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97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, Tony Hawk, Jason Jessee, John Brinton Hogan, Steve Olson, Brandi McClain, Stacy Peralta, and Lance Mountain
This documentary explores the rise and fall of 80's skateboard legend Mark "Gator" Rogowski.
| GENRE(S): | Documentary |
| WRITTEN BY: | Helen Stickler |
| DIRECTED BY: | Helen Stickler |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 17, 2004 Video: February 17, 2004 Theatrical: August 22, 2003 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 82 minutes, B/W / Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Stephen I. gave it a10:
I found the movie to be moving . I don't know what I feel for Mark....Noidea what Brandi McCaaine motives are and ultimately felt a strange sensation of loss for Marks first Girlfriend Britanny. Greta soundtrack added to this most compelling documetery.
Elise H. gave it a 10:
One of the best movies I've seen all year, definetly the best documentary.
Mark Rogowski gave it a 10:
Cool skating piss poor attitude.
Chad S. gave it a 6:
Because the "fall" portion of the Gator saga feels a little truncated, the murder victim is unfairly painted as a party girl, since all we have is Brandi McClain's testimony. Gator's fall from grace seems like the bigger tragedy than a murdered girl because we don't know anything about her. We know that Rogowski was bi-polar, a born again-Christian, and screwed by corporate America. The filmmaker's time would've been better served hunting down a childhood friend, or close relative, rather than nauseating us with photos of her decomposing skull. But "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator" fascinates, especially to people who grew up in the eighties, to whom, the whole skateboarding culture is a secret history.
Greg C. gave it a 9:
For once, a documentary that captures the roller coaster ride that skateboarding has proven to be for the past 30 years and the main characters from the late 80's that rode the ride are delivered to the audience via the sad story of 'Gator'. There are two storylines taking place in the movie; that of the rise and fall of Gator as a famous and talented skate personality and that of the transition that skateboarding as a whole was going through during the late 80's. The director did such an excellent job of interviewing so many key characters that were in the thick of things during this period. Names such as Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Mojo, Stacy Peralta and the poster boy (now a mature man) of skating, Tony Hawk all give their commentary regarding the period and the angst of Mark 'Gator' Anthony. Even the movie sound track invokes strong sentimental value from the period. Black Flag's 'Rise Above' is played during a ramp session by Gator and Vision Street Wear's hirling's for a movie, SoCal's own Agent Orange perform while Gator grinds in a emptied backyard swimming pool. A very sobering point that the movie brings out is the disaster that 'crass commercialism' can bring to both a sport and the participants of that said sport. Just the names of old skate companies from that period can bring a smile to those that were once a part of the scene. Certainly, the rise and fall of Gator (read:financially, not psychologically) can to a point be somewhat blamed upon those companies that sponsored him and elevated his ego, pocketbook and prestige to such a high degree at such a young age that when he was only in his very early 20's, he, for perhaps the first time in his older teen years/young 20's was faced with rejection, not only by losing his status as one of the few and privledged skating darlings but also from a romantic relationship that had gone it's course, when skating started to change as a whole for the umptenth time. Previous skaters will walk away from the film happy and reminescent due to all of the memories that are recalled, and saddened by the rise and fall of a talented fellow skater who snapped during a crucial transition period that we all go through, that of from immature to mature, from having everything and being self-centered to realizing that we are truely insignificant in the scheme of things. For Gator, skating was the avenue that brought him to his fullness and his start of a decline due to Gator not dealing with long-standing anger issues.
Erin A. gave it a 7:
This documentary was awesome. there were a ton of great interviews, and the punk side of skate was revealed alongside the corporate smaltz that marketed it for what it was worth a la 'behind the skateboard', this film also documented the ecstatic high and nasty fall of one of the '80s darkly charismatic frontman in vertical skating.
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