Caught Inside: The Surf Video Newswire: Surfing Classic "Beyond Blazing Boards" Re-released on DVD!

Back from the ashes, Chris Bystrom's classic 1985 surf film, Beyond Blazing Boards, has been digitally remastered and re-released on DVD. Carl Ackerman, famous for his 101 Series featuring master shaper John Carper has teamed up with Mutiny Media, Inc. to bring a piece of surfing history back to life. Featuring boxcover artwork by surfing's most renowned artist, Rick Griffin, Beyond Blazing Boards is a cinematic crossroads for the evolution of surfing into the shortboard era.

Chris Bystrom (1950-2001) left an indelible mark on surfing's culture, as a filmmaker (Blazing Boards, Beyond Blazing Boards, Blazing Longboards, etc.), a publisher (Pacific Longboarder Magazine, The Glide) and surf shop owner (Retro Groove Surf Shop in Coolangatta, Australia). His tragic death left a void which won't soon be filled.

In re-releasing his movies (Ackerman and Mutiny Media have plans to release each of his titles on DVD), post-VHS generations will have a chance to not only appreciate Bystrom's contributions to surfing and surf videos, but also to gain insight into the shortboard revolution of the early 80's.

Beyond Blazing Boards is much more than a high-performance surf video wrapped in a pretty picture. Chapter selections include:

The '85 Stubbies Pro at Burleigh Heads
Scorpio Island, Mexico featuring Chuy Reyna and Peter King
Kong vs. Gerr in an analysis of where radical surfing was headed in 1985
Mike Stewart and John Damm at Pipeline in a dueling tube battle

Add in classic Uluwatu footage with legend Ronnie Burns, Gold Coast (when Kirra was king and there was no Superbank), Big Monday at Padang Padang, Aussie ripper Stuart Cadden, an epic soundtrack by The Untouchables and the Hoodoo Gurus and you've got yourself a masterpiece of surf cinema.

Chris Bystrom will always be remembered through his films, books and magazines. Beyond Blazing Boards, as such, is a must-have for every surfer's library.