Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Longboarding soul-surfer Steve Addington returns to Malibu for the summer to find his cool hometown vibe corrupted. New sponsorship demands Addington to expand into Virtual Reality video Games and Reality TV. Unwilling to participate in this new digital-reality, he chooses to spend his summer surfing his home break. But in a twist-of-fate, the waves go flat and stay flat. Out of money, his expense-accounts canceled, and betrayed by his buddies, Addington is backed into a harsh corner. He must endure the insanity that comes with no waves or give into "the Man" and his new, reality-altering machines.

This was a pretty funny look at the life of a surfer and the insanity that comes with a summer without waves. I thought the film would have a lot more actual surfing in it but instead it is more of a character piece with pretty solid performances from the principle cast. While I don’t think it was quite the surfing knockout of classics like The Endless Summer, I still enjoyed it more than I expected.

The HD transfer is gorgeous and Anchor Bay once again delivers a really solid presentation. Fine detail and dimension are superb and the image has a great sense of realism that makes you just want to reach into the picture. The color palette and contrast just add to the beauty. I was really impressed by how much depth this razor sharp transfer displayed. While it may not be a big budget Hollywood release, it looks amazing in HD.

The Dolby TrueHD mix continues the recent trend of over amped releases from Anchor Bay. This mix is recorded at least 5-8 db hot compared to the rest of the soundtracks I review. While this doesn’t seem to have a huge effect on overall dynamics, it does cause some light fatigue with some of the louder spots. Dialogue also takes a bit of a hit in clarity. This is a very open mix overall with great use of the surround soundstage and convincing atmosphere, I just wished it was mixed to true reference levels.

Extras include a look at the production along with some deleted scenes. You also get a collection of webisodes from the original series and an audio commentary with the film’s star Matthew McConaughey. Disc two also features a digital copy of the film for portable devices.

Anyone who likes the surfer vibe and surfer films will definitely need to give this one a look. While it was lacking in actual surfing it did a great job of capturing the mentality and love of the sport.