The film follows a group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa, including Shaun Tomson, Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew, Ian Cairns, Mark Richards, Michael Tomson and Peter Townend, as they relocate to Hawaii encountering obstacles, turf wars and massive wipeouts along the way.

Clashes with the locals, some of whom find the newcomers' bravado to be insulting to Hawaiian culture, eventually culminate in death threats against the subjects of the film.

The Original Score was composed by Stuart Michael Thomas Variety gave the movie a positive review saying, the picture "is certain to rank alongside Step Into Liquid, Riding Giants and Five Summer Stories in the primo category of surf movies that rip onscreen and tell a great story".

[1] Shannon Kelley Gould of the Santa Barbara Independent writes that the picture "Delivered on all sorts of levels.

Bustin' Down the Door shows what happens during the most critical period in our sport's history when ego and historical problems clash.