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Bethany Hamilton was
good person. She was
a devout Christian,
an avid surfer, and
her family life was
about as solid as a
family life could
be. At the age of
16, she was on the
cusp of becoming a
professional surfer.
She’d gotten her
sponsorship and
she’d won amateur
tournaments. She had
the whole world in
front of her. Then
tragedy struck.
While swimming on a
remote beach in
Hawaii, Bethany’s
arm was bitten off
by a shark. There
was no provocation;
she was just on her
board between waves
and the shark
attacked. Through
her composure and
the quick reaction
of her friends
surfing with her,
Bethany’s life was
saved despite losing
60% of her blood
supply. Her arm
couldn’t be
salvaged. For any
athlete, the use of
all four limbs to
balance, push, and
pull is huge.
Despite losing the
arm, Bethany never
gave up her passion
for surfing.
Soul
Surfer
is about Bethany’s
story to fight back
from tragedy and
adversity to
overcome tremendous
odds through her
faith in God and
good and her belief
that everything
happens for a
reason.
Starring AnnaSophia
Robb as Bethany
Hamilton, with a
very strong
gathering of
supporting actors
behind her,
Soul
Surfer
was shot and told
well by director
Sean McNamara.
Surfing movies
aren’t easy things
to make, there’s a
reason why it’s
basically considered
a genre by those who
love the sport and
do the filming in
real life. It’s hard
work. Angles are
crucial and there
aren’t a lot of easy
shots. For the most
part, McNamara did a
great job accurately
capturing the spirit
of the sport with
some stunning
visuals.
That’s
the big strength
with
Soul
Surfer
to go along with the
actors on board in
support roles. All
of the actors are
incredibly
believable. Dennis
Quaid is the
supportive dad,
Helen Hunt is the
caring mom, and Ross
Thomas and Chris
Brochu are the
typical older
brothers. Craig T.
Nelson is the Doctor
that saves Bethany’s
arm after the
attack. I’d even go
as far as to say
Kevin Sorbo was
believable as the
friend of the family
that saved Bethany’s
life. Carrie
Underwood… well…
it’s her first
movie… let’s just
leave it at that.
So a
strong cast and some
great surfing action
provide the balance
for a movie that
does have a couple
of hindrances on its
way to being a good
movie.
The
set up before
Bethany’s life
changed with the
attack takes too
long, the impact on
her and people
around her when she
embraces her plight
is too short.
The
way they shot the
first part of the
shark attack was
fairly terrible, and
the script had a lot
of glaring holes
with characters
outside of Bethany.
Still, all this
stuff combined
should have killed
the watchability of
a movie like
Soul
Surfer
and that didn’t
happen. Excellent
performances based
on a great story
overcame some
oversights.
This movie’s sights
are stunning. Sony
is the origin of Blu-ray
and they know how to
do it. The visuals
on this disc are
flawless. The sound
isn’t the best I’ve
heard (the waves
could have been
captured better in
surround and the
soundtrack is not
great) but it’s
serviceable for what
it is. The Blu-ray
is great to put in
for extras too.
There’s a making of
clip, some talk
about the
preparation of
surfing, and a
documentary about
the real life
Bethany that’s gives
you a great idea
about who she is and
what she’s about.
Soul
Surfer
has its holes,
they’re visible the
first time you watch
the film. But
ultimately a good
story always makes
those holes appear
to be a little
smaller than they
actually are. This
is a great story,
Bethany Hamilton’s
an inspiration and
that made
Soul
Surfer
inspirational.
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