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Morning Light (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:9
Rotten:22
Average Rating:4.7/10
Consensus: Breathtaking scenery aside, Morning Light is geared more for the sailing enthusiasts than for the average viewers.
Theatrical Release:Oct 17, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $129,295
Synopsis:
Fifteen young sailors… six months of intense training… one chance at the brass ring. This exciting true-life documentary tells the inspiring story of a group of intrepid and determined young men...
Fifteen young sailors… six months of intense training… one chance at the brass ring. This exciting true-life documentary tells the inspiring story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life’s first great adventure. Racing a high-performance 52-foot sloop in the TRANSPAC, the most revered of open-ocean sailing competitions, the crew of “Morning Light” matches wits and skills in a dramatic 2,300-mile showdown against top professionals.
From their earliest training sessions in Hawaii conducted by world-class teachers through their test of endurance on the high seas, they form an unbreakable bond in the process of becoming a singular team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Directed and edited by two of the key filmmakers responsible for the acclaimed 2004 surfing documentary, “Riding Giants,” and the recent rock documentary “Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who,” MORNING LIGHT will appeal to the sense of adventure in everyone.
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Starring: Chris Branning, Graham Brant-Zawadzki, Chris Clark, Charlie Enright
Starring: Chris Branning, Graham Brant-Zawadzki, Chris Clark, Charlie Enright, Jesse Fielding, Robbie Kane, Steve Manson, Chris Schubert, Kate Theisen, Mark Towill, Genny Tulloch, Piet van Os, Chris Welch, Kit Will, Jeremy Wilmot
Director: Mark Monroe
Director: Mark Monroe
Screenwriter: Mark Monroe
Producer: Morgan Sackett
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
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Reviews for Morning Light
(T)his may be one of those achievements in human endurance that doesn't elicit cheers, but sneers. It's just too picture perfected to be powerful.
A vanity project...[but also] a sincere love letter to sailing, as seen through the eyes of a handful of very lucky youngsters. [Blu-ray]
Any time...personal history is touched upon, it is quickly shoved under the carpet in favor of yet another sailing montage, complete with compulsory sunset.
Morning Light fails as film or TV. It’s essentially a vanity project for sailing enthusiast Roy E. Disney.
This flat, uninspired sailing documentary from the Walt Disney studios has surprisingly little to say.
All good intentions aside, Morning Light is nothing more than a glorified television documentary.
The film may interest sailing enthusiasts. For the rest of us, Morning Light is a yawn.
The documentary is enjoyable, though it could have been edited more tightly.
For those who love sailing, Morning Light will confirm their passion and please them right down to their Top-Sider encased toes. For the rest of us, this sailors' tale just smacks of naval gazing.
If you don't speak the jargon of sailing and racing, most of the conversations between teammates mean very little. Impenetrable editing reduces the action to a meaningless blur.
It's extremely good at communicating the joy of sailing, of putting its finger on the unique aesthetic appeal it offers its addicts and of making us believe that it is a precious gift that will enhance the future of these young people.
The camera can only film the on-deck action from so many angles before it gets repetitive. The musical score is pabulum. Race technology and tactics are barely explored, and you never get a sense of the larger field of competitors.
The aristo-brats are required to jump into a swimming pool and tread water for five minutes with their shoes on. Horrible! Still, one of them nearly drowns, proving that he shouldn't be allowed near a body of water larger than a bottle of Poland Spring.
These eager young amateurs have the kind of passion nobody could fake.
If the makers were hoping they'd chronicled a metaphor for life's struggle, they probably weren't counting on the struggle being monotony.
Latest News for Morning Light
July 20, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
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| 43% 43% | The Proposal |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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