Johnny Tsunami (1999) (TV)

Director:

Steve Boyum

Writers (WGA):

Ann Knapp (written by) &
Douglas Snow (written by)

Release Date:

24 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Sport

Tagline:

The Temperature Is Down... But The Surf Is Up!

Plot:

A Hawaiian teenage surfer shows off his skills when he takes to the snow slopes in Vermont. |

Plot Keywords:

Vermont | Winter Sports | Hawaii | Surfing | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Brandon Baker	...	Johnny Kapahaala
Yuji Okumoto	...	Pete
Mary Page Keller	...	Melanie
Lee Thompson Young	...	Sam Sterling
Kirsten Storms	...	Emily
Zachary Bostrom	...	Brett (as Zach Bostrom)
Gregory Itzin	...	Headmaster Pritchard
Cylk Cozart	...	Sgt. Sterling
Steve Van Wormer	...	Randy
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Johnny Tsunami
Gabriel Luque	...	Matt
Taylor Moore	...	Jake
Anthony DiFranco	...	Eddie
Noah Bastian	...	Aaron
Anne Sward	...	Miss Arthur

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al. | USA:TV-G

Filming Locations:

Hawaii, USA

Company:

Film Roman Productions

Trivia:

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is only 9 years older than Yuji Okumoto, who plays his son.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Johnny's mom is having a talk with him at the bottom of the stairs, she holds a box, with newspaper in it. During their talk, the position of the newspaper sticking out of the box continues to change throughout.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dragonball Evolution (2009)

Soundtrack:

Crystal 52

Good Fun

Over the past few years, straight up through right now, the Disney Channel has been making several movies every year, exclusives for their channel (and later to also be found in the kid's section at the video rental place.) That's all well and good if you wanna just put out product and give people jobs without much regard for superior quality. Every now and then a little of that Disney magic happens and one of their Made-for-TV movies is really good and not just for kids but something an adult will thoroughly enjoy, also. I'm not talkin' Mary Poppins good but something's that's certainly much more of pleasure to watch than a waste of time. I was kind of skeptical about this, thought it would be run of the mill but it definitely was not. This one hit the mark, at least for me. The story was nothing unique - kid's gotta prove himself somewhere new plus one of the characters realizes he's got to change to become a better person. To get these out of the way first, things that could have been better - the relationships between young Johnny & his mom and between him & his dad could have been explored a little more... but then again, it was only a 96 minute movie, a little less `dorkiness' from some of the `Skys' and the Utah locations trying to double for Vermont didn't work to someone who knows the difference: Utah = big mountains, Vermont = smaller plus the subtle differences in architecture. Oh well, I didn't say the movie was perfect. However, those things were very minor and putting them aside, this movie's got some very good acting and great relationships portrayed, in particular between young Johnny & his grandfather Johnny the Surfer King. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played his part just about perfectly, such an affable character as there ever was, really one of the best characters I've ever seen in a movie. I would surely watch this again someday and then yet again someday after that and hopefully find it just as good. Not the best Disney production but very far from the worst. My grade for this: I can't decide between B+ and A- so I'll just leave it at that.