Soul Surfer is the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a young Hawaiian who loses her arm to a shark attack, and the difficult struggle she faces in an effort to get back to doing what she loves best, surfing. It's a feel good movie with some excellent surfing footage, along with breathtaking scenery that really comes alive on Blu-ray. I enjoyed it immensely.
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Her story is truly amazing. Every surfer has experienced the unwanted thought that they are part of the food chain when you are in the ocean. You are surfing and having a good time then all of a sudden this feeling just hits you. It is that same feeling you get when you are certain someone is watching you. I have been out in the water by myself on early mornings and had to get out of the water because of that feeling. You suddenly feel as though you are being stalked. She has survived everybody's worst fear, being some animals food. Yet, she has been able to return to the water.
If you don't surf you can't know how almost impossible it is to do what she does. First she has to paddle out with only one arm. Think about trying to paddle a canoe by only using the paddle on one side of the canoe. Next, to get up on the wave she has to do a one arm pushup. Not only is it a one arm pushup, it is against a unstable surface that wants to capsize when uneven pressure is applied to it. Yet, not only does she surf. She does it well enough to compete against the best women surfers in the world.
The movie is well done and all the cast do a good job of capturing the personalities of the real people they are portraying. Excellent digital work removing the arm in all of the scenes. Looks just like Bethany's amputated arm. -
Thanks for your comments, Bob. I could see from various scenes how difficult surfing had to be using only one arm. The girl is truly an amazing person and an inspiration to anyone who suffered an injury and wonder if they can still do something they love.Comment
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I just got back from two weeks of surfing in Nicaragua with my friend Jeff Hakman. While there I admit that we were feeling pretty old and we both kept saying that this was the last time in our lives that we would be traveling and surfing waves of any consequence. One especially big day we boated out... -
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About 3 years ago I researched reliability and malfunction problems in medium price CD players , and found a report of a Rotel player where the owner had complained of deterioration of sound quality over a not particually long term of use (I've forgotten how long , but it wasn't many years) .
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I'm always on the lookout for interesting new music, but it's not very often I find an accomplished artist with as deep a repetoire as Jonatha Brooke, that somehow I've never stumbled across.
A friend from Missouri out here on business brought one of her early CD's "Grace in Gravity"... -
... you don't have to be a surfer to like BIG WEDNESDAY. This film was relased in 1978 and starred Jan Michael Vincent, Gary Busey and William Katt. It covers 12 years in the life of three surfing buddies, and the changes they go through as they grow older -- and wiser. There's some excellent acting...
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