It seems like they made a movie like this for every cool activity in the 80s, and since windsurfing was at the height of its popularity it got the treatment too. Think Top Gun with much lower stakes and one tenth the budget. Despite a bad script and some marginal acting, I actually enjoyed this movie. Forget about the cliché plot and you can actually get a kick out of the clothes and hair and all the other 80s elements. The film is shot in Australia so for an American it was fun to pick out the cultural differences as well. Also, Nicole Kidman stars as a rock star, putting on a good performance and giving the film an excuse to fill the soundtrack with some era appropriate synth cheese. The windsurfing scenes will only appeal to the real hard core since the sport has changed so much in the last couple decades, but again I enjoyed the look back.
11 Reviews
How To Do A 360.
rmax30482313 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Maybe I shouldn't be writing this because I only watched the first half before realizing that it wasn't my kind of movie. However, it might be someone's else's, someone who enjoys beach party movies with plots, actions, some wit, and a teen-aged Nicole Kidman.
Burlinson is a computer engineer or something at his dad's company. He comes up with a design for a theme park built around artificial waves. The surfers will go ape. They'll all try to do a "360," which I gather is flipping your sailboard around in a complete circle in the air above a breaking wave. That's a guess. Whatever it is, it has to be done on a sailboard and it's difficult.
Burlinson manages to pull it off one afternoon but nobody is around to see him except the distant figure of Kidman. Burlinson's mates in the pub ridicule him so he sets out on a search for Kidman, who is a rock queen. She gets to sing an entire fast pop song, her voice almost buried in electronic percussion and guitars, all bathed in a blood-red light. You can see why it requires a certain taste to enjoy this past the point of no return.
I wondered, while listening to the airy and up-tempo dialog, if American kids will get some of the allusions and jokes. Burlinson's nickname is "PC". It stands for "Police Car." Why is he called that? Because he's always chasing sirens. Sirens? Worse yet, somebody quotes Voltaire.
However, I expect that the sensibilities of our teens will roughly discard these sorts of challenges because by the time they realize that they didn't understand it, they'll have already forgotten it.
Besides, the dialog won't be as important as the many surfing scenes, the amiably reckless attitude of Burlinson, and the sassy, brassy Kidman, who was only eighteen when this was shot. She has a head of curly black hair that flops around with her, big enough to have its own weather system. She's a lot of fun. She hadn't been turned into the epitome of vacuous blond perfection that Hollywood would do it's best to achieve, but she can act and she embodies the role.
There are amusing allusions to "Jaws" in the writing -- not just the dialog -- some often amusing. Just as often, it's not. I didn't get a kick out of watching Burlinson prepare a fast breakfast while the camera cuts back and forth from the frying egg to the countdown on the microwave. It wasn't offensive, just pointless.
Burlinson is a computer engineer or something at his dad's company. He comes up with a design for a theme park built around artificial waves. The surfers will go ape. They'll all try to do a "360," which I gather is flipping your sailboard around in a complete circle in the air above a breaking wave. That's a guess. Whatever it is, it has to be done on a sailboard and it's difficult.
Burlinson manages to pull it off one afternoon but nobody is around to see him except the distant figure of Kidman. Burlinson's mates in the pub ridicule him so he sets out on a search for Kidman, who is a rock queen. She gets to sing an entire fast pop song, her voice almost buried in electronic percussion and guitars, all bathed in a blood-red light. You can see why it requires a certain taste to enjoy this past the point of no return.
I wondered, while listening to the airy and up-tempo dialog, if American kids will get some of the allusions and jokes. Burlinson's nickname is "PC". It stands for "Police Car." Why is he called that? Because he's always chasing sirens. Sirens? Worse yet, somebody quotes Voltaire.
However, I expect that the sensibilities of our teens will roughly discard these sorts of challenges because by the time they realize that they didn't understand it, they'll have already forgotten it.
Besides, the dialog won't be as important as the many surfing scenes, the amiably reckless attitude of Burlinson, and the sassy, brassy Kidman, who was only eighteen when this was shot. She has a head of curly black hair that flops around with her, big enough to have its own weather system. She's a lot of fun. She hadn't been turned into the epitome of vacuous blond perfection that Hollywood would do it's best to achieve, but she can act and she embodies the role.
There are amusing allusions to "Jaws" in the writing -- not just the dialog -- some often amusing. Just as often, it's not. I didn't get a kick out of watching Burlinson prepare a fast breakfast while the camera cuts back and forth from the frying egg to the countdown on the microwave. It wasn't offensive, just pointless.
Cute romance
SanDiego16 March 2000
Now that Nicole Kidman is a full fledged international star her early films have become accessible to her fans. I love her early work; her brash and spunky Aussie attitude gives this tall perfect beauty an edge. Here she plays a music video queen who is courted by a business executive who's passion is windsurfing. The script has elements of "Flashdance," "Cocktail," and other films that could have only been made in the eighties. Though the action scenes are clumsy (and boring) and the comedy sometimes juvenile, as a romantic date movie it delivers. The relationship between Kidman and Burlinson (who look like Barbie and Ken) is cute and their romance innocent (Burlinson shows up to a late night music session courting Kidman with tuxedo and flowers). Both are perfectly cast and believable in their roles. Kidman gives a wonderful performance and looks as gorgeous as Australia itself. Brief nudity and mild language. If you like windsurfing, Nicole Kidman, and a wholesome romance you've found the right film.
Definitely not a classic
pricenicholas23 December 2013
Saw this late on ABC, can see why they put it on in middle of night. This is amateur hour, watching this 'car crash',the dialogue, editing and special effects - shark/seal scene! - get worse and worse. When the 2 larrikins get honked by garbage truck and their retort is "Up yours, garbage breath", scriptwriters! Then when there is a drag between PC and the yobbos the dueling banjos start. Only interest is seeing young Kidman, Matt Parkinson and Alan Dale (Dr Karl) ironically in the band, Karl nursing muso ambitions early on.
On a side note, it would be more helpful and balanced if negative and positive reviews were put up as it seems that user reviews are only added when someone really likes the film. This leaves the user reviews unbalanced and some 'terrible' films get very high rating. Subjective, of course
On a side note, it would be more helpful and balanced if negative and positive reviews were put up as it seems that user reviews are only added when someone really likes the film. This leaves the user reviews unbalanced and some 'terrible' films get very high rating. Subjective, of course
It's a great period pic of Perth in the mid 80's
mr_joose21 August 2010
I have just watched this movie on late-night TV & it reminds me of when I saw it the 1st time at the Beechboro Drive-in in Perth's north eastern suburbs back in 1986/87 as an 18yr old. It was good then, but much better now, 24 years later. Only a local would pick up on the scene backgrounds that were far from accurate, e.g. when they were filming the final sequence off Trigg Beach, when you saw the coast from the water there was no crowd, or buildings even, as the actual windsurfing would've been shot further north beyond the suburbs. The film is a great period piece that any Aussie would enjoy.. the clothes, the hairstyles, the cars, etc. Tom & Nicole are definitely very cute together. If you have never been to Perth, as the movie shows, there is plenty of beaches & plenty of sun. I loved seeing the movie again.
For Nicole Kidman or windsurfing fans
David19819 August 2002
This is a surprisingly good film, bearing in mind it was probably made on a miniscule budget. What's unforgettable about it is a 19-year old Nicole Kidman as a sassy rock singer in a red leather jacket and slit skirt (as well as in the nude for about 5 scenes - all too brief). There's more than a hint of the famous actor she was about to become, with some feisty dialogue and a totally believable intensity in her relationship with her screen boyfriend. It's a pity that the credits reveal her 'singing' was dubbed by someone else, as Moulin Rouge showed she was quite capable of doing it herself. Oh, and if you like windsurfing, or huge waves crashing on Australian beaches, you'll also like the film for those reasons, and it's even got quite a good storyline with tension rising towards the end. The scriptwriter's attempts at humour - and the briefly-glimpsed plastic shark - are a bit embarrassing though!
With that hair her early work is the best
PatrynXX20 November 2022
Kinda stopped after Far and Away. But watching this it's easy to see how she got Days of Thunder. Totally prepped for a sports show. And those curls :O They list this as a comedy. Maybe but more like a Drama/Romance to me. Not sure why the low ratings. Loved it enough to buy the Region B Australian version. It was a really good put together movie from down under and Not many pulled that off. (other than Mad Max) Tim wasn't bad (same actor in both). Have that on Blu Ray Region B Germany. But some people just stick movies altogether and assume the worse. Not everything is Crocodile Dundee . Would figure. At the end it says by Bush Christmas Productions. Under great film of Nicole's. Bit hard to forget Nicole's love scenes in this movie. Not much love in you if that's forgettable lol
Quality: 8/10 Entertainment: 10/10 Re-Playable: 9/10 that blu ray is gonna take awhile.
Quality: 8/10 Entertainment: 10/10 Re-Playable: 9/10 that blu ray is gonna take awhile.
Breezy but ultimately forgettable
Wizard-829 July 2012
"Windrider" is a movie that's quite hard to find nowadays. It's never been released on DVD, and it didn't sell that many VHS copies when it was released on that format years ago. This is despite the fact that one of its stars is a pre-famous Nicole Kidman. There's extra interest for some fans of Kidman since in this movie she takes off her clothes a couple of times. But does the rest of the movie have anything good to offer? Well, it's nicely photographed, and the windsurfing sequences are energetic. There is also a nice musical score. But the movie is ultimately forgettable. It's never really BAD, but you will have seen the characters and the various plot turns in many other movies before, resulting in the movie having no surprises at all. Best watched as a background movie when you are busy with some activity at home.
This film inspired me to ride the wind...
MrCranky22 December 1998
This film inspired me to windsurf, and for that I can only be eternally grateful. It also has some really nice shots of Nicole Kidman's butt. If you are not an Aussie the rest might not be of too much interest, but does that wind ever blow over in Perth!
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