Review of "The Drifter" starring Rob Machado

I was strongly predisposed to like this movie. I like travel, I like Indo, and most of all I like traveling to Indo. However "The Drifter" exceeded my expectations in storytelling, music, and cinematography and I'm glad to have spent my own money to buy it.

In terms of the surfing minutes vs. everything else minutes, this is basically a travel movie with a surf theme. There is more non-surfing than surfing in the 57 minute feature. However, to make up for this, there is essentially a 2nd movie on the DVD that has only surfing, additional high quality surf footage, is set to different music and comes in under 20 minutes. Basically a second more old-school surf movie on the same disc with just waves and music. The guy at the shop where I bought the Drifter mentioned this as increasing the re-watchability of the Drifter, which made sense at the time. However, five days after my initial viewing, I popped the DVD in again and found myself wanting to watch the whole thing again, and maybe even try to foist it on a non-surfer or two.

"The Drifter" is the best surf movie I've seen in a long time. It's artfully done, with music that is conceptually consistent throughout, with few jarring transitions. It's a pleasure to watch. The Drifter should be a part of your permanent collection, and is worth your $35. I know $35 isn't chump change in an era where major release titles on DVD cost $4.99, but Netflix will soon have some copies available so you can check it out from them before you buy.