Nearly 40 years later, son Dana has taken the ball (or board) and run with it. Step Into Liquid is full of some of the most breathtaking, stupendously gorgeous cinematography imaginable; if ever a movie would have been perfectly suited to the IMAX format, this would be it. It's regrettable that it wasn't, but even so the sumptuous camera work is almost overwhelming. Brown's character studies take in a whole range of surfers, from all ages and all walks of life, to explicate what it is that keeps drawing them back to the water again and again. There's Dave Webster, a leathery surfer who's been hitting the waves every single day for a full 25 years (and is shooting for 10,000 consecutive days at the beach). There are the Malloy brothers, Irish Americans who travel to Northern Ireland to catch some waves and return to their roots. There's the kid who broke his neck in a surfing accident and is now a paraplegic, but still doggedly gets on the board with the affectionate help of his best buddies. The common thread that runs between all the surfers is an almost Zen like attitude towards their avocation; feeling dwarfed by the ocean's enormous power, knowing that it's something that could cost them dearly and still coming back again and again for that sensation. It goes a long way towards validating the cliché, "it's not a hobby, it's a way of life."

Brown and company stray far off the beaten path to find surf action in some unexpected places, such as Sheboygan, Wisconsin (where Great Lakes surfers don wet suits and surf Lake Michigan). There's a segment shot in Da Nang, Vietnam (where the surf club consists of a dozen or so guys) and off the Texas coast, where hot dog surfers ride the wake put off by supertankers in the Gulf of Mexico. And, of course, there are the Malloy brothers in Ireland (where Catholic and Protestant kids both learn the ropes of surfing, side by side). Endless, hypnotic shots of surfers practicing their craft may sound like a bore after awhile, but Brown takes his camera and crew to some of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth; Maui, Oahu, Tahiti, Australia, and, of course, the American West Coast. Updating Endless Summer, Dana Brown explores some of the newer technologies that have come into play in surfing, such as the "foil board." The foil board has a much smaller hydrofoil that extends a couple of feet below the main board itself; in much the same way that an airplane's wing generates lift, the hydrofoil lifts the main board up and the surfer glides a couple of feet above the water. One of the movie's most astonishing segments covers a crew of surfers who venture out 100 miles off the California coast, where waves break over an undersea peak and reach heights of 60 feet or more. It's there that you realize how dangerous things can really get out there, with tons and tons of water breaking a mere few feet behind the surfer.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack does not do the footage justice. Those expecting to hear a '60s style Dick Dale or Ventures soundtrack will be disappointed, as the music is mediocre mainstream rock (for the most part). It's too bad, because at times it detracts from the gorgeous footage and gives it more of a cheesy Extreme Sports flavor. Of course, the 5.1 audio is enough to rattle the windows in your house when the big breakers come crashing down.

The Step Into Liquid 2 DVD set is certainly is rich in features. Brown, of course, supplies a commentary track (some of which gets pretty bogged down in detail). There's an extensive amount of behind the scenes and deleted footage (some of which, oddly, is of dirt-boarders). Veteran surfers Wingnut and Maureen thoughtfully provide some surf lessons for the newbie; along the same lines, Surfline magazine comes across with an extensive discussion of surf etiquette and a surf glossary. Robert and Sam August are featured in a how to on surfboard construction (even at several hundred dollars, they're a bargain considering the amount of work that goes into them). One of the more interesting featurettes is "Capturing the Wave," a discussion of what goes into ocean/surf cinematography. It's worth noting that every person who has done it for any length of time has sustained a serious injury or two on the job.

Disc 2 presents the entire feature in high definition video (viewable on your PC). Robert August's interactive feature allows the viewer to customize his or her own surfboard. Also on disc 2, is a Surfline feature on surf cameras. Among the other extras, there's a ProSurfer video game, complete with real beach environments, landmarks, and hazards. There are so many features to be had on this 2 disc set, you'll want to put aside a whole evening just to take them all in.

It's hard for a sports documentary to hold up for an entire feature length movie, and granted, there are times when Step Into Liquid drags a bit or could have benefited from some judicious editing. Still, the movie's images are so seductive and intoxicating, they'd have the most landlocked Midwesterners hankering for some sand between their toes and a briny spray in the air. It goes a long, long way towards explaining the allure of surfing, and why it's been drawing people back to the waves for 2000 years now. Cowabunga, indeed.