4/5 Hope for scum
  by - Durrkk (Ohio/PA border USA)
Released in 2002, "Blue Crush" tells the story of three young female surfers in Hawaii who support their lifestyle as maids at a high-class hotel. Anne Marie (kate Bosworth) has dreams of going professional, but she has to get over her past failures and her family's breakup to succeed. In the meantime a vacationing NFL quarterback (Matthew Davis) romances her and she has to determine if their relationship is real or just a fling (for him, that is). Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake co-star as Anne Marie's surfing friends.

As you can tell, "Blue Crush" is a 'sports film' in the manner of "Karate Kid" and a host of others. Although some of these movies go the comedy route -- e.g. "Cloud 9" and "Bad News Bears" -- "Crush" is a serious drama with fun flashes.

Filmed on the beaches/resorts of O`ahu, Hawaii, this is a beautiful and exhilarating film to watch, the perfect remedy if the weather in your area has been dreary of late.

There's no profanity, raunch or t&a exploitation but, to be expected, the film features good-looking women in swimwear throughout its 104-minute runtime (dudes too, if you're a woman). By "good-looking" I mean realistically so, not like "Baywatch" which normally featured masses of ultra-hot babes swarming the beaches.

For the first hour the film was pretty much what I expected it to be, nothing great but moderately entertaining for this type of flick, and then something happened at the the 58-minute mark that struck a chord with me. Anne Marie hits the waves with her friend (Rodriquez) to prepare for the Pipeline Masters event as we hear the song "Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D. This sequence touched me for some reason. The music & lyrics are emotionally potent and effectively set the tone for the remainder of the film.

"Youth of the Nation" exemplifies the zeitgeist of the new millennium just as "My Generation" perfectly represents the mid-60s and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" typifies the 90s (I was gonna say "and just as 'Muskrat Love' typifies the 70s" as a joke but decided not to -- LOL). Anyway, everyone's heard the song by now but if you're not sure go to youtube and listen to it with lyrics; it's an incredible piece, to say the least, and dig those heartrending lyrics! It's reality, my friend.

What affected me most with the story is the picture of the three maids, impoverished and disdained by the snobs but full of youthful zeal and hope. It strangely reminded me of something I experienced on my last trip to Southern California. I was leaving the last showing of a theater late at night and spied the janitorial crew coming in to clean with their mops & buckets. They were Mexicans, mostly young, and possibly illegal aliens. Everyone walked by them like they weren't there, like they were the scum of society or something. But I made a point to acknowledge them and smile. I don't feel I deserve a medal for this or anything; it's just that I made a decision long ago that, no matter how far I go in life, I'm not going to look down on or ignore those of lower stature. Why? I don't know, maybe because I'm scum.

5/5 Excellent
  by Nancy L. Bondhus
Delivered in perfect condition. I must have watched this movie like 5 times, before putting it away. Love it & the music! Great pics of water scenes.

5/5 Great Hawaii Video!
  by D. Williams (Iowa City)
This is a great video if you love the tropical scenery of Hawaii. The storyline and acting is good. And the music is well chosen the the different surf scenes throughout this film. Basically, it a fun movie!

4/5 Pipe Dreamy
  by David Baldwin (Philadelphia,PA USA)
I approached this movie with a lot of trepidition. Surfing to me is as interesting as watching grass grow. This is a towering achievement by director John Stockwell in that he makes surfing understandable to a mere novice but keeps you interested. The ocean camerawork is something to behold and the monster wave shots are sheer artistry. The surf footage has a how-did-they-do-that quality even if there's a little CGI involved. Kate Bosworth gives a star-in-the-making performance as the Anne-Marie who juggles her dream to be a star surfer with her duties as hotel maid and surrogate mom to her little sister. There's a wistful quality to "Blue Crush" that can be best appreciated as the dog days of summer wile away.

3/5 These waves are for the big boys.
  by Snow White (Orange County)
2002's BLUE CRUSH stars the adorable Kate Bosworth as the young female pipe-charger Anne Marie Chadwick who is overcoming a past surf injury.

With the help of her two best friends Eden(Michelle Rodriquez) and Lena(Sanoe Lake) Anne Marie begins a training regime in-between watching over her younger sister Penny(Mika Boorem) and working as a hotel maid.

Of course all of these girls have attitude and a fiery spirit which leads them down an exciting path, which includes Matt Tollman(Matthew Davis) a professional football player vacationing in Hawaii with his team.

What happens when Anne Marie starts falling for Matt, will he get in the way of her goal to win Pipemaster?

Not to mention the soundtrack is fantastic,two of my favorite tracks being 'Destiny' by Zero 7, and 'If I Could Fall In Love' by Lenny Kravitz, they all convery the 'perfect summer in Hawaii' mood!


This film is better then expected and it's nice to see a movie with some girl power!