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Movies / On DVD / Morning Light
Morning Light

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Morning Light (2008)

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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.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some language.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Documentary

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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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

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Reviews for Morning Light

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/19/09
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix

(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.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
07/12/09
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

Mostly the film is more appealing for its scenery, which is as breathtakingly blue as you'd expect, than for its drama.

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/17/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Morning Light fails as film or TV. It’s essentially a vanity project for sailing enthusiast Roy E. Disney.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/07/08
David Frese
David Frese
Kansas City Star

This flat, uninspired sailing documentary from the Walt Disney studios has surprisingly little to say.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/23/08
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

As relaxing as it may be to watch the Morning Light floating idly at sea with glorious sunsets setting behind it, it doesn't make for a particularly entertaining movie and it's certainly not something that will inspire anyone to get into sailing as a spor

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
10/14/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

For those of us attuned to the punched-up presentation of The Amazing Race and Survivor, built week by week to maximize human drama and suspense, Morning Light is just reality lite.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
10/11/08
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Slant Magazine

The film may interest sailing enthusiasts. For the rest of us, Morning Light is a yawn.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

Morning Light is a sweepingly beautiful documentary unmoored by democratic intentions.

comment Comment
10/17/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It fails to let us live vicariously through these sailors and actually join them on their trip. And it fails because it's a reality show.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/16/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

An old-fashioned doc about a sailboat race is well produced but lacks urgency and true insight.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
10/17/08
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
10/17/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/17/08
Linda Barnard
Linda Barnard
Toronto Star

It's just so Disney. It could make you very cross.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/18/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

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.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/17/08
M.E. Russell
M.E. Russell
Oregonian

All good intentions aside, Morning Light is nothing more than a glorified television documentary.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/21/08
Marco Cerritos
Marco Cerritos
Boxoffice Magazine

The film feels more like the ultimate scrapbook for the participants than the vicarious thrill the pair no doubt imagined for audiences.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/14/08
Peter Debruge
Peter Debruge
Variety

Morning Light has populist ambitions, which may frustrate fans of art house documentaries.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/17/08
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle

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.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
03/13/09
Rhiannon Sawyer
Rhiannon Sawyer
FILMINK (Australia)
 
 
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