Soul Surfer (2011)

Teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton overcomes the odds and her own fears of returning to the water after losing her left arm in a shark attack.

Director:

Sean McNamara

Writers:

Sean McNamara (screenplay), Deborah Schwartz (screenplay)

Stars:

AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt

1 win & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Bethany Hamilton
Helen Hunt	...	Cheri Hamilton
Dennis Quaid	...	Tom Hamilton
Carrie Underwood	...	Sarah Hill
Kevin Sorbo	...	Holt Blanchard
Ross Thomas	...	Noah Hamilton
Chris Brochu	...	Timmy Hamilton
Lorraine Nicholson	...	Alana Blanchard
Jeremy Sumpter	...	Byron Blanchard
Sonya Balmores	...	Malina Birch (as Sonya Balmores Chung)
Craig T. Nelson	...	Dr. Rovinsky
Cody Gomes	...	Keoki
Branscombe Richmond	...	Ben Aipa
Titus Kinimaka	...	Titus
John Philbin	...	Fuel TV Reporter #2

Storyline

13 year-old Bethany Hamilton is a champion surfer who was born to be in the water. But after a fun night out night surfing and what should be a fun day in the water, she is attacked by a shark and loses her arm. Rushed to the hospital, she remains calm, and maintains her faith in God. Now she has to re-learn how to do everything with only one arm - including how to surf. It will take her friends, family, and her Christian faith to get her back into the water, but if that is where she is meant to be, she will find a way to get there.

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Plot Keywords:

shark | surfer | christian | surfing | christian film | 

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Taglines:

When you come back from a loss, beat the odds, and never say never, you find a champion.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for an intense accident sequence and some thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Duša surfera

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,601,862, 10 April 2011, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$43,853,424

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$47,088,990

Company Credits

Production Co:

Enticing Entertainment,Island Film Group,Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Ross Thomas who plays Noah Hamilton plays as another surfer in the tv show Beyond the Break.

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Goofs

When Bethany and her Church Youth Group visited Thailand to help the tsunami victims, the victim who talk to Bethany, is speaking in Indonesian language, not Thai language, which is totally different.

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Quotes

Transworld Surf Reporter #1: Bethany, I'm from Transworld Surf Magazine. Are you upset you didn't win today?
Bethany Hamilton: I didn't come to win, I came to surf.
Fuel T.V. reporter #2: Bethany, I just wanted to ask you. If you could go back to that day, and not have gone surfing, would you do it?
Bethany Hamilton: I wouldn't change what happened to me, because then I wouldn't have this chance. In front of all of you... this chance to, embrace more people than I ever could have with two arms.

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Crazy Credits

During the ending credits, videos of the real Bethany Hamilton are shown, many of similar (or possibly the inspiration for) moments in the film.

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Connections

Version of Heart of a Soul Surfer (2007)

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Soundtracks

The Sound of Sunshine
Written by Jason Bowman, Michael Franti and Carl Young
Performed by Michael Franti & Spearhead
Courtesy of Boo Boo Wax/Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Terrible ...

Right from the get go I fund it incredibly hard to swallow how perfect Bethany and her family are portrayed . There was Zero realism in the film which I found to be a sickly sweet exercise with nothing new to offer at all . I thought or hoped that they might have been original in the telling but this was nothing more than a Glossy version of a made for TV weepy .

On the plus side The cinematography was great and the action shot enjoyable and well choreographed .

If you love surfing then you'll probably enjoy this for the most part and for a Christian film or at least one with a strong Christian message this is definitely one of the better ones . But this is no '127 hours ' which is a shame given the source

Bethanys true story is an horrific and inspiring one , this was super sickly sweet, patronising, over acted poorly scripted nonsense from start to finish . wait for it to come out on DVD ...