Summary

• Skateboard movies are fan-favorite films with dramatic storytelling, whether documentary or fictional, attracting top talent.
• Wassup Rockers delves deep into race and culture surrounding skateboarding, exploring social realities within the sport.
• Movies like Lords of Dogtown and Skaterdater depict the history and evolution of skateboarding culture through iconic figures and events.

Over the years, the best skateboard movies usually belong to documentary films, many of the early examples created by skateboarding companies to help popularize this extreme sport. Skateboarding as a sport began in the 1950s when surfers in California wanted something to do when the waves in the ocean were flat. After serving as part of the counterculture in the 1970s, the sport enjoyed an explosion in popularity in the 1980s thanks to names like Jason Lee and Tony Hawk. In 2020, skateboarding broke through to the Olympics and is now a worldwide competition at the Summer Games.

Skateboard movies continue to be fan-favorite films with viewers. They're a certain type of genre of sports movie that is different from most and oftentimes are more dramatic in their storytelling. There are also a large number of documentary movies about skateboarding that have been made either about the professional skateboarding industry itself or about particular skateboarders. However, there are also critically acclaimed fictionalized movies about skateboarding as well. Both versions, documentary and fictional, have a huge fan base, proving to be a popular subgenre and bringing in top talent behind and in front of the camera to honor the sport.

25 The Motivation (2013)

8 Pro Skaters Prepare For A Contest With A $200,000 Prize

Many of the best skateboard movies are documentaries, and what makes the sport so compelling to watch in this format is the combination of adrenaline-laced thrill-seeking, phenomenal risk of injury, and the incredibly unique type of athletic prowess required. All of these come together beautifully in the 2013 documentary The Motivation by filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough. The Motivation is one of the most intense skateboard documentaries when it comes to the competitive side of the culture, as it focuses on 8 pro skaters as they train to compete for a $200,000 cash prize in an NYC street tournament.

However, while the contest is the key factor linking the stories of the 8 skaters (which include the likes of Steve Berra, Chris Cole, and Eric Koston), it's not the main reason The Motivation is such a compelling watch. Adam Bhala Lough manages to capture the individual trials, tribulations, and challenges each competitor faces on their journey, including family and financial struggles as well as difficulties with mental health. All of this leads to a surprisingly grounded and human skateboarding movie that culminates in a beyond-thrilling climax

24 Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story (2022)

An Exploration Of Gender In The World Of Olympic Skating

Trans athletes face many unique challenges and, unfortunately, no shortage of prejudice both from spectators and professional organizations. The 2022 documentary Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story looks at the world of skateboarding through this lens, as it follows transgender skateboarder Leo Baker during a turbulent point in his career — his goal to represent the USA at the Olympics.

Of all the skateboarding movies of the decade so far, Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story is arguably the most personal and intimate. It's a near-unrivaled showcase of the struggles of an athlete in their prime whose goals and motivations repeatedly face near-destruction due to societal stigma around their identity. Leo Baker is rightly considered an icon in the world of modern skating, both because of his defiance in the face of prejudice and his phenomenal ability, and Stay On Board manages to balance its exploration of both incredibly well.

23 Pretending I'm A Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story (2020)

An Inside Look At The Game That Boosted The Popularity Of The Sport

When it comes to names that are synonymous with skateboarding even among those who have no interest in the sport, it's inarguably Tony Hawk who is the most widely known. Not only is this due to his place as one of the best skaters of all time, but it's also because he became the face of skate culture and introduced many to the possibilities of a board on four wheels thanks to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game series.

Decades after the release of the first game in the mid-90s, director Ludvig Gur made the 2020 skateboarding movie Pretending I'm A Superman, which delves into exactly how the pro-skater found himself becoming an icon of video game history. It's definitely one of the most unique skateboarding documentaries out there, and features never-before-seen interview footage with Tony Hawk and many of the other skaters featured in the games, as well as the programmers and developers behind many titles in the franchise.

22 N-Men: The Untold Story (2023)

The 1975 Movement That Transformed Skateboarding

Skateboarding has a history that stretches back decades, and while it reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s, it was the 1970s that many of the fundamentals of both the sport and culture surrounding it were established. One of the best skateboarding movies travels back to this point in time — 2023's N-Men: The Untold Story by director James Martin Sweigert.

N-Men takes viewers all the way back to 1975 to explore the roots of skating, specifically focusing on a ragtag group of early skaters in downtown Sacramento. The group of Californian skateboarders formed an underground movement and would meet regularly at an embankment under the freeway, laying down new tricks and ideas which — unbeknownst to them — would become the foundations for the sport as it's known in the 2020s. Of all the skateboarding movies out there, N-Men: The Untold Story is perhaps the one which best showcases how skating naturally evolved from a past-time perceived as antisocial to a global culture focused on daring and athleticism.

21 All The Streets Are Silent (2021)

Exposing The Relationship Between Skateboarding And Hip Hop

While it's considered a sport, skateboarding is a culture for most enthusiasts more than anything else, and it's one which not only has a specific aesthetic but sound too. Hip hop and skating are intertwined in the 2020s, with Skater Rap being its own subgenre. However, this wasn't always the case, as the 2021 documentary All The Streets Are Silent from filmmaker Jeremy Elkin shows.

All The Streets Are Silent is truly one of the most fascinating documentaries about skateboarding or hip hop out there, and it focuses on how the two subcultures became intertwined in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically, this skateboarding movie focuses on New York, considered a spiritual mecca for lovers of both skating and hip hop. Both subcultures have their roots in the city, and All The Streets Are Silent fully explores how they eventually came together due to shared space on the streets of NYC.

20 Wassup Rockers (2005)

Commentary On Race Relations In America From Director Larry Clark

Released in 2005, Wassup Rockers is an independent skateboard movie by Kids' director Larry Clark. The movie follows some Guatemalan American and Salvadoran American teens in South Los Angeles who took up skateboarding and punk music. This allows them to avoid some of the violence of teen life on the streets and gives them a more creative alternative for burning their energy.

Where this movie about skateboarding stands out is its deeper message, as it's not just about extreme sports and subculture surrounding them. Wassup Rockers shows that even when attempting to avoid danger, it is hard to completely avoid racial tensions and trouble. It also explores cultural expectations of the characters, and the friction caused when these expectations aren't adhered to. The movie has a cast of non-professional actors and is a commentary on class and race relations in America.

19 The Search for Animal Chin (1987)

One Of The First Skateboarding Movies With A Plot

Released in 1987, The Search for Animal Chin might be the first skateboard movie that actually had a plot rather than just skateboarding stunts or performing a music video. The main star of the movie is the Bones Brigade, a skateboarding team that rode under the Powell Peralta banner. Bones Brigade started making skateboarding videos in 1982 and was the pioneer of this form of entertainment for the rest of the decade.

The movie itself has the Bones Brigade (which included the legendary Tony Hawk) set out to find the first skateboarder — the mythological Won Ton "Animal" Chin. Tony Hawk stars alongside Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerro, Mike McGill, Mike Vallely, Rodney Mullen, and Lance Mountain, all of whom are prominent professional skaters and names fans of the sport will no-doubt recognize. The Search for Animal Chin was directed by Stacy Peralta, who himself is a professional skater.

18 Mouse (1996)

Spike Jonze's Cult Classic Slice Of Mid-90s Skateboard Culture

Mouse stands out among skateboarding movies thanks to a key person in its creative team — Spike Jonze. Spike Jonze is one of the biggest names in filmmaking when it comes to promoting skateboard movies. His career started as a teenager when he photographed BMX riders and skateboarders. Many of his early music videos included skateboarders, as well.

In 1993, he created the skateboarding company Girl Skateboards in 1993 with Mike Carroll and Rick Howard and then worked with Howard on the 1996 skateboard movie Mouse. The movie features several real-life skateboarders of the era, including Guy Mariano and Sean Sheffey, remaining a cult classic to this day. This movie is notabley short, as many skateboarding movies are, though it remains a timeless slice of mid-90s skater culture, an era that's widely considered among the most influential for the sport.

17 Kids (1995)

A Controversial Movie Known For More Than Skateboarding

Rosario Dawson's career is a highly successful one, with her most recent prominent role being Ahsoka in the Disney+ Star Wars show of the same name. However, her debut role was in one of the most controversial films ever made — director Larry Clark's Kids. Kids is known for a lot of things, but not enough people talk about its skateboarding scenes. This is an NC-17-rated movie about teenagers living in New York City and takes place over the course of one single day.

The movie is about many hot topics, including drug use, sexual assault, underage sex, and AIDS. The main males in the movie are skateboarders, and not only use them to get around but use them as weapons at one point in an attack on a man on the streets. Kids really pushes the limits of decency, but it was critically praised, with nominations at Cannes and the Independent Spirit Awards

16 Plan B - Questionable (1992)

The Movie That Put Plan B Skateboards On The Map

There is a good argument that Plan B - Questionable might be one of the all-time best skateboard movies ever made — at least for the most ardent fans of the sport and those that skate themselves. The 1992 was made in conjunction with the Plan B Skateboards company based in San Diego. They have been selling their products since 1991, and this movie hit just one year after they went into business.

Plan B Skateboards is one of the most recognized and highly-regarded brand names in skating, and its reputation globally is in part due to movies like Plan B - Questionable. This company started out as a possible super team with names like Danny Way, Colin McKay, Rodney Mullen, and more. These skateboarders all appear in this movie, directed by David Scholssbach, Jacob Rosenberg, and Mike Ternasky, and introduced the kickflip underflip and casper slide to the world.