“Blue Crush” is special for Kaua’i people. It co-stars Sanoe Lake — she’s a Southside girl. I knew her in intermediate school and we had many mutual friends. It was fun to see her surfing on the big screen. This
“Blue Crush” is special for Kaua’i people. It co-stars Sanoe Lake — she’s a Southside girl. I knew her in intermediate school and we had many mutual friends. It was fun to see her surfing on the big screen.
This movie was produced by Brian Grazer (“Apollo 13”). Grazer is an avid surfer and owns a home on the North Shore’s pipeline. My friend Linda was his driver a number of times. She told me he’d sometimes come to the set in slippers and shorts — a very humble icon.
The film brought light to the subject of female surfing in a way no other film had. “Blue Crush” was directed by John Stockwell (writer “Rockstar” with Mark Wahlberg) based on the magazine article “Life’s Swell” by Susan Orlean. The film also starred Kate Bosworth (“Straw Dogs”) and Michelle Rodriguez (“Lost”).
The movie tells the story of three friends who have one passion — living the ultimate dream of surfing on Hawai‘i’s famed North Shore.
Film locations included Sunset Beach, Pipeline, Ko‘olina and Turtle Bay. There is a great special edition DVD on which producer Grazer explained the spiritual side of surfing. He said, “When you wipe out, you have 15 seconds if you panic. If you’re calm and get in sync with the ocean, you have a minute.” The film to him was meant to show the deeper side of surfing, the ocean and Hawai‘i.
O‘ahu got to host one of the best producers in Hollywood history (multiple Oscar winner/nominee) who even produced the landmark TV show “24.”
Overall, “Blue Crush” delivers great photography, excellent surfing scenes and for us Kaua‘i people, Sanoe. Go out and watch this film, even if just to support a Kaua‘i girl. Once again, Hollywood came to Hawai‘i and contributed to our home in a special way.
The film brought great revenue to the islands with a budget of $30 million and gave the island the great pleasure of hosting a fantastic company like Imagine Entertainment, which has made some of the best Hollywood films for nearly three decades.
• Paul Booth of Lihu‘e is a Kaua‘i Community College graduate, film producer and consultant. He can be reached at pkb_1@hotmail.com.
