I got a Christian vibe from this right away, before I got to… well cameo appearances by Christian Hosoi and Bennet Harada.
What happens when your life takes a hard flip? Teenager Caleb Jones goes skateboarding. With no father in his life to guide him and his mother, Beth, working two jobs to make ends meet, Caleb believes nothing matters in life but becoming a sponsored skater to get him away from all his troubles. When his mother falls ill, Caleb is forced to deal with her illness and his lack of responsibility. Now on his own, he sets out to find the father he never knew when he stumbles upon some old love letters. Out of hurt and anger, Caleb reluctantly contacts his father Jack, who happened to live the next town over from him his entire life. Calebs only real friend, a crazy, homeless, street preacher named Ralph, speaks nuggets of Truth through Gods Word, guiding Caleb along his journey. Through the tragedy of his mothers illness and the sudden appearance of the father he never knew, Caleb becomes the man his mother always prayed hed be. Caleb is a story of what can happen when we let go of our anger and pain and willingness to forgive those whove hurt us most, just as God forgives us.
Hardflip was released in 2012. Even given the corny synopsis and proselytizing, the trailer for this movie makes it seem a (street) league above recent skateboard-centric films. And the star of the movie Randy Wayne? I don’t that guy from my elbow, but his first name seems alright. But seriously guys, whoever green lit the name “Digital Filmz” for the production company ought to be fired.
– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.
43 comments
K.C.
Skate and Anoint!
James Allen Davis
For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition (a state of final spiritual ruin; loss of the soul; damnation; aka Hell, which is basically being separated from God for eternity & you’ve all heard about the rest), but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.
James Allen Davis' Dear Old Mum
Jamie, I’m glad you think so highly of yourself but please put down the bible and learn to read and write, there’s a good boy.
All the best,
Mom
SimonWoodstock
PS: the dad is Bo Duke, btw.
Simone Woodstock's Dear Old Mum
Having sex out of wedlock leads to sex/ porn addiction? Tell me more son.
SimonWoodstock
Play some Skynyrd!
talentlessquitter
The final scene of Con Air can never be topped.
SimonWoodstock
Well said. Perhaps all things John Hughes comes close, though.
kilwag
Religious tolerance I can handle. Skynyrd tolerance? Not so much.
SimonWoodstock
That’s what bums me out about this film is its intolerance. Who are they to say that the Hardflip should be esteemed over any other skate trick? Aren’t tre-flips, inward heel flips, frontside 180 flips, and the like all equally valid? I would have preferred an ecumenical/universalist skate-trick-themed movie tile myself. Any suggestions?
James Allen Davis
Simon, did you ever get my e-mail that I sent you March 23rd (Yahoo to Yahoo)?
SimonWoodstock
Yeah, a while back. I am not going to be at that conference but if you are ever in SJ and want to film its on. peace!
#9
According to christianity; having a child ‘out of wedlock’ is a sin/wrong/immoral/etc…. Being part of the creation of ‘my’ son was the best ‘thing’ I ever did PERIOD. IT WAS NOT A SIN.
But ‘they’ claim it is a sin so….. F ALL OF THEM AND ‘THEIR’ RELIGON…..
Hail Satan!
Vishnu
I don’t hail Cab in your skate park, don’t praise Satan in my pool.
kilwag
WINNER: Vishnu!
Scott C
Maybe you can bash Cab next? Everyone knows that guy has no authenticity…or perhaps Lance Mountain?
Scott C
You guys are so cool…. bashing other people, passions, religions. One of the reasons I couldn’t stand the skateboard culture were people with big egos. I know Christian…he is one of the most chill, sincere, and authentic people you will ever meet. So what he has a passion for faith that CHANGED his life and pulled him from the pits of hell and addiction? Wouldn’t you share that as well? Yes the movie may be cheese, but his story is legit.
I’m over all the hate, judgement, “Christianity is not cool”. You should be ashamed of yourselves. If skateboarding is about hate, judgment, and egos, to hell with it.
skaterdave
Scott, I didn’t bash anyone’s religion.
I criticized their choice of timing and location for sharing their testimony.
If we’d been invited to a special church service to hear a story of religious conversion that would have been fine. Instead, a narrow and specific set of religious beliefs were blasted through an amplifier, and an attempt was made to make everyone stop skateboarding-at a public skatepark.
Any religionist doing this invites the same criticism, so you can quit acting like Christianity is being singled out.
TONS of dudes find God in prison. But the ones who really “get it” know there is a time and a place for everything:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Skateboarding saved me from drug addiction. I’m not going to churches making people stop their services so I can skate.
Hosoi’s testimony is nothing special, and neither is my skateboarding.
SimonWoodstock
Amen. I’ve seen you skate, there IS nothing special about that at all.
GayCowboysInBondage
So, Symie, you gonna try patriotism this year, boychik?
[Okay, so the nice Jewish boys of G.C.I.B. used “Hymie” and “play Pinochle” in that song line, in actuality. And Samuel Johnson’s English dictionary was NOT the first, as stated above, even though he really did mis-define patriotism as “the last refuge of a scoundrel”… (when it should have been “second to last”??)… but, gawd, what-EVER….]
Gawd
Yeah, but at least he didn’t directly kill anyone, unlike my bud Murph the Surf. (I laughed back when the first English dictionary defined PATRIOTISM as the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
JPK
“You guys” hey, you’re generalizing there, watch out! Not everyone here is one of “you guys”
scott o
nope
francisco
Dog is my co-pilot and he can’t skate for shit.
NWForty
Bo Duke!
talentlessquitter
Awesome!
CCKEN
Rust never sleeps just addicted to something else, the problem is he’s not much fun since he stopped tweeking!!!
Tingly Butt
I always feel like I’m in a movie whenever I’m at the skatepark.
Gawd
Excitable faith-bashers are almost as bad as godhoppers.
Jake
@ Gawd Fukin-A..men. Never met Hosoi, but ran into Bennet almost every time skating in L.A. Dude is so rad and humble and tears it up on a mini. I have no problem with Athiests and non Christians, just like many of them have no problem vilifying and generalizing Christians in a childishly exaggerated manner.(flashback of the state-“I’m outta hee-re”)And dude, c’mon…if you know who Hosoi is, and you didn’t expect him to get preachy and want the audience’ attn…I mean you forced to listen/attend…I have plenty of athiest friends and no issue til they start pushing this Christian oppression shit and Im so fucking tired of it. Yeah,there are plenty of nut-job,pious,insufferable followers out there…and Christians too. Before I get a mob of faith-deriding solders responding with how imposing Christ-lame-o’s are, look at the posts above, Athiests are the majority now, so it’s no longer so cool/unique… Easy to clown those who make themselves vulnerable, harder to listen to and respect an opposing belief.
-Jake 7:11
Gawd
Don’t worry Jake, I hate all of you.
Jake(and annoy)
But there is only one of me. It just seems like more than one person when I go on for that long.
Gawd
I hate all of you skaters… snot all about you Jake.
#9
What a F’ing stupid scenario; hell or heaven…. and that was supposed to come from a ‘god’. Don’t the same people that wrote the ‘bIbLE’ now own holywood?
Propaganda…. pure and simply explain/put/framed/etc…..
Believe in the bIbLE…. be a fool/idiot/dumbshit known to ‘believe’ something…..
Lies, Fairytales, Propoganda, Crap…
FYI 2 ‘Holmes’: You milked that ‘shit’ long enough….. perhaps an attempt to return to reality…..?????
Hail sKatan!
Brock75
Nothing is worse than using skateboarding to prosletize the youth. There is a special place in hell for bad actors and fake Christians.
Prickly Pete
Spoiler alert: Mom dies, dad bails a second time, son grows up to become the Burnside Scammer.
#9
Is King Diamond a christnazi? How about Slayer? I guess ‘all’ the good music will be playing in HELL.
Hail Satan!
seedy
What’s wrong with
skaterdave
I thought that sort of spelling should “heavy metallize” it…
skaterdave
Christian came out to Kansas City for the premier of this last year.
Although it was fun skating Penn Valley skatepark with him, it quickly got tiresome when he wanted everyone to stop skating so he could preach for a while – a LONG while…
Strike 1
It got even worse when he wanted everybody to be silent while he prayed.
He pretty much lied about how long he was going to pray…
Strike 2
I guess since he’s a fairly new christian he must not know that public prayer is specifically forbidden by Jesus himself – Matthew 6:4-6
Strike 3
I might want to skate some church roofs, but I would never ask people to stop their church service so I could do it.
It’s a shame the conversion from meth addict to religionist didn’t result in any ego reduction.
Brock75
Absolutely correct. The only Christians I like are the ones that don’t preach and judge. I will get irate and rude anytime some fools want to turn the skatepark into a church, even if it is a “legend”. Fuck idols.
rusty
word.
Norm
This is probably the worst movie on netflix. Also, Brian Sumner’s cameo creeps me out.