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7

MarcDoyleApr 21, 2011

I bumped into Bethany Hamilton in the Lihue airport several years back, and she was surrounded by adoring locals. Such a brave person, and it's a really amazing story. I thought the parts with Carrie Underwood were a touch contrived, butI bumped into Bethany Hamilton in the Lihue airport several years back, and she was surrounded by adoring locals. Such a brave person, and it's a really amazing story. I thought the parts with Carrie Underwood were a touch contrived, but because faith is such a big part of the Hamilton family's life, they were appropriate. Hunt and Quaid are perfect casting choices. The surfing scenes are spectacular. The scene that had the biggest impact on me was the one in which she first comes home from the hospital, realizing some of the new limitation of her condition. When she realizes that she'll probably never be able to play the guitar again, it absolutely put things in perspective (as a guitar player...)… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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10

NowehoboyApr 9, 2011

Amazing chemistry between Dennis and Helen as bethany's parents. Movie had amazing chemistry, editing, acting and music very moving and inspirational!

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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10

soulsurfer99Jul 14, 2011

This movie was so touching especially to all the young surfers out there who want to make a difference. I don't see why everyone is saying it was bad acting at the shark attack part. I couldn't believe what I was reading! Everyone is wrong.This movie was so touching especially to all the young surfers out there who want to make a difference. I don't see why everyone is saying it was bad acting at the shark attack part. I couldn't believe what I was reading! Everyone is wrong. Please this movie is very touching. RECOMMENDED TO ALL AGES!… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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10

CharityLeGalAug 13, 2011

I thought Soul Surfer was an amazing movie. It really brings emotion, faith, excitement and many other feelings to you. Having a girl of such young age be attacked by a shark and still be a pro at surfing is an amazing thing. I really foundI thought Soul Surfer was an amazing movie. It really brings emotion, faith, excitement and many other feelings to you. Having a girl of such young age be attacked by a shark and still be a pro at surfing is an amazing thing. I really found this movie interesting and it makes you wanna see it to the end with no interruptions. Like some movies i have seen i get bored of it, but then something happens and it just makes me change my mind about it. Soul surfer i think is the best movie i have seen in 2011 so far. I am totally a fan of the movie now. I also love how this story was based on a true story and they told it perfectly. They showed her life before things happened and after the attack. Then they showed everything she had to do and the challenges of having only one arm. Being able to surf again was a bug challenge for her and she managed to do it. With training and her friends and family there every step of the way. Even though she didn't win nationals she did win. She did the best she could and that's really all that mattered to her. Was just being in the nationals. I am a swimmer and if something like this happened to me, i don't think i could have the strength she did. I would be afraid to go back in the water and start swimming again. But she really managed to get back into life on her own. Great movie i loved it and i can't wait till it comes out on dvd. It's an amazing movie, totally worth of a 10 on 10 :)… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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10

cfhApr 9, 2011

The movie was very good. It had a good base. It has a good plot. The movie seemed that you were right next to the actors and actresses. I loved the movie it had action, faith, knowledge, and fun!

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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10

TobleroneFeb 10, 2014

With its excellent acting, a sublime depiction of Hawaii, and a refreshing inspirational message, Soul Surfer quickly became one of my favourite movies of all time.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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10

VadvaroApr 9, 2011

I'm not a christian or a country fan. But that doesn't prevent me from from enjoying this film. I'm not a professional movie reviwer either, but I don't understand the critics dislike. I've seen much, much worse films shoehorning religion andI'm not a christian or a country fan. But that doesn't prevent me from from enjoying this film. I'm not a professional movie reviwer either, but I don't understand the critics dislike. I've seen much, much worse films shoehorning religion and "feel good" messages into some real life plot. This film told a good story without being preachy or boring. I'm a huge fan of the ocean, so perhaps I'm biased but, this film is worth a watch. I've seen it twice at two seperate screenings and loved it each time. Anytime I felt it might start being to message heavy, the scene would change before it was lost due to overexposure. Plus there is a lot of great surfing scenes, competition and recreation.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

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10

RealdealApr 9, 2011

I've read mixed "professional" reviews of "Soul Surfer"; here is my takeaway. "Soul Surfer" has high-quality cinematography, mostly great acting thanks to Robb, Hunt, Quaid & Sorbo and some newer names. The script is also believable, thanksI've read mixed "professional" reviews of "Soul Surfer"; here is my takeaway. "Soul Surfer" has high-quality cinematography, mostly great acting thanks to Robb, Hunt, Quaid & Sorbo and some newer names. The script is also believable, thanks to the acting. Faith, in particular Christian, is fused throughout, in a way that will resonate with many audiences. You will leave believing that there is living, and then there is living as was intended. I suspect that some that don't care for the film, don't care to ponder the "deeper" questions we face in life. This film points to the Truth, if one cares to consider such things. A great film that Dad, Mom, and the kids will come away feeling great about!… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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5

filmtrashreviewJul 18, 2011

Soul Surfer is the story of a young surfer girl that was bitten by a shark and lost her harm. The most exciting part of this film was watching and waiting for that scene to happen. After her arm was gone this film turned into one of thoseSoul Surfer is the story of a young surfer girl that was bitten by a shark and lost her harm. The most exciting part of this film was watching and waiting for that scene to happen. After her arm was gone this film turned into one of those mellow drama stories of faith and prayer. Sometimes I felt like this movie was trying to be what it is not; A motivational disney sports story. Lets just say this story is great but when you don't have the right script or people behind it (Disney) then even a story like this can fail on many levels.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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3

heyitsmegrif4Jul 22, 2012

Great true story it is a totally inspiring story, oh this movie may just be wonderful. It isn't, this movie has uninspiring dialogue, bad acting surprising from AnnaSophia Robb and no chemistry between its stars. I give this movie 27%.

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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10

wschillAug 30, 2011

Overall the movie was disappointing given that it was based on such an inspirational true story. Intolerably slow until the shark attack, then only limped along for the rest of the story. OK, we get that her family is religious, but doesOverall the movie was disappointing given that it was based on such an inspirational true story. Intolerably slow until the shark attack, then only limped along for the rest of the story. OK, we get that her family is religious, but does the audience need to feel like we're at a youth outreach revival. To say this movie was bland is critically too generous. Unfortunately, the folks behind this production wanted the G rating and faith-based crowd so badly that they sold the movie's creative soul to the Christian value police. What's left proves about as exciting as a cream colored Burqa.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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10

Movie3Jul 15, 2018

One of the better faith based films to come out. Well shot, acted and very moving.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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1

MorriBeyJul 10, 2011

Its the kind of movie you might watch on a sunday afternoon with Faith based commercials spanning the whole movie. The movie is weak. The acting is weak. Couldnt finish it. Can be purchased in the discount bin at your local store in a fewIts the kind of movie you might watch on a sunday afternoon with Faith based commercials spanning the whole movie. The movie is weak. The acting is weak. Couldnt finish it. Can be purchased in the discount bin at your local store in a few months time.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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2

NicholasBuckAug 5, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I watched Soul Surfer with the expectation of an inspiring story of a girl overcoming a great tragedy, and i received nothing more than what seemed like a cheap, ill thought-out film about a girl who overcomes losing an arm to surf. The acting was bad. The writing and dialogue was bad. The editing and cinematography was absolutely awful. While the overall message of the movie was inspiring, I was way to distracted by the movies downfalls to care. This movie is great for anyone who doesn't care about plot or acting, or anyone under the age of 12.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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4

ShiiraApr 22, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Maggie Fitzgerald(Hilary Swank) wins by TKO. From her seat on the canvas, Billie the Blue Bear(Lucia Rijker) looks temporarily confounded by the boxing match's dramatic turnaround. Once again, the underdog overcomes impossible odds to become a champion when nobody had given the perennial loser a shot. This moment of triumph usually signals, on cue, the fierce competitor's sudden transition into humbleness, congratulating the lesser opponent on a hard-fought victory, like when Apollo Creed seeks out The Italian Stallion at the end of John G. Avildsen's "Rocky". But filmmaker Clint Eastwood, in "Million Dollar Baby", an adaptation of the F.X. O'Toole novel "Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner" diverges from the norm. The slightly unconventional inspirational sports movie demonstrates that not all antagonists possess hearts of gold. The German ex-prostitute retaliates by blindsiding Maggie when her back is turned, landing the newly-minted world-beater in a hospital room for good, and is never seen or heard from again. The obligatory scene the moviegoer expects, where the Bear shows up at the paraplegic's bedside, at no time materializes. The heavy remains a heavy to the end. "Soul Surfer", with its relentlessly optimistic cast of well-meaning, but boring characters, is thankfully counterbalanced, saved really, from their overbearing promotion of a Christian rhetoric by the equally unlikable Malina Birch(Sonya Balmores), the rival surfer, who doesn't seem to care one bit that Bethany Hamilton(AnnaSophia Robb) survived a shark attack which left the then-thirteen-year-old girl one arm down. If a movie ever was sorely in need of a rancorous presence, it's certainly this one. Malina is more cold-blooded than the great white, but Bethany, obviously a glass half-full kind of girl, misreads the surfer's pitiless dealings with her as tough love, in which at one point, she tells her best friend Alana(Lorraine Nicholson) that "she's treating me like real competition," as if a method exists to the austere enchanter's unsportsmanship. The antics that Malina pulls during the surf meets looks more like a concerted effort on her part to humiliate Bethany. She calls attention towards the young girl's handicap by stealing waves the recovering athlete is too slow to catch, and in one instance, nearly grazes Hamilton during a ride which is analogous to dunking in your foremost rival's face. Unspoken in "Soul Surfer", but duly noted by those in the know, is the probability that the basis of Malina's animosity toward Bethany is a racial one. Although the blond clearly identifies herself as "kama'aina", a local, the more Hawaiian-looking girl obviously views Bethany as an outsider. The inauthentic dialogue obscures this fact. Apart from a few yeahs tossed in sporadically at the end of sentences(just like the Minnesotans in Joel & Ethan Coen's "Fargo"), "Soul Surfer" largely avoids the potential pitfalls of recreating the idiosyncratic dialect which identifies the speaker as native, a subculturist wary of perceived intruders on their home turf. Owning a ukulele doesn't give you local cred. In most cases, local cred is predetermined through skin color. In all likelihood, Malina hates Bethany unconditionally because she's "haole"(the Hawaiian word for "foreigner"). Even a catastrophic injury to the Caucasian aquatist can't remedy the indigenous girl's long-standing repulsion for her one-time colonizer. The slur can be inferred through the glee Malina projects each time she bests the one-armed surfer. But that's okay. God only knows this aggressively faith-based film could use a devil to muck up the calibration in its ecclesiastical design. At times, "Soul Surfer", with its stringent fundamentalist teachings, can be downright Calvinistic, hinting ever so slightly that Bethany is being punished for her alleged selfishness, when she puts her budding surfing career ahead of the church. Vanity, it is suggested, costs Bethany her arm, because had she gone to Mexico with the other missionaries as planned, rather than train for an important surf meet, the tragedy could have been averted. As if to overstate this point, at her first professional event following the attack, Bethany stops to glance at a TV monitor filled with natural disaster imagery from the third world. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, she puts away her gameface, replacing it with a shameface, a visage better suited for reflecting upon all those homeless children, just how her church sponsor Sarah(Carrie Underwood) would want it. With the internet image of the Venus de Milo still fresh on her mind(thanks, Helen Hunt), Bethany helps with the tsunami relief in Thailand, before returning back home to continue what would become the start of her banner career. Malina wins, due to a technicality, and improbably, invites Bethany to stand beside her on the winner's podium. "Soul Surfer" forgets who Malina is.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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2

T44WAug 5, 2011

Such a shame... the real-life story is truly inspiring, but the movie is one of the poorest attempts that Hollywood as ever made to bring a true story to the big screen. The actors were good (except for Carrie Underwood, who needs to stickSuch a shame... the real-life story is truly inspiring, but the movie is one of the poorest attempts that Hollywood as ever made to bring a true story to the big screen. The actors were good (except for Carrie Underwood, who needs to stick with singing), but that's the only positive thing I can say. The story was poorly told. It's obvious that the movie makers wanted to make a movie about surfing rather than tell Bethany's story. I'm severely disappointed in this one.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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10

MegWhiteleyMar 16, 2012

Interesting movie, Soul Surfer is beautiful and emotive, the performance on AnnaSophia Robb is amazing, the story of Bethany Hamilton is beautiful. This movie is pretty.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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0

PeterWazoskiNov 22, 2016

This film is the worst film that I've seen in a loong time...............................................................................................................................................................................

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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10

liptapApr 14, 2011

A completely boring movie that should've just been a made-for-TV movie. With completely 2-dimensional characters, it is extremely drowned out by sloppy hollywood attempts at makind a feelgood drama.