The 2005 film Lords of Dogtown is inspired by the true story of the Z-Boys, a group of surfers grew up in the mean streets of Dogtown in Santa Monica, California, and ultimately revolutionized the competitive world of skateboarding, turning it into more of an extreme sport.

It’s 1975, and rebellious urban teens Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch), Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk) & Stacy Peralta (John Robinson) wake up early every morning to sneak off to the abandoned Pacific Ocean Park Pier in Venice to surf before school or work. It is a place where they can go to escape the various issues they have at home. Whenever kids from the Valley show up to surf, they’ll mess with them, showing them that the pier is only for locals. When not in the water, the guys ride their skateboards and practice their tricks. Teen Sid (Michael Angarano), who works at the local surf shop, introduces the guys to the newly-invented polyurethane wheel, which is a gamechanger, allowing for more grip, and the ability to translate their surfing moves to skateboarding. After seeing what the boys can do with these new wheels, surf shop owner/board designer Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger) decides to put together a new Zephyr skate team. At the competitions, the guys are instantly a hit, performing moves unlike anything that has been seen before. There’s a drought in California, so the guys start breaking into the yards of unsuspecting suburban homeowners to perfect their craft in their drained pools, where the walls serve like waves for their skateboards. However, as the guys start winning competitions and become more famous and sought after, jealousy, money, drugs, girls and an extremely competitive nature starts to change the guys, and affect their friendship. Have things become too commercialized, or can they once again find that love of the sport that brought them together in the first place?

I had never seen Lords of Dogtown or heard of the Z-Boys before, so the story was fresh and new to me. The film finds the perfect blend of character drama and really exciting skateboarding sequences. It does a nice job of introducing each of the characters, and the struggles they are going through, and then following them as they rise through this competitive skateboarding world and get tempted and changed by the money and fame it offers. I really enjoyed the way the skateboarding scenes were shot, rather than just static wide shots of the teens doing their tricks, the cameras are right there following the Z-Boys as they speed down ramps or around emptied pools, making you feel like you are part of the action. This leads to some really exciting sequences.

I was really surprised by the very recognizable cast, all of whom look so young, but have gone on to big careers. The actors do an excellent job of making you really care about these characters and their friendships. Besides the main actors, the film also includes appearances by Rebecca De Mornay, Nikki Reed, America Ferrera, Sofía Vergara, Johnny Knoxville, Eddie Cahill, Pablo Schreiber, and more. There are also some fun cameos, like Tony Hawk (who at age 14 was part of Stacy Peralta’s Bones Brigade team), and many of the original Z-Boys.

Mill Creek had previously released Lords of Dogtown- Unrated Extended Edition on Blu-ray in 2005, but that has since gone out of print. They have now re-released the title in new Walmart-exclusive SteelBook packaging. The presentation is generally good overall. The film starts off extremely grainy, with very washed out colors. However, either it got much better over the course of the film, or I just got used it, because by the end, I didn’t really have any issues. The fast-paced skating scenes look excellent, and put the viewer right into the action. The audio track is quite good, showcasing the film’s excellent soundtrack, providing clear dialogue, and making use of the surround channel to give a generally immersive feel.

I’m not sure what bonus material was included on Mill Creek’s original Blu-ray release, but much of the supplemental material from the original 2005 DVD release has been carried over to this SteelBook release, including two entertaining audio commentaries, a 30-minute making-of featurette, another 7-minute behind-the-scenes featurette about some accidents while filming the Dogbowl scene, a short gag reel, and the film’s trailer. Missing from the original DVD release are a 30-minute featurette on cameos, 19 minutes of deleted/extended scenes, a music video, storyboard comparisons and a few other short behind-the-scenes featurettes.

This new Walmart-exclusive release comes on a single Blu-ray disc placed inside a beautiful-looking SteelBook case—the interior and exterior of which can be seen below.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:50:12)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:
No new bonus material has been created for this release, everything has been ported from the previous 2005 DVD release. However, this Blu-ray only includes a subset of that bonus material.

• Director & Cast Audio Commentary (1:50:12)
  Director Catherine Hardwicke and actors Emile Hirsch (“Jay Adams”), Victor Rasuk (“Tony Alva”) & John Robinson (“Stacy Peralta”) provide an interesting and entertaining commentary throughout the film, sharing lots of fun behind-the-scenes stories about the production.
• Original Z-Boys Audio Commentary (1:50:12)
  The original Z-Boys, Tony Alva & Stacy Peralta, who also wrote the script for the movie, share some interesting insights into the film and their own experiences.
• The Making of Lords of Dogtown (30:06)
  A look at the making of the film with the cast and crew. They talk about the genesis of the film, creating the documentary, portraying the real characters, teaching the actors to skate, recreating 1970s Venice and the original locations, shooting the skateboard action, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with screenwriter Stacy Peralta, director Catherine Hardwicke, skate coach Tony Alva, producer John Linson, Zephyr Surf co-founder Skip Engblom, original Z-Boys Jay Adams, Jim Muir & Paul Constantineau, Dogtown documentarian Craig Stecyk, stunt coordinator Tommy Harper, skateboard trainer Steve Badillo, surfing trainer Mark Kubr, production designer Chris Gorak, skateboard consultant Chris “Sippi” Wesman, Venice historian Ray Flores, art director Seth Reed, construction coordinator Lars Peterson, skateboard cam operator Lance Mountain, director of photography Elliot David, Jay stunt double John Ponts, and actors Heath Ledger (“Skip Engblom”), Emile Hirsch (“Jay Adams”), Victor Rasuk (“Tony Alva”), Michael Angarano (“Sid”), Nikki Reed (“Kathy Alva”), John Robinson (“Stacy Peralta”), Johnny Knoxville (“Topper Burks”), Pablo Schreiber (“Craig Stecyk”), Mike Ogas (“Bob Biniak”), Eric Tuma Britton (“Marty Grimes”) & Chris Chaput (“Russ Howell”). Presented in full frame format.
• Dogged on Dogtown (7:00)
  The cast and crew talk about some of the accidents while filming the Dogbowl. Includes a montage of spills, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producer John Linson, skate trainer Steve Badillo, skate coach/original Z-Boy Tony Alva, director Catherine Hardwicke, skateboard consultant Chris “Sippi” Wesman, stunt coordinator Tommy Harper, Jay stunt double Griffin Collins, property department Robert Smith, Tony stunt double Adam Alfaro, and actor John Robinson.
• Gag Reel (4:27)
  Misbehaving props, spills, flubbed lines, and general fun on set.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:28)

Final Thoughts:

Lords of Dogtown is an entertaining film based on an interesting true story, finding the perfect blend between character drama and exciting immersive skateboard action. It features a very recognizable cast of actors who have gone on to have big careers. The video presentation is a bit iffy at the start of the film, but gets better as the movie progresses, but the audio presentation is solid. The disc only includes a subset of the bonus material from the original DVD release, but what is provided is quite interesting and entertaining. The previous Blu-ray release is out of print, so this new Walmart-exclusive release, which is packed in a beautiful new SteelBook case, will likely be easier to find. The film is definitely worth a look.