To be terribly honest I was a little uneasy about reviewing this disc and my procrastination took over longer than it should have. As the first of three Bruce Brown surfing discs that I recently received, I was well aware that none of these titles were able to capture even a smidgeon of the success that his major title The Endless Summer received. Surfing Hollow Days, the disc currently in question, has a sort of cheap, local release feel to it, and knowing very well that the footage is now forty years of age I was a little hesitant to put pen to paper (or should I say, fingers to keyboard?) and write up a review for this disc, knowing full well that I had another two full feature length surfing documentaries still to come.

Now don’t let the above deter you from reading on, because these were only my expectations of the disc, and trust me, things are sure to improve from here. I always find that it is when my expectations are low that some surprisingly good films show up, because let’s face it, it is high expectations that make films like Star Wars: Episode I feel like cheap ABC children programming. So bleach my hair and call me a pop singing ‘Beach Boy’ sell-out, because this disc was actually quite enjoyable. For about 82 minutes we see Bruce Brown follow around surfing buddies such as Phil Edwards and Mickey Dora on a ‘surfing safari’ covering the best breaks of California, Mexico, Florida, Australia and New Zealand.

The surfing lifestyle was in an era of change and the pop-culture of the '60s was taking over, Bruce Brown made it his aim to keep it real and to show the audience what surfing was really all about. Being a documentary, this DVD basically has all the backing sounds muted and replaces it with a narrative commentary, presented by Bruce Brown himself. This is half of the joy ride here, we’ve all seen surfing footage before, but Bruce injects a strange, dry, and quite refreshing humour into the commentary which makes the entire production have a rather light and fun feel to it. The jokes are mainly prop gags, witty one liners, or badly strung snippets of sketch comedy which can be a little painful to begin with, but oddly enough it starts to sink in, and eventually it just becomes too much and a few chuckles just have to break through... before you know it, you're actually enjoying the ride.

The video itself is split into two chapters, with a brief intermission in between. Both chapters are introduced by old man Bruce Brown himself, as he appeared ten years ago. The movie was written and filmed in 1961 and thus the light humour they’ve weaved into the footage has that old '60s sort of harmless comedy feel to it that the entire family can enjoy. It does take a little getting used to, but everybody I’ve watched the disc with so far has managed to let a few laughs sneak out on at least a couple of occasions each, which allows even those that aren’t complete surf buffs to still enjoy this flick.

The video detail itself is a little dodgy and features film artefacts galore. The colours generally look as you’d expect from a film of this vintage, and little if nothing at all has been done to digitally improve its appearance. The detail is generally quite soft and is never really sharp enough to allow for any other forms of artefacts. The video is presented in a full screen aspect ratio of 4:3 and is not widescreen enhanced. This does sound a little negative, but it is about as good as we can expect considering its age and the source material.

The sound is also at the mercy of the source material, but is clear and easy to understand at all times, even if it does lack the clarity of more modern commentaries. The backing music throughout the feature varies and often sounds like a terrible mix between an old western, the Beach Boys, and the theme from Benny Hill. On many occasions I was anticipating the arrival of an old man and a bevy of young ladies in their underwear to come running out from the middle of nowhere... but luckily enough we were spared from those sort of questionable 1960s television antics.

Bruce Brown’s presentation of the commentary is a little disjointed at times, making his dialogue seem a little unorganised and rushed. The extras are close enough to non-existent and include only a trailer for his other works.

Overall I must say that this disc did exceed my terribly low expectations. It doesn’t have the classic feel of Bruce’s Endless Summer, but it certainly is still a fun way to waste a rainy afternoon. If you’re a surfing fan from the '60s then this disc should be right up your alley.