Blu-ray Review: Blue Crush 2

The only reason I wanted to see Blue Crush 2 was for lots of high definition footage of hot, soaking wet chicks surfing in bikinis. And even with those low expectations, I felt gypped. The original Blue Crush (2002), with Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez, was passably entertaining. There was a basic competency that made it feel like the filmmakers were at least trying to tell an engaging story. And there were plenty of scantily clad babes on display. Blue Crush 2 is an in-name-only sequel that delivers none of these basic elements.

Sasha Jackson plays Dana, a young American surfer who lost her mother at a young age. She doesn’t get along with her dad, so she decides to sneak off of South Africa to surf at the same sites her mother did. Once there, she runs into predictable trouble with the locals but also manages to make some friends. How Dana achieves this is beyond me, because she behaves like an insufferable bitch throughout the entire movie.

Dana develops a bond with another surfer girl improbably named Pushy (Elizabeth Mathis). During surfing scenes, when people are yelling her name, it sounds like they’re shouting “Pussy.” That’s honestly about as entertaining as this movie gets. There is a rival surfer named Tara who doesn’t like Dana, portrayed in an utterly unmemorable manner by Sharni Vinson.

None of these elements really amount to much as the storytelling is mostly incoherent. Better to revisit the Blue Crush for an eye-candy laden guilty pleasure. Or better yet, wait for the Blu-ray release of this year’s genuinely inspirational and well-made Soul Surfer if you are interested in a good surfing movie.

Blue Crush 2 looks good on Blu-ray in 1080p high definition, framed at 1.78:1. Even lower budget productions can look good in this day and age, and this movie is an example. The image is crisp throughout, with a high level of detail that one expects from a 2011 high definition production. The surfing scenes are the obvious highlights, with the deep blue water glistening brilliantly in the sunlight. Black level is acceptably deep, and details still come through in the darker scenes.

The DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is acceptable, though a little flat and thin sounding. It doesn’t sound like a ton of time was invested in mixing this movie, not that it needed it. Dialogue is intelligible, though a little low in the mix at times. The rear channels are not heavily utilized, but especially during surf scenes there is a fair amount of immersive ambiance. The music is loud, sometimes a bit overpowering, without really having a deep, full sound. Overall the soundtrack does what it needs to do.

In addition to a standard DVD, there are a number of supplements that flesh out the Blu-ray release of Blue Crush 2. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone liking the movie enough to want to delve into these features, but they are present. Several cast and crew members sit for a commentary, which I sampled but did not find interesting enough to listen to completely.

There are over a half-hour of deleted scenes. Keep in mind, the movie itself is nearly two hours and feels like three. After skimming the deleted scenes, I realized they are no better, no worse than what is in the movie. A number of shorter featurettes provide very superficial details about the making of the movie.