Watch: Rip Curl // Lazer Breathing Dragons
Earlier this year, Steph Gilmore re-signed with Rip Curl thirteen years after she left them. Steph promptly took a year off the tour and booked in some Search time.
Lazer Breathing Dragons is the fruit of time spent in Indonesia with Mason Ho and Tom Curren - who rides an actual, real surfboard this time.
The film is made by Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollett, and unlike their last project everyone keeps their clothes on. It opens with OzRock, closes with OzRock, has much weirdness between - as well as a classic Steph section - and is best enjoyed with no questions asked.
Comments
Apocalypse Now innit.
Saw the Divinyls play at the Piggery as a young boy..Chrissie in her prime..wow!
Me too. But it was at the spit on the Goldy. She was in her prime alright. Over an hour late. Off her head. Cancelled the gig after 2 songs. No cash back. Beer can projectile riot. Good times.
Saw them at the Westernport....she spat on me...didnt wash for a week
"Stephanie? You're driving already?"
I also can't think of anyone who makes surfing seem more fun than Mason Ho.
Hey rj, couldn't agree more re Mason. Every clip of him I see he's just so stoked to be out there, whether it be with Michael & Coco at 6ft Sunset or charging at 12ft Pipe.
Great clip with an awesome soundtrack; Steph and The Church, perfect combo.
Thought I was back in the Pix Theatre in the 80’s.
Great ol fashion rail shredding not an air fest top clip ..
whoever didn't slow mo the shit out of that 3:48/3:49 spit with mase's mane just billowing need to be fired out of a cannon into the sun
haha, genius @Alex, shit that would have been on point!!
what a wicked romp, new-wave neon, camel-flame guitar, clearly it's steph finding stoke froth freedom after doing her time people-pleasing wearing the old vanguard mantle.. much better than watching her be paraded out in 3' novelty wsl heats. The chrissy steph opening sequence made me smile audibly (not sure I've done that before), the end credits made me want to pash someone who tastes of west coast cooler.
Good. Different.
haha true!
Enjoyed Steph’s bits. However when she says, ‘I’m not sure what’s next for my surfing, but I’m really excited’……
……..I kind of think, why don’t you try something different, like going left or even better, getting barrelled going left.
There was some footage of Mason going the other way, surely Steph was there too? She has the talent.
Also, I don’t get the continued Tom fascination. Is it not a bit like watching Wally Lewis passing the footy around now?
I thought that was harsh on Steph until I got to the Tom bit, now that's harsh!
Wasn’t trying to be harsh on Steph, just love to see something new. No doubting her legendary status surfing 2-6 foot rights.
Really liked it but i think that not having Mick Fanno bouncing off Mason and Steph was a missed opportunity but i like the way Vaughan and Nick are using their weirdness and creativity, sort of reminds me of Jack Mcoys films for Billabong ....great use of tunes from golden times past .Steph was ripping.
Highlights imho:
- Steph on the Burch Picklefork. Really suits her
- "You driving already?"
- The Church
Really enjoyed that.
Disagree with @Solitude, could watch Curren surf all day. Ultimate style master.
Steph ripping oozing style, and Mason, geez he has fun ey...
sick little vid,
Parked the whole family on the lounge last night to watch it. Young-uns slightly disappointed at the lack of dragons, eldest pumped on Mason at Watu, us oldest digging the mix of music and graceful surfing.
I enjoyed that a lot.
It's great to watch surfing that looks like pure enjoyment of surfing, not laboured hamsters in the wheel.
Great Vid
Where's Mick ?
Selling fins, deck grip and doing corpo motivational speech things.
That was great, how good is Curran still an extortionary talent.
lol I thought that was boring as fark, average surfing, average waves, decent sounds yeh, preferred Curren when he was an enigma and not a punchline like Occy.
Sorry Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollett, Rip Curl, but that was lame.
Vaughn is my most favorite commentator in all of surfing so maybe he should just stick to that?
Surfing "Videos" these days are just so boring and uninspiring. Nothing new or exciting has happened in surfing vids for the last 20 years. You have 3 of the most famous surfers on the planet and this is all you can come up with? Show some fucking imagination next time please...... and not just with the out of water shots but also the actual surfing shots.
Do you really find this boring ?
?si=c1FCd-mnpPqkm9ph this inspired me but each to their own.Plus JJF’s films he’s put out, Torren Martyn’s films…
Hard to please
I thought it was OK.
Tom was riding boards meant for Joao Chianca and I think that showed in his surfing- they looked too small and his surfing looked shaky on them.
Steph ripping but all rights.
I took this vid as a de facto retirement announcement. The deliberate ambiguity was meant to obscure not reveal.
No way Rip Curl would have invested so much capital for so long in an ageing athlete without a concrete plan and that plan obviously does not include being on Tour full-time.
A year is just about long enough to work on and fix deficiencies and in Steph's case that has always been heavy barrelling lefts (by her own admission).
I've seen a lot of her surfing around here (right points) and all rights in this vid.
Too late now to do anything about it so with 3 barrelling lefts on Tour there isn't going to be a competitive Gilmore there.
I find the foxing and sandbagging of the public a bit lame.
If she isn't going to compete full-time, come out and say it- give the spot to the next girl coming through and let her prepare properly.
Full-time tour spots for women are incredibly rare and Steph should acknowledge she is done, do the free-surf thing and let the next girl on.
Well said
Mad respect for Steph, especially her flow... but the same top turn 400 times in a row to my eye, isnt the best showcase of her immense talent.
How about Steph makes a movie surfing mid-lengths and twinny's in Marokko? The fact Torren Martyn did it so well is an argument in favour of another surfer doing it all again...
"Volume Up People!"
Ai Launch Vehicle...we have lift off...Mission Complete.
The Queen & her Minnows rock out to Oz Classics framing the Star of the Show!
Naturally any true blooded Aussie mandates Pigging out on the Classics...tbb is totally wired!
Crew are pumping along with Queen's Work Out Mix Tape...But wotz that...
We get snippets of The Classics book ending the Star Track Vehicle!
Ok! Feel free to check the credits for the mystery track...
Who is our Lazer breathing Star of the Show Dragon Lady!
Be uber cool if it's a CT Ai Space Invader High Score Chiko Chick...
Fuckin' lose me shit if it's a darkside sultry Steph killin' us softly with her '80's Lazer Disc...
Eitherway...gotta icky feeling we were massaged into Jumping the Back 2 the Future Shark.
Bloody Dirty Bastards...by hook or crook draggin' us kickin'n'screamin' into their Rotten Apple Matrix
Ok! The song sounds a bit too laboured down with Cliche Electro Bop Wizardry & mike sound tics.
Guessing we gotta Vote on this 1st entry in the swellnet Ai Barrel Girl Comp.
Anyhow...Just hoping the Mystery Chick who laid down the Vocals scores WSL Ai Equal Paycheck!
As it stands...only the WSL Shock Jock DJ has his name on the Cheque!
Think they're gonna trial Surf Vidz ....for Ai re-edits to bypass Music Royalties on Soundtracks!
Soon watch'n'hear yer Old Surf Flick Classics without the end credits...get tbb's drift! (A Honey Pot)
They Reckon we're the perfect host...we'll take that as a compliment..
Crew are Stoked to do the devils bidding!
Hey! Were we just duped into being brainwashed by another WSL Ai Fish Dicky DJ.
Well! tbb Recommends ya avoid 'searching' for yet another inhouse WSL twiddler...
It's mined with combos of Ai Home Studio demos timing with WSL Surf releases...
https://www.instagram.com/alaindecarne/reel/DA8VSycvhzm/
tbb already did the dirty deed to save ya from Vomiting up yer $30 WSL Hard Fizz.
Perfectly times in with Goldie Electing their fav WSR [L] Hard Fizz Beach Club promoter!
tbb feels we're being massaged onboard a WSL Bad Apple / Aussie Sony Honeymoon cruise.
WSL Rotten Apple DJ mixes up Oz Classic Tunes with World Champs into Ai Lather beam.
Surf Safari World Champ release exploits release of recent bad apple combo soundtrack!
https://music.apple.com/au/song/the-greatest-surf-movie-in-the-universe/...
Still not on board...dopey hodad who despises Ai Chiko Chick exploitation will take one for the team.
see here : Side Hustle Promotion of WSL Rotten Apple Ai DJ...
tbb saved ya a Bronze medal if ya Hurry...(So only 2 others survived the Bad Apple Rort...works a treat huh!)
Search is on for another Ai Yuppie to hard fizz your Beach for 30,000 crew @ $300/hr
Go on...just say it...Why are Goldie Hodad Basherz the most cynical of all Qldurrz...well durr!
"How many rotten WSL Apples do we gotta bob to score an Equal Pay Ai Chiko Chick Flick Soundtrack!"
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_la8Usk5tHlTKDvB4qus-ovvvse...
I loved it. Made me smile.
I dont care what anyone says, i could watch Steph surfing perfect righthanders til the end of time and thats perfectly fine with me.
While Steph is the greatest, the yellow board was too flicky for me. I prefer to watch her with a longer rail line. The white board at the end was better. Curren simply looks eternally amazing and Rip Curl certain got/gets good value out of Mason, who naturally is not out of place with those legends.
I'd be happy if I could surf like Steph in that vid, I might have laid down a couple of rare good turns here and there over the years when most of that music was current but to do be able to do that all day long these days would make me a Happy Man! I like her style better than most if not all of the current womens contenders who seem to be trying to rack up the points as if they were being scored on the same criteria as as a bunch of fidgety aggresive men instead of wave dancers, like it or not that's what we're doing out there!
I'm one more to the meh crowd for that one
Nice enough but there's much better stuff around and lots probs done on lesser budgets (or with lesser paid talent at least).
Agree on the remarks above
- I also find the sandbagging irritating... just be honest with yourself and us if you can ffs
- I would also personally find it much more interesting to see Steph go stretch her talents in challenging lefts (a fly-on-the-wall doco about her doing that would be fasinating - if it was done with honesty)
- Seems old age catches up with everyone, even the perpetually styish TC is mortal - looking old and stiff by modern elite or his own prior and lofty standards imo
Tom did seem unusually engaged and playful in the non-surfing elements- like he may have been actually cooperating with the filmakers instead of apparently doing everything he could to ignore or subvert their efforts. Maybe he and Vaughan are kindred left field spirits.
well that was fun!
Smells like a rip off of Harry Bryant's?Motel Hell
Exact same format, same location
Lame shit curl
tots, but being parochial and referential if we's dominating is good, ey?
zoit goist, biyach, good people are bringing them usa $s into oz, spending it at the pub ; )
12min 12 Steph - Pickle Fork.
?si=zvMlcIzY6zkvsBHtSteph doesn't owe anything.
Spot on Belly. She's an 8x world champion that completely redefined womens surfing. Took the baton from the prevous generation and said 'see ya later'.
Her contribution to the current level of the women on tour is more heavily weighted than any female before her, besides Isabelle Latham.
Theres a new generation, a new schedule, a few old hungry war horses that never had the glory, but i'd imagine not alot to motivate her to put the nose back to the grindstone and in some ways reinvent herself.
If she does choose to jump back on tour, then it'd be great to see her put some time into those kinda waves. Even if not, and she gets back on and it's a disaster....so what.
She's the most beautiful surfer i've ever seen and that's a gift in my lifetime.
Amazing how cranky some people get over a free fucking surf movie.
Used to have to pay $35 when i was a grom and no lines were ever drawn like Stephs in them.
Geez....too many of you are missing the reason this has been posted. It's clear the message is just have fun people. Sure, its not the trillion dollar advertorial we're all used too but Steph, Mason and Tom were fucking ripping. Be thankful you can do a fraction of what these three bring to the table and bathe in the glory of the fun that surfing is. Check out the faces and froth these dudes are exuding and thrive on the fact that even after all these years they are still loving it. Loved the music too.
No mention of fun here...
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I sat down and watched it with my (non-surfer, but increasingly casual fan) partner - she loved it! Quirky and funny, aesthetically pleasing back-drop and waves. Also about the right length that she didn't lose interest.
I don't think movies like this from big brands are supposed to appeal to the core of the core audience - more a hopeful middle ground.
mason ho rips, easily one of the most talented surfers, but despite his laid back cheerful demeanour, he is a cock in the water. snakes and drops in regularly, and also regularly rides over people and gets way too close when doing carves. fin slices on the back arent fun. ive seen him in the surf before a long way from hawaii and the entitled cunt acted like he owned every wave.
Scrots , could not disagree more . We surfed Johanna with him and his crew on a mad right hander down the beach from 2nd car park a few years back. He was amping everyone and hooting all waves , yeah he caught a few but not through hassling . Said hello to everyone in the water and kept a good vibe going . In a break from sets I told him I had surfed a similar bank with his dad , same time Easter, 35 years ago .
he was a little maggot in the water at g-land one year.
Blatant burnings
Late to the party on this one but, well, yawn. I know I know Steph and TC have epic styles, Mason rips etc etc...I watched this straight after watching Trilogy with Ethan, Griff and Seth and all it did was point out that Steph is about as close to the best women now as TC is to the best men. Vaughan's suspect humor is getting equally tired too, 4/10.
This is /can be a cult surfin classic... ,. (after a slight editing haircut)
each surfer at their highest level... surfing in the moment.
Barrel masterclass above & below for those with open minds , body & soul
The Church / Sony need to acknowledge the Beatles riff used from "ticket to ride"
The [email protected] . in an unguarded moment.... " So hard..... finding inspiration......"
Beatles " I think im going to be sad, I think its today, yeah...."
"Shes got a ticket to ride, but she dont care........"
The last quote (above) could have come from The WSL about Steph's extended holiday, but due to copyright .... & not being AI.....Ltd