Soul Surfer Movie Review free essay sample

By Anthony Sluggett Inspirational People: In our modern day, there are many people that have experienced tough or difficult times although through their strength, persistence and strong faith in God they have been able to get back up and continue living and loving life. Many of these people are admired by others throughout the world. These inspirational people do many things for humanity and they make a positive impact on society and to other people’s lives. Bethany Hamilton: One of these people that will be discussed today is Bethany Meilani Hamilton. Bethany Hamilton is a professional surfer who lives in the United States, Hawaii. She was born into a family of surfers on the 8th of February 1990 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Bethany began surfing at the age of 8 and also won her first surfing competition, the ‘Rell Sun Menehune event’ on Oahu. This sparked a true love in Bethany’s heart for this sport. However on the 31st of October 2003, when Bethany was 13, she was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark while surfing off Kauai’s North Shore. The shark bit off Bethany’s left arm and as a result, she lost over 60% of her body’s blood. She was rushed to hospital and experienced several operations. After this difficult time, Bethany was finally on her way to recovery with an incredible positive attitude. Lifeguards and doctors believe her strong water sense and faith in God helped get her through this hard time. Just after one month after the attack, Bethany was back in the water surfing trying to still fulfil her goal; to become a professional surfer. A few years later in 2007, Bethany Hamilton finally became a professional surfer. Movie Review: Many people looked up to Bethany as a true inspiration and in 2011 a movie called ‘Soul Surfer’ was made based on Bethany’s struggle through life and her incredible, positive attitude as she made her comeback to surfing. Throughout the movie, Bethany Hamilton played by AnnaSophia Robb, always looked up to God and was a very strong Christian believer. At only 13 years of age, Bethany was attacked by a tiger shark which took off one of her arms. She made a very positive comeback and was ready to surf as soon as she had recovered. She began to surf but after a not so good performance at her Hawaiian Regional Surfing Championships, Bethany was having second thoughts and was looking to God for answers as to why He had let this happen to her. But she trusted her spiritual teacher and the biblical quote she shared to her class; Jeremiah 29:11: â€Å"11 For I know the plans I have for you,† declares the Lord, â€Å"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. † Bethany lived by this biblical teaching and trusted in God that all would come out like God had planned. This movie is very much an inspiration. Bethany’s life was much like surfing with many ups and downs but after crossing over the biggest wave, it was much easier on the other side. Bethany possesses many Christian values that include; strong faith and belief in God, always being positive and having great strength. As a result of this, Bethany Hamilton is a true inspiration for all. Bethany overcame her tough problems by speaking to different people and receiving great encouragement and thus being able to trust in God and continue living and loving life. Bethany is also still making an impact on our world by teaching other under privileged children how to surf. Finally, this movie has been watched by millions of people and has inspired them to do the same as Bethany; overcome tough problems and situations and to trust in God and continue living and loving life. Film Techniques: There were some good film techniques used throughout this movie to make it interesting, attention catching and inspirational. Some of these film techniques include; sad music played in the background when Bethany was going through hard times. This expresses how hard life was for her during these times. Flash backs were also used in the movie, especially of Bethany’s near death experience with a shark. This shows how terrifying this experience would have been for her and that she was very strong and faithful to God to put all of that behind her and look towards the future. Finally towards the end of the movie when Bethany taught herself to surf with one arm, she was portrayed as a very good surfer which indicated that she was very dedicated and striving to fulfil her goal of becoming a professional surfer even though she had one arm less. This was very inspirational and uplifting. Reflection: This was a great inspirational movie as it has motivated me to always look on the positive side of life even when the times are tough. Bethany Hamilton has gone through some very tough times, but she is a strong believer in God and trusts Him that all will turn out and make sense in the end. Overall, I would recommend this movie to everyone, young or old, because you’re never too old or young to be inspired to action. Finally I would rate this movie a 9/10 because of its passion and inspiration. Christian values: Add picture, (maybe quote), be in magazine article format *At the end, add reflection of yourself *Talk about the movie *Talk about Bethany’s strong faith in God. *Bethany’s Christian values- and relate to a bible scripture. *What problems has this person or people faced, and how did they overcome them? * What are the Christian values that mould our idea of what a good person is in general, including in ourselves. * How this person has made an impact in building a better future for our society? (What have they done for the society, what have they contributed? )