Put down your board and take a look at this CraveOnline Exclusive preview from Storm Surfers 3D, the award-winning new documentary about famed surfers Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll, and their death-defying feats surfing giant waves in Australia. Storm Surfers 3D hits select theaters on July 19, and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 6, 2013.
From the Press Release:
Meet two-time world surfing champion Tom Carroll and big wave pioneer Ross Clarke-Jones. Both in their 40s, these two larger-than-life ‘brothers’, born out of the 1980s generation of pro- surfing, live to ride waves the size of buildings.
Based in Sydney, they enlist the help of surf-forecasting guru and meteorologist Ben Matson to track the giant oceanic storms that create massive swells. The hunt takes Tom, Ross and the crew to the most exotic and remote reaches of the planet, in a race against the clock to ride and claim these monsters of the deep. On this all-new mission they focused on winter Down Under, travelling over 17,000 kms on seven missions over four months – determined to conquer as many giant swells as they could in Australia.
The first part of their journey takes them to the bottom of Tasmania where Ross wrestles one of the most deadly waves in the world at Shipsterns Bluff. But when Ben sends the team on a disastrous mission to Western Australia, Tom nearly kills Ross and himself in a misjudged moment – and the cracks begin to show in Tom’s confidence.
Over the course of the season, Ross and Tom are forced to come to terms with the fact their bodies don’t always keep up with their minds when making snap decisions in the face of danger, as they encounter potentially lethal waves on the south coast, in Sydney and Hawaii, where Tom surfs the infamous Pipeline with 11-time world champion Kelly Slater.
As winter draws to a close, nature embraces Ross and Tom’s dream to surf a maiden big wave break. A fellow big wave surfer from Western Australia reveals the location of a mythical wave seventy-five kilometres out to sea. Named Turtle Dove Shoal, this legendary breaker has never been surfed and could possibly hold the biggest, most dangerous wave in Australia.
Their final mission of the season becomes the most perilous of their lives. As they uncover the mystery of Turtle Dove, Tom faces a career-ending moment in the worst wipe-out of his life. He must now decide whether to push the boundaries of life and luck in this quest to triumph over one of the last remaining unsurfed waves in Australia.
In STORM SURFERS 3D the tone of the journey is light but the stakes are deadly serious. It is a film conceived to stand amongst the great surf films, but also be accessible to an audience outside of surfing, creating an overall inspiring cinematic experience. The stunning visual and emotional journey, which embraces the universal themes of mateship, courage and ‘pursuing the dream’, is intertwined with intimate interviews as each main character shares their story, taking the audience along on their epic adventure.
