The Depth Test Storm Surfers 3D

In: The Depth Test by Stu Nettle 109 Comments Fri 27th Jul '12

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I wore my favourite scarf to the Storm Surfers 3D premiere. Teamed it with a black felt beret and charcoal cashmere sweater. Took my place in my favourite seat and crossed my legs while waiting for the film to begin. It opened with Tom Carroll coming a'gutser on a large, open ocean wave while Ross Clarke-Jones screamed frantically and the thwack of helicopter blades blasted through the cinema speakers. 

Don't go looking for intellectual stimulation in Storm Surfers 3D 'cos you won't find it. What you'll get instead is a high energy blast of buckshot to the senses. 

At it's core Storm Surfers 3D is a straight up and down buddy flick; two irrepressible fellas that have weathered the travails of life – disaster, elation, pain – with a friendship that has endured. It's around this heart that the film beats and which the directors have used to power a story containing more depth than your usual surf film. Still, it ain't quite a beret and scarf affair.

But let's uncross our legs, sit back in the seat and get realistic; anyone reading this review on Swellnet will judge the film primarily on the surfing and how it's filmed. On that score – and let's not mess about with language here - Storm Surfers 3D is a visceral punch to the head. Or better yet a lip to the head. While watching the surfing sequences I ducked and weaved, adjusting my seating to the pitching waves. I felt the roll of the boat as swells passed underneath while motoring across the ocean.

Understand that this isn't a movie for thinking but rather for feeling – it's sensory not cerebral. Which, of course, is exactly what surfing is and the directors, Justin McMillan and Chris Nelius, have captured it in the most faithful way yet seen on screen. They also had a masterstroke by employing Toni Collette to do narration and tempering the inherent blokiness of the stars.

The basic storyline follows Ross and Tom, and their forecaster, Ben Matson, as they track and chase storms around Australia during the winter of 2011. Six missions are filmed, not all of them successful. Yet even the dud ones, such as a trip to Cow Bombie in Western Australia, result in some sort of drama occurring while the 3D cameras are rolling. The still shots you may have seen of Tom Carroll manhandling his jet ski while going over-the-falls on a 20 footer just don't do it justice. That's another sequence where I ducked my head and sent my beret flying.

One wave where it was the surfer who should have ducked happens during a mission to Cape Solander. In a heartbeat Ross Clarke-Jones goes from upright to cartwheeling through three dimensions and we see the real worth of watching surfing in 3D. It's a gruesome wipeout, and thoroughly entertaining. It's also indicative of how Storm Surfers 3D should be watched: just sit back, switch off and immerse yourself in the action and fun. Feel it.

Storm Surfers 3D will tour nationally as a series of One-Night-Only screenings with Ross and Tom in August and September. Get your tickets in advance here.

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