User reviews

You don't have to be a surfing fan to enjoy this wonderful IMAX film, which beautifully shows the sites (above and below) of the gorgeous Teahupo'o beaches of Tahiti. Nine-time world champion Kelly Slater and local legend Raimana Van Bastolaer lead you on an incredible journey searching for the ultimate wave. Through the magic of IMAX 3D, you experience these events as up-close as possible, making for first-class, big-screen entertainment. Your view bobs above-and-below sea level, the sea-spray covers your glasses, and you see just how close the surfers get to those very brave cameramen. As well as seeing some stunning 3D surfing footage, you are taken on a trip through the local marine life, and a vertigo-inducing look over the islands and ocean. You also get some lovely beach babes thrown in for good measure. Along with the terrific SPACE STATION 3D, this is a great example of IMAX 3D, showing how much you can be immersed in a particular subject through this superior technology.

Catch the ride and forget about the rating. Unless you are completely against surfing. I myself have never surfed. My cousins have and I was only watching. But this movie (which I watched in 3-D) is bringing the waves into your face (literally)

Beautifully shot and with nice effects, this is all about the ride. But it is difficult to rate. Actually there shouldn't be a rating for a documentary like this. But how would you know it if makes sense to watch it ... that's why I put a number on it. Even for me, as a non-surfer this was exciting to watch. And there is other eye candy than waves (male and female), so there should be enough to entertain anyone who just lets loose and just wants to get a feeling of the Ultimate Wave ...

I took my 12-year old to watch this film in IMAX 3D over the weekend. Overall it was a good experience but if you are a surfing fan it helps greatly. I am not, and prefer to watch people running on the sandy ocean floor with a large stone in their hands, and the submarine view of corals and schools of fish.

The surfing part was well done but I had too much of it. Not being a fan I find the ethnic dancing, in 3D, and the non-surfing parts more interesting. Yeah, you do feel the splash of the waves on your face.

Overall it was good family entertainment for the weekend. The 3D effect does bring additional excitement to the 45-Minute session.

This movie does not know what it wants to be: a documentary (which it is not); a travelogue, which it is not; a high-tech home movie without the charm or a surf film bereft of surfing. The director was too in love with his beauty shots which run much too long. The soundtrack is listless and does nothing for the story which, I'll admit, does not live up to the title. The movie is about Kelly Slater's visit to an old friend in Tahiti to do a little hanging out, eating, training, snorkeling, and, yes, surfing Teahupo'o which, in the movie is pronounced "tee-a-ho-poo" not "cho-poo" the way surfers usually pronounce it. No explanation is given. All-in-all there's nothing special here and despite all the hype about the technology, this movie is one big waste of time.