15 Best Skateboarding Movies, Ranked

Over the years, audiences have gravitated towards these great skateboarding movies more than the critics.

Although the dangerous street sport rose to prominence during the 1970s, the best skateboarding movies are few and far between. The best examples of the subgenre usually belong to documentary films, with their narrative counterparts failing to register with the same sort of lasting authenticity. The dramatized versions that do resonate usually feature a real-life professional skater in a starring role or as an executive producer or technical consultant. That being said, general moviegoers tend to favor skating movies more than critics have over the years.

Movies about skateboarding continue to be fan-favorite films with viewers. They're a certain type of genre of sports movie that is different than 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 skaters, but there are also fictionalized movies about skateboarding as well. Both versions, documentary and fictional, have great reviews proving that it's a fan-favorite genre. Here are the best skateboarding movies, ranked from worst to best.

Professional skater Paul Rodriguez stars as Derrick Cabrera, a Midwestern amateur skater aspiring to reach the professional ranks in the 2009 drama Street Dreams. Alienated by family members and classmates who cannot comprehend his true passion, skating with his friends is the only place where Derrick feels at home. As he improves his skills with the desire to become noticed, Derrick perfects the one unique skating trick sure to make him famous while having a fallout with his idol.

While it is one of the best skateboarding movies thanks to Rob Dyrdek's involvement, there's nary a review to be found for the movie, meaning it didn't really fly under critics' radar. In addition, the film grossed about $122,575 worldwide. That being said, it is an intriguing watch, and Rodriguez proves that he does have talent both on and off the skateboard. Rodriguez's skills as a skater definitely make this one of the best sports movies worth viewing, and the storyline itself is interesting.

Directed by Casey La Scala, Grind tracks a foursome of friendly amateur skaters who shadow their favorite skateboarding idol during his summer tour in hopes of being discovered and professionally sponsored. However, their trip is halted by one obstacle after another, including rejection from the idol's manager.

The film was positively reviewed by audiences, but critics, unfortunately, didn't feel the same. Critics lampooned the film for it's gross-out humor and skateboard stunts that arguably weren't up to snuff. However, the brand of humor is par for the course in the best skateboarding movies. In addition, the stunts in the film didn't really deserve to be panned. The real appeal of the movie is the cast, which sees a young Adam Brody (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) and Bam Margera.

Related: Adam Brody: 10 Best Movies Ranked, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Waiting for Lightning is a documentary movie that focuses on telling the story of professional skater Danny Way. It looks at the skating industry as well, with appearances by other professional skaters like Tony Hawk throughout the movie. The film tracks Danny Way's life and career culminating in a 2005 attempt to jump the Great Wall of China.

The movie is definitively an intriguing look at Danny Way's life and can be seen as a triumph of the human spirit, even if critics didn't like it all that much. One of the best skateboarding movies, Waiting for Lightning showcases Way's enormous talent in the sport and proves that if one shoots for their dreams, they may just come true.

Movie star Christian Slater plays Brian Kelly in Gleaming the Cube, a radical skateboarder who changes his entire lifestyle following the murder of his Vietnamese half-brother, Vinh (Art Chudabala). Until tragedy strikes his life, Brian spends his days skating empty pools, half-pipe ramps, and abandoned warehouses with his large group of friends. But a government conspiracy leads to his brother's death, sending him into a grievous spiral where he becomes determined to discover who's responsible for taking Vinh's life.

One of the best skateboarding movies, professional skateboarder Stevie Williams has cited Gleaming the Cube as being his first inspiration behind his prolific career. What makes Gleaming the Cube different than the other best movies about skateboarding is the scope of the storyline. Not often do government conspiracies and sports dramas intertwine, making for a truly unique addition to the genre.

Related: 10 Best Sports Movies Where The Protagonist Loses

One year after starring in The Goonies, young movie star Josh Brolin took center stage in Thrashin', a film about a teenage skater determined to win an organized competition while defeating a rival gang. Corey Webster (Brolin) is a midwestern teen staying in Los Angeles with friends, where he plans to enter and win a downhill skating competition. Corey soon falls for Chrissy (Pamela Gidley), the young sister of rival gang leader Hook (Robert Rusler). With his crew "The Ramp Locals," Corey's determination leads to an epic competitive showdown.

Outside of being one of the best skateboarding movies of all time, Thrashin' sees a young Josh Brolin in the beginnings of his illustrious career, and it's clear he has talent even back then. Thrashin' is described by The Board Sport industry as "legendary" and remains as one of the most iconic of the best movies about skateboarding.

A decade after earning acclaim for Dogtown and Z-Boys, Stacy Peralta turned in another fan-favorite documentary called Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. The film chronicles the formation of the Bones Brigade skating team, which was comprised of six teenage skaters in the 1980s. The film charts how the team blazed trails and pioneered new trends in the nascent sport of skateboarding at the time, and how their influence is still felt decades later.

The film has been described as navel-gazing by some critics. However, credit is deserved where credit is due, and the team is nothing short of wildly talented. In one of the best skateboarding movies, the Bones Brigade performs some truly incredible tricks that have to be seen to be believed, and their impact on the skating world as it is today is unquestionable.

One of movie director Spike Jonze's first endeavors sees Jason Lee's first foray into the acting world, and his role in the movie is what caused Kevin Smith to cast him in several future projects. One of the best skateboarding movies ever, Video Days is a short film that showcases the talents of five skaters: Guy Mariano, Jordan Richter, Mark Gonzales, Rudy Johnson, and Jason Lee. The 24-minute entry focuses on various tricks that the group can perform in different locations and is definitely worth a viewing for any fan of the sport.

If seeing Spike Jonze's first movie and Jason Lee's first film appearance isn't enticing enough, the short film received wildly positive reviews from critics and has been cited as an important entry to the genre. After all, the best skateboard movies are really about the outrageous stunts that are performed with finesse and skill, something Video Days showcases perfectly.

All This Mayhem is a disturbing documentary that looks at the darker side of the professional skating industry by focusing on and telling the story of two brothers, Tas and Ben Pappas, who became popular skaters in the industry. The two brothers are charismatic and close making them fan-favorite skaters. The movie tracks their rise to fame and their eventual downfall through drug addiction and self-destructive behavior.

All This Mayhem is certainly one of the best skateboarding movies precisely because of the nature of the story. Tas and Ben Pappas aren't the only public figures to fall from grace thanks to issues with addiction and unresolved issues, but the film documents their journey in a unique way. It's a sad film, to say the least, but the fact stands that it has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, exemplifying the fact that its one of the best movies about skateboarding.

In one of the most recent film to make the list, Skate Kitchen features a refreshing gender-reversal of the often male-dominated subgenre. In the New York City-based movie, a shy and lonesome teenager named Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) comes of age while skating with her new female friends. Once she joins the clique of fellow skaters, Camile's life begins to change for the better, especially when becoming romantically interested in Devon (Jaden Smith), a cool skater from another crew.

The reason Skate Kitchen is one of the best skateboarding movies of all time is because it's a fresh take on the genre. It's incredibly rare to see a female-driven skateboarding movie. The film got overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. In addition, Skate Kitchen was so well-liked that the film spawned a limited spinoff series, Betty.

One of the best skateboarding movies of all time is actually the very first skateboarding movie to ever be made. Skaterdater is a 1996 student short film by Noel Black. While there's technically no dialogue, the movie follows a simplistic storyline of a group of skateboarding youths. Two of the boys have eyes for the same girl, so they challenge each other to a skating duel on a hilly street.

Skaterdater is an easy watch, to be sure, and features a catchy surf-rock soundtrack. Easily one of the best movies about skateboarding, the movie won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short. In addition, Skaterdater won prizes at international festivals in Moscow and Venice. The movie set the stage for all of the skateboarding films that came after it, making it one of the best skateboard movies.

Written by former pro-skater turned documentarian Stacy Peralta, Lords of Dogtown chronicles the rise of surfing and skateboarding subcultures in Venice and Santa Monica, California during the 1970s. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke of Thirteen and Twilight fame, the film tells the story of the Z-Boys, trailblazing skaters who perfected the craft of big-ramp and swimming pool riding in the homes of unwitting owners in sunny Los Angeles.

Seeing one of the best Heath Ledger performances, the actor earned rave reviews for his turn as Skip Engblom, pioneering surfboard and skateboard designer instrumental in launching the sport. Heath Ledger's performance in one of the best skateboarding movies won him Actor of the Year from The Central Ohio Film Critics Association and is listed on Empire's "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time."

Mid90s is a coming-of-age story that follows a young teenager growing up in Los Angeles in the 1990s. Stevie is trying his best to navigate his teen years between his rocky home life and his new group of friends. The movie focuses on Stevie's summer as he tries to reckon with his home life and balance spending time with his skater friends he recently met at a skate shop.

Movie star Jonah Hill's directorial debut didn't go unnoticed by critics and audiences, as it's easily one of the best skateboarding movies out there. The movie was nominated for five awards in ceremonies like the Berlin International Film Festival and the Critics Choice awards, and eventually won one for the Top Ten Independent Films from NBR. It's a nostalgic tale and a successful first endeavor for Hill, making it one of the best skateboard movies.

Bing Liu's crowd-pleasing film, and one of the best skateboarding movies of all time, Minding The Gap, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 2019. While skating provides refuge for the film's three main subjects, the movie is really about the family dynamic of each young man and how maturity and responsibility threaten to rip their friendship apart. Along with Liu, fellow skaters Keire Johnson and Zack Mulligan are featured in the film, which was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary.

Twilight director Catherine Hardiwicke's Lords of Dogtown is loosely based on the 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-boys, written and directed by the aforementioned Stacy Peralta. Much like its dramatized counterpart, the film charts the evolution of surfing and skating subcultures, which rose to unparalleled heights in the Dogtown neighborhood of Santa Monica, California during the 1970s. Iconic skaters such as Tony Alva, Steve Cabellero, Jay Adams, Tony Hawk, and more are on hand to give testimonials from the era.

One of the best skateboarding movies ever wouldn't be complete without a stellar soundtrack, and that's something that Dogtown and Z-Boys certainly provides. As well, the documentary actually scooped up two awards from its entry into the Sundance Film Festival: the Audience Award and Directing Award for Peralta. The movie also won the Independent Spirit Award upon its release, with critics lauding the documentary for its entertaining recount of history.

Movie director Gus Van Sant brings his trademark artistic flourishes to Paranoid Park, a murder mystery that ensnares a young skateboarder named Alex (Gabe Nevins) following the unexplained death of a security guard. Alex illegally hops a train en route to Eastside Skatepark (aka Paranoid Park). When security notices him onboard, Alex hits a stranger with his skateboard as a warning. However, the man falls from the train, and his body is severed in half, leading to an intense interrogation from Detective Richard Lu (Daniel Liu).

Easily one of the best skateboarding movies, Van Sant captures the coming-of-age burdens of a guilt-ridden teenage boy quite well and the movie wastes not a single moment. Outside of appearing on a number of critics' Top Ten lists in 2008, Paranoid Park won the Piaget Producers Award, the 60th Anniversary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Director and Best Cinematography at the Boston Society of Film Critics, and was nominated for four more accolades.

A Senior List Writer covering a wide array of topics who has been with Screen Rant since September of 2019, Jake Dee has written movie news and reviews since 2008, working primarily with OMG Horror (IGN), JoBlo.com, and Arrow in the Head as a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. A hopeless cinephile, social media Luddite, certified Nic Cage doppelganger, and a big Weekend At Bernie's fan, Jake can often be found tucked away in a dark corner watching an old horror movie. Born and raised in California, Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on theory and criticism, is the author of several "WTF Happened To This Movie" and "WTF Really Happened To This Movie" videos on YouTube, and has covered everything in the entertainment industry from set visits, studio luncheons, and red carpet interviews to wrap parties, movie premieres, private screenings, talent interviews, and more.