy nature shows on screen as they are pretty much playing versions of themselves anyway. Leif Garrett is young and still working on his acting craft as well but he fits in with this bunch and contributes to the movie’s overall appeal. Garfield does a fine job in his role as a bossy, grumpy jerk who grows to actually care for these rough-around-the-edges kids.
Skateboard can also boast of having a few other notable names in its credits, including writer Dick Wolf and composer Mark Snow. Wolf is a legend, primarily known for his work on the TV series Law & Order while Snow would go on to compose music for The X-FIles and Smallville. Skateboard features some funky ’70s-era music on its soundtrack which includes a track by Dr. John, “Sweet Rider,” that sounds like it belongs on a Charlie Brown TV special that could have been called, “You’re on a Skateboard Team Now, Charlie Brown.”
The Extra Features include a couple of good short interviews with director George Gage and Tony Alva. The Audio Commentary with Gage and Alva is great and makes the movie even better viewing a second time through. Alva has an outstanding memory for people and places and can still point them out as the movie plays. Alva can tell you where a scene was shot and if it’s still standing or what is there now if it’s not. He can also recall which scenes feature his pals Chad McQueen (son of Steve) and fellow skating star Jay Adams.
Skateboard is a fun 97 minutes of nostalgia. It highlights what skateboarding was like before Tony Alva and the rest of the Z Boys from Dogtown turned skateboarding into a cutting edge, high-flying sport that would help launch the X Games.
