Save your money for something good and enjoyable

One of my all time favorites.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This is a sequel to the original film "Endless Summer" (1966). Number 2 echoes the same basic format, as voice-over narrator Bruce Brown follows two professional surfers, here "Wingnut" Weaver and Pat O'Connell, who travel around the world in search of the perfect surfing waves. The documentary inspires youthful idealism with its two young surfers and a theme of carefree innocence. A travelogue of local places in a non-American setting augments the surfing scenes.Using 35-mm film, color cinematography is by far the best element, with terrific shots of surfers riding ocean waves from up close and from far away. The height, symmetry, and fluidity of the waves are inspiring. And some of Brown's narration is clever and funny.Unfortunately, aside from the beautiful camera work, there's not much to this film. Watching surfers ride a wave is interesting for the first four or five minutes; then it starts to get monotonous. The two surfers are slightly annoying and stereotypical of hip California surfers only interested in having fun, sans responsibilities. Maybe that's intentional, to appeal to a youthful audience.The travelogue of local cultures is frivolous, "cute", and highly contrived. And please, enough with the jargon; the word "stoked" was so overused, hearing it again and again made me want to turn the sound off. Does Brown not have a script editor? Frenetic background music also is irritating and could have been replaced with the natural sounds of the ocean.Obviously, "Endless Summer 2" will appeal to viewers interested in surfing, and to those who gravitate to National Geographic documentaries of non-American cultures. My biggest complaint here, aside from the repetition and the "shallow" (so to speak) plot is that the film was made by and for surfer-centric specialists. Brown and company know what surfers like; if only they could make a comparable film aimed at a wider audience.

ENDLESS SUMMER II was written, directed and edited by surfer-filmmaker Bruce Brown with his son Dana 30 years after Bruce created the original.ES2 has much the same "feel" as the original but the technical quality is on a higher level with a much bigger budget, bigger production staff and a studio and sponsors behind it from the get-go. Problem is NEW LINE CINEMA was in a state of transition when the ES2 was coming to market and it never got the promotion that any film needs. Although it was made in 1994, like many people, I never even knew it existed until I was surfing the internet in 2006.This "sequel" is quite comparable to the original and if you enjoyed that, you will definitely want to see this.The photography is absolutely spectacular – much of it actually better than the original - and many of the shots literally take the viewer right INSIDE and UNDER the waves.Fantastic surfing, great action, beautiful scenery, magnificent waves, gorgeous color, good soundtrack – what a treat – like a 2 hour mini-vacation.The original seems more authentic but this film is excellent as well.Pulling off all the necessary logistics and photographing this round-the-world adventure and including some of the best surfers on Earth was a major achievement and an entertaining one at that.There's a little too much real-life risk-taking the film - much of it OUT of the water "playing" with lions and clowning around at the top of a precipice near a waterfall. Nevertheless, the film makes a great armchair adventure for those of us who no longer surf. It also serves as a beautiful inspiration to those who do enjoy surfing or might want to try it. Just don't be as daring as these guys. They've been at it a long time and even with that, they come up with some nasty wounds along the way.Interesting too that one featured champion surfer is smart enough to wear a helmet surfing the big waves over coral reefs. I think there's a good lesson in that.

I found this sequel much better than the more-famous "Endless Summer" which had been made 30 years before this film. That was good, but this is far better and a big reason is better camera lenses and techniques.The photography in here is spectacular and I'm not a fan of surfing but this is amazing footage....and who isn't awed by huge waves? The camera puts you inside and underneath some of these mammoth waves and they aren't just spectacular; they are beautiful. As in the first film, the narration and the travelogue is interesting and humorous. Bruce Brown, the man who narrated both films, is consistently entertaining in this area as he navigates us to distant countries and islands. We see, for example, the beaches of Australia, France, Fiji, Alaska, Indonesia, Africa, on and on - just magnificent scenery. Also featured are wild animals, poisonous reptiles, a topless beach and assorted other goodies. It also was interesting to see familiar faces from the mid- 1960s movie and see how they've aged. It all makes the 110-minute film interesting for anyone, surfers or not.

this film lives up the hype of being even better than the legendary original. the style is precisely that of the original, but the leap is the technical quality of the photography. much of the photography is so beautiful and astonishing that it looks like james cameron computer generated it. you watch it, thinking "how the heck did they film that?" now i am a jersey boy, born in nyc, know nothing about surfing. but i know a great film and this is one.