No More Heroes

It was like putting on an All Blacks jersey.

– Skateboarder Victor Viskovich on being a member of the 1480 Kroozers skateboarding team

That was like a bible. We'd just wait for it to come out, and try and replicate everything that was there in the magazine — and long after that gear, and think 'Oh yeah, one day, I'm going to go to America.'

– Skateboarder Geoff Wright on the keen Kiwi following for American magazine Skateboarder

We were all young, and we were keen.

– Kiwi skateboarding legend Peter Boronski

It was like the country had been waiting for something to happen. Fed up with traditional team sports, the youth of the nation got on the urethane wheels with a vengeance.

– Narrator Graham Brazier describes how Kiwi youth embraced skateboarding in the 1970s, early in this film

Radio Hauraki had a decadent rock 'n' roll reputation, and this would go perfectly with the ragtag bunch of skaters that would become known as the 1480 Kroozers.

– Narrator Graham Brazier on the 1480 Kroozers skateboard team, sponsored by Radio Hauraki

Victor and I, once, we slept the night at Marlborough Bowl. And we skated all night. We skated there for hours, just because we wanted to...

– Skateboarding champ Grant Macredie describes skating with fellow champ Victor Viskovich at Auckland's Marlborough Skatepark

New Zealand, in those days, didn't have much of anything going on outside of rugby ... skating was just something you did.

– Former Edwards Skateboard team member Sean Kerrigan describes the 1970s, early in the film

Skatopia became the epicentre of skateboarding in New Zealand. It was a time for the nation's skaters to put up or shut up. Reputations were made or lost at this two acre slice of California, deep in the heart of South Auckland.

– Narrator Graham Brazier describes Manukau skateboard park Skatopia

A bit like Hendrix on a skateboard — at his peak.

– Victor Viskovich describes fellow skateboarding champ Elroy Ainsley

...on some days there'd be 5000, maybe 6000 people there. We'd have people sitting right along the edge of the roof, all down the walls, and everywhere there was a space.

– Skateboarder and photographer Tony Mallett recalls the audience turnout for stakeboard contests at Auckland's Glenfield Mall

...Peter was just such an exceptional talent, and there were a few guys like him, but he was absolutely stand out. Young North Shore boy. You know, diminutive — surf-rat type of guy...

– Paul Smit on skating sensation Peter Boronski

Frank Edwards achieved a major international success with a device known as the power pivot, a small nylon pad that attached to the tail of a board, making wheel stands easier, and prolonging the life of the board. ...these would prove phenomenally successful.

– Narrator Graham Brazier on how Kiwi skateboard maker Frank Edwards suddenly found himself in the export business

The Super 8 footage he [Andrew Moore] has uncovered from the era is priceless. Long-haired kids are seen in tiny backyards, hammering together lethal ramps made out of stolen plywood, or riding at terrifying speeds down huge dam spillways in Auckland's Waitakere Ranges. Middle-aged dads from local Lions clubs, in teensy shorts, lobster pink from sunburn and sporting wobbly beer bellies, are seen pouring concrete for skateparks on sweltering afternoons.

– The Sunday Star-Times (Escape section), 16 July 2006, page 3