Review of Slippery When Wet

Introduction

I tried surfing once, as a very young child whilst on holiday with my mum and dad in Cornwall. A combination of a crap wooden surfboard (made of plywood), no waves and my uselessness didn’t make for a satisfying experience!

Made in 1958, Slippery When Wet follows the fortunes of a group of California surfers who head out to Hawaii to participate in a very low budget amateur film about surfing, riding the big waves in the process.

Video

The first thing to consider about the video is that it is 43 years old, shot on low quality equipment and by an amateur cameraman. The full-frame transfer is in colour, but is more akin to the first colour postcards with pastel shades and a slightly surreal look. There is, as expected, some dirt on the print, and some scenes are quite dark, but overall, the video exceeded my low expectations.

Visually, the film is an interesting (and often unintentionally amusing) look at 1958 California and being of an amateur nature has historical value with fashions, hairstyles, buildings and cars shown in detail.

Audio

The soundtrack is Dolby Digital mono (replayed through two channels), and consists of three elements – a narration by the filmmaker Bruce Brown, the occasional bit of speech (very little) and a jazz score by Bud Shank.

As you might expect, this doesn’t challenge a home cinema sound system, but is perfectly adequate and certainly doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of the film.

Features

Nothing, the menu gives only the choice of chapter selection and subtitles. (which are only in Spanish, German and French – not much use for the hard of hearing who speak English)

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case and contains a single-sheet single-sided insert detailing the 15 chapter breaks.

Conclusion

Slippery When Wet was a great deal more interesting that I imagined it would be – although primarily as a historical documentary about 1958. It is very much like a home movie, and the amateurishness of the whole thing makes it more enjoyable than it would have been if it was a polished production. The narration gives the film a documentary feel, and provides useful information during the various shots of the surfers doing their thing.

The video is better than I expected, although by today’s standards it can’t be considered to be good. Having said that, I’ve seen many 1980s films on DVD that look much worse. The sound is adequate, with the narration always easy to understand.

There aren’t any extras on offer so the £19.99 price doesn’t represent particularly good value unless you are a surfing fan, or have a particular interest in the late 1950s.