”North Shore” (Matt Adler, Gregory Harrison, Nia Peeples; William Phelps, dir. MCA, 1987; color. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated: PG. $79.95.)
It didn`t take long for ”North Shore” to wipe out on the big screen. Its brief run seemed designed to qualify it not for the Oscars but for the video stores, where even a one-week theatrical run is a promotional necessity. And the conversion has little impact on its TV-sized plot. Just pull your chair a little closer to the set when the spectacular surfing finale comes on.
In this surfer version of ”Rocky Meets the Karate Kid,” Rick (Matt Adler) is a cocky, out-of-his-league surfer from a wave pool in Arizona who travels to Hawaii to catch the big ones on Oahu`s North Shore. Instead, he gets pounded, first by the surf, then by a surfer gang.
What`s a hot dog to do? This one finds a mentor/father figure (Gregory Harrison) who teaches him to commune with the waves, then turns him into, surprise, a first-rate surfer. He finds love with a local (Nia Peeples), seemingly to prove nothing kinky is going on with Harrison. The climax, predictably, is at a surfing competition in which the only question is whether it`ll be the ”Rocky I” or ”Rocky II” ending.
Not much to recommend here, outside of some undeniably exciting surfing footage. But if that`s all you want in a video, try renting ”Endless Summer.”