Product Summary
Format: DVD
Buy.com Sku: 205084008
UPC: 00043396177468
Item#: V2KE6L
Buy.com Sales Rank: 2673
Rating: 
Widescreen Special Edition.
Surf's Up is an animated comedy that delves behind the scenes of the high-octane world of professional surfing. The film profiles teenage Rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), an up-and-coming surfer, as he enters his first pro competition. Followed by a camera crew to document his experiences, Cody leaves his family and home in Shiverpool, Antarctica to travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Along the way, Cody meets surf nut Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), famous surf promoter Reggie Belafonte (James Woods), surf talent scout Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone), and spirited lifeguard Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel), all of whom recognize Cody's passion for surfing, even if it sometimes goes too far. Cody believes that winning will bring him the admiration and respect he desires, but when he unexpectedly comes face-to-face with a washed-up old surfer named Geek (Jeff Bridges), Cody begins to find his own way, and discovers that a true winner isn't always the one who comes in first.
"Not only are LaBeouf and Bridges terrific, but Jon Heder is hilarious as surfing fowl Chicken Joe. Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Best of all is Jeff Bridges as the voice of Geek, a laid-back philosopher-penguin who becomes Cody's low-key guru... Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun
"If you have to see one penguin movie, this is it. James Berardinelli's ReelViews
"The most colorful of the penguin 'toons to date, both figuratively and literally. Michelle Kung, Boston Globe
"...entertaining...a nice surprise, and the rare mainstream American kid film. Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Editor's Note
This animated mock documentary directed by Chris Buck (TARZAN) and Ash Brannon (TOY STORY 2) follows penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) from his hometown of Shiverpool, Antarctica, where all of the other penguins think he's a surfing fool, to the "Big Z Memorial Surf Off" on Pen Gu Island. This teenage penguin is determined to win the most important competition in the world of penguin surfing in honor of "Big Z," a deceased surfing legend whom he has idolized since childhood. But the waves in Pen Gu are different than in Shiverpool, and the competition is steep. The current champ, egotistical Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader), isn't about to let this little penguin knock him from first place without a fight. When Cody wipes out and encounters Geek (Jeff Daniels), a recluse living in the jungle, he learns some important lessons about life and surfing, and even teaches Geek a thing or two.The documentary/reality show format is a delightful surprise, and side interviews with other characters make it particularly effective. The attention to detail in this feature is terrific. The foam, waves, sand, expressions, and movements are all quite realistic, and the voices are spot on. Shia LaBeouf hits the mark perfectly as Cody, and Jeff Daniels is fun as the aging former surfer, Geek, who imparts his wisdom to the newbie. Mario Cantone voices the perpetually exasperated talent scout, Mikey, who works for sports promoter Reggie (James Woods). Jon Heder and Zooey Deschanel also lend their talents as midwestern surfer dude Chicken Joe and the lovely lifeguard Lani, respectively. Sports Penguin Entertainment Network (SPEN) correspondents Kelly Slater and Rob Machado are voiced by their real-life surfing-legend counterparts. A soundtrack including a number of past pop hits is also a nice touch.
Features
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DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Subtitled, French, Spanish, Dubbed & Subtitled |
Entertainment Reviews
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Surf's Up - DVD Review
By: Sean O'Connell
filmcritic.com DVD Reviews
Published on: 9/28/2007 8:42 PM
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The passionate pursuit of the perfect wave once inspired Bruce Brown to film the quintessential surfing documentary The Endless Summer. A loving ode to the unheralded beach-bum community, Brown's rambling tour of our planet's surfing hot spots took audiences on a permanent vacation when it opened in 1966. Forty years later, the art of mastering tubular waves has inspired Surf's Up, an animated fish-out-of-water story that opens in the summer (great) but feels endless (groan). Using penguins as protagonists (yet again), Surf's Up traces a fictional timeline of surfing accomplishments that places serious emphasis on Big Z (Jeff Bridges)....read the full review |
Cast & Crew
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] terrific voice work from Shia LaBeouf...and Jeff Bridges..."
06/14/2007 p.112
Entertainment Weekly
"Bridges puts warmth, patience, and innate cool into every line, like he was born to hang ten..." -- Grade: B
06/15/2007 p.60
New York Times
"SURF'S UP has a friendly, blue-collar vibe and some sly, low-key humor..."
06/08/2007 p.E10
Sight and Sound
"[B]reezy, funny and charming....The movement and crashing of water are beautifully rendered..."
09/01/2007 p.78
Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] smart, endearing, relatively small-scale comedy....The scenes between Bridges and LaBeouf have real heart..."
09/01/2007 p.54
Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] welcome surprise....The 'reality film' approach makes it quirky and fun..."
05/01/2008 p.75
Eye Weekly 8 of 10
Because it is a computer-generated cartoon about penguins, Surf's Up is going to be compared to Happy Feet. But where George Miller's surprise Oscar winner wrung a plangent and disturbing eco-horror subtext out of its waddling subjects' adventures, Surf's Up - which is better described as March of the Penguins filtered through Dogtown and Z Boys - aims merely to please. For the most part, it succeeds...Shia LaBeouf voices Cody, an unheralded entrant in the annual Penguin World Surfing Championship. The idea is that we're watching a documentary about his experience, complete with talking-head interviews, archival footage, expository inserts and visible boom mics. Surf's Up amusingly honours its framing device for about 30 minutes, at which point it thankfully shifts into more conventional storytelling rhythms...Half-cocked formal conceit aside, Surf's Up reinvents no wheels, but rolls along smoothly nonetheless.
- Adam Nayman
Reel.com 6 of 10
Fresh from marching and dancing their way to Oscar glory in March of the Penguins and Happy Feet, respectively, the Antarctic's most "bankable" birds "hang ten" in Surf's Up, a reasonably clever animated mockumentary directed by two Disney veterans, Ash Brannon (Toy Story 2) and Chris Buck (Tarzan). Amusing but never particularly engaging, this overly long and often listlessly paced send-up of reality television and extreme sports competitions generates just enough scattered laughs to make it a passably entertaining family film...While the filmmakers deserve credit for tweaking the formal/narrative template used by most animated films, their adherence to the mockumentary format results in an episodic, disjointed coming-of-age story...The filmmakers' good-natured send-up of reality television is often witty, and some of the computer animated surfing scenes are duly spectacular, but overall, Surf's Up is a bit of a "wipe out."
- Tim Knight
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