I snapped up this movie when I came across it at a dollar store, since even though I've never surfed in my life, I've been able to appreciate the sport's grace and beauty through other movies. Imagine my surprise when upon coming home and examining the DVD case more closely, I found that I had picked up a Christian movie. Well, as it turns out, the movie fortunately isn't as preachy as I thought it would be. The first half of the movie contains almost no religious talk, and while the second half of the movie contains quite a bit of it, it's more agreeable than you might think, with the speakers simply telling what their faith has done for them and what it might do to you.
Despite the religious material, most of the movie is devoted to showcasing surfing during a world trip instead of religion. But while the movie is clearly trying to emulate the classic surf documentary "Endless Summer", the end results fall far short. There isn't a magical feeling to the sport this time around. There's a rushed feeling more often than not, and we learn little about the foreign surf spots and the various surfers. The (limited) comic relief simply isn't amusing. Some of the surfing footage isn't bad, but quite often the movie suffers from below average cinematography and direction. Even the music isn't anything special for the most part.
In the end, the movie is very flat and mediocre, and it isn't a surprise that it took about three years for the movie upon completion to find a company willing to release it on DVD. You'd be much better off rewatching the original "Endless Summer" or its 1994 sequel.
Despite the religious material, most of the movie is devoted to showcasing surfing during a world trip instead of religion. But while the movie is clearly trying to emulate the classic surf documentary "Endless Summer", the end results fall far short. There isn't a magical feeling to the sport this time around. There's a rushed feeling more often than not, and we learn little about the foreign surf spots and the various surfers. The (limited) comic relief simply isn't amusing. Some of the surfing footage isn't bad, but quite often the movie suffers from below average cinematography and direction. Even the music isn't anything special for the most part.
In the end, the movie is very flat and mediocre, and it isn't a surprise that it took about three years for the movie upon completion to find a company willing to release it on DVD. You'd be much better off rewatching the original "Endless Summer" or its 1994 sequel.
