Step into Liquid (2003)
Top Secret Productions

Description

This documentary profiles surfers and surfing locations all over the world, including the monstrous waves of Oahu's North Shore, the Gulf shores of Texas (where waves are created by oil supertankers), the ice-cold waters of Ireland, Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, the Cortez Banks, Da Nang in Vietnam, the tiny waves of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin and the tropics of Rapa Nui. More important than the diverse and often spectacular locations and waves, however, are the wide range of surfers that are profiled, challenging the stereotypes about the surfing counterculture.

Collected reviews and ratings

10 Variety | Scott Foundas

"Step Into Liquid" isn't the usual surf pic with surfing as the road to coolness, babes and muscles. Rather, it's an awe-inspiring survey of global surf culture, with the power to crush the post-"Gidget" decades of Hollywood stereotyping of surfers and surfing.
Read full review (Cinema)

9.2 Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

''Step Into Liquid'' is a great title for a surfing documentary, and the movie, written, edited, and directed by Dana Brown, lives up to that trippy sensual promise.
Read full review (Cinema)

9.2 DVD Verdict | Franck Tabouring

You don't have to be a passionate surfer to fully enjoy Step Into Liquid. As long as you're interested in watching extreme sports or learning more about what drives the people to do what they love to do, Dana Brown's documentary will certainly not disappoint you.
Read full review (DVD)

8.8 Reel | Jerry Renshaw

There are times when Step Into Liquid drags a bit or could have benefited from some judicious editing. Still, the movie's images are so seductive and intoxicating, they'd have the most landlocked Midwesterners hankering for some sand between their toes and a briny spray in the air.
Read full review (DVD)

8.0 New York Times | Dave Kehr

Mr. Brown has the magical ability to take his public on a two-hour vacation. It's the next best thing to being there, and you don't need to worry about sand in your beer.
Read full review (Cinema)

8.0 UpcomingDiscs.com | Gino Sassani

At the end of the day, the movie is about surfing, plain and simple, and the fascinating pictures nature can give us.
Read full review (DVD)

8.0 Amazon user reviews

It is definitely a feel good movie with humorous sections and breathtaking footage of the largest wave ever ridden.
Read full review (Blu-ray)

7.5 TV Guide | Maitland McDonagh

Overall the movie's strength is breadth, not depth: Glimpses of Great Lakes surf culture in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, or dedicated Texas wave riders negotiating the wake of supertankers in the otherwise glassy Galveston Shipping Lane are fascinating because they're so unexpected.
Read full review (Cinema)

5.0 Rolling Stone | Erik Hedegaar

In Step Into Liquid, director Dana Brown gives us too much tow-in surfing (the latest trend in big-wave riding), too much slo-mo action featuring bikinied surfer chicks, and far too much mawkish commentary about the sport's soulful nature.
Read full review (Cinema)