Gegen die Brandung (1995) Online

A Beach bummer? Sorry but no - this is a fantastically easy, fun film, and ridiculously true to life for anyone who's spent any time or has any fondness for cornwall. The characters are larger than life, but all charming and not out of place in a film of stereotypes. Lovely - no it isn't going to challenge you, but i would urge you to watch it of you are in love with cornwall, bored on a wet Sunday, or your day's surfing has been called off due to lack of waves. I think critics of this film perhaps are a bit quick in their discrimination because of the 'surfing movie' genre tag that this film carries. I would urge anyone put off by that to take another look, this is not a surf film, but a British surf film, which is of course an entirely different kettle of fish... no glossy beach babes and 'dude' but quirky, hopeless overgrown teenagers living for the next swell.

Saw this a few years ago and wasn't that impressed but on watching it again recently I find it's grown on me a lot. There's a lot of cliches in here, Cornwall is depicted as a crazy little world quite unlike anywhere else in Britain, where one train a week passes through town and everyone listens to hokey little local radio stations manned by oo-arr-ing rustic caricatures. There's some improbable stuff too, like a couple of people setting up a rural rave in about a day and getting a good few hundred attendees. Some of the characters are a little shallow (J.C.'s local surfing mates are little more than a chorus, pointing out what's going on now and then). The main group though, Pertwee's J.C., his girl CZJ and his old mates all have nice little problems that mess them around through the film and wind up getting resolved in quite sweet ways. Some moments of hilarity (fat, e'd-up Terry as the Silver Surfer is just cool, the rave bit in general is a fun scene), some (rather obvious) drama as J.C. and Chloe fall in and out of a relationship, building to a pacey, only slightly silly climax and a cute payoff with all the roles nicely shifted around. Doesn't really look that deeply at the issues it raises (the nature of being "grown up", responsibility, money vs soul, self respect and trustworthiness vs being cool and impressing your mates) but it's not really supposed to, it's just a bit of fluff without the serious surf ethos (or quality surf footage) of a Big Wednesday. It's very rooted in its time and place - the clothes, the hair, the vehicles are all right on the money, I almost feel like I really saw half these people in early nineties Cornwall, a nice feeling of familiarity which almost cancels out the patronising rural Cornish stereotypes scattered about. A bit of nostalgia for me for some happy times, and for others probably well worth watching if you don't take it too seriously, more an "aaaah" and a giggle than a "wow" though.

Even though I do live in Santa Cruz, I'm not particularly interested in surfing or surf movies, but still, I really enjoyed this one. The theme of being at a stage in life where you start wondering what you're going to do with it other than partying, what's really worthwhile in life, and what your values are struck a chord with me. It's a pretty universal one. I certainly know a lot of people that have dealt with it or are dealing with it right now.

The scenery of Cornwall was gorgeous. So was a very young looking Catherine Zeta Jones. The movie is beautifully shot. It was also very humorous, especially when you know lots of people like the characters in this film. It struck me as very true to life. Ewan McGregor really made me laugh as a drug dealing hippy dude who secretly just wants to be respected. I kept thinking "didn't I see that guy at a Dead show once?" The whole film kind of reminded me of Santa Cruz with an English accent.

A movie about dealing with the problems with growing up and being true to yourself, Blue Juice is mind candy for those who like surfing and Cornwall. Sean Pertwee is the real star of this film, while the more famous Catherine Zeta Jones plays his girlfriend and Ewan Mcgregor plays his drug addicted pal.

For those who don't like surfing or Cornwall in the slightest, you'll find that it takes a long time before the movie even hints at being interesting. The beginning is slow and spends too much time on long shots of only slightly interesting landscapes. Plus too many main characters leads to most of them being one dimensional. The plot is an interesting idea but because of the shallow characters you have no idea why they act in the situations they're put in.

Only Ewan, Sean and Catherine's characters make this a film worth being on videotape, which is why it was only released on videotape in the US after Ewan and Catherine reached mainstream fame.

My main reason for watching this film was Ewan MacGregor, me being a big fan. This is a pretty good story about a guy, dubbed J.C., not wanting to grow up, and then friends who try to encourage this. Being torn between public admiration and the commitment to his girlfriend, J.C. shows us a slice of his life.

Although this film ends with every main character having gone through some dramatic moral change, it is a very enjoyable film about friends and lifestyle. Recommended for the child in all of us who doesn't want to be an adult.

If you've never been surfing in cornwall, and if you think that in order for a film to be funny it has to have Ben stiller in it, then perhaps the humour in Blue juice is a bit above you! Who cares if Zita jones and McGreggor haven't got main parts, Blue Juice is wicked, great to get you in the mood for a cornwall trip, great to quote with your mates and great because zita jones dances infront of a fridge in her pants... Just watch it... If you love it then you know that you are a good person with a sense of humour and if you don't... then don't slag it off, its not your fault just go and watch meet the fockers and keep your opinions to yourself.

The only thing worse than surfers without any waves is a film about surfers without any waves. For viewers who love surfing this film will be a gigantic disappointment since the total number of minutes of surfing footage struggles to reach three.

The story is a slice of life about beached surfers who are waiting not for the perfect wave, but for any wave at all. J.C. (Sean Pertwee) is an aging super surfer who is flirting with a commitment with his girlfriend Chloe (Catherine Zeta Jones). Just as he is about to find grown up bliss with the woman he loves, three old surfing friends turn up and convince him to hit the beach looking for monster waves at the Bone Yard. The trouble is, there are no waves until the very end of the film, so most of the story dissipates itself on a meandering succession of disconnected beach happenings.

The acting is mostly mediocre. Sean Pertwee has a few comical moments, but mostly his acting was mundane. Ewan McGregor was decent as the drug dealing wild man, by far the most interesting and peculiar character of the bunch. Probably the funniest performance was turned in by Peter Gunn as Terry who turned his corpulent body into a continual sight gag. Catherine Zeta-Jones was sexy as usual, but her character didn't really have enough meat for her to show much acting ability.

There is really not much here on which to comment. I rated it a 3/10. It's a real beach bummer.

This movie's basic charm can be attributed to my endless fascination with the Peter Pan syndrome. Add Cornwall, surfing, and a combination of Sean Pertwee and Ewan McGregor and there's something for every (living) female on the planet. Will they ever grow up? But, in point of fact, one of the reasons that I loved this movie is that I don't think I really want them to. What could be more perfect than endless days of watching the waves (or waiting for the waves, to be more precise)? (I saw Endless Summer when it came out - and have been a surfer want-to-be ever since.) Combine that with a decent fry-up, a trifle/whip cream episode, and a really sweet ending, and all I can say is WOW. I've watched it four times in the last month, and am endlessly charmed by the characters (it's obviously not easy being young in England). (Notice that I did not mention the plot.)

When should we grow up? In this movie some guys struggle with where they're going in life. Some haven't grown up and others may have grown up too fast. The passion these guys have for surfing and their immaturity is funny and entertaining. There's also an older wise wizard like person named 'Shape' who says some funny stuff and seems consumed by wisdom and a higher power. Some of his lines are my favorite. My friend bought the DVD from Walgreens one night; he told me he'd seen it there before and noticed something about the DVD cover. He explained how someone had made a DVD cover where they put Ewen McGregor's character next to the character Catherine Zeta-Jones plays. What's Funny is that Ewen Mcgregor didn't have short hair in the film like they portray him on the 'current' DVD cover. Ewen also didn't wear that tight black surf suit you see him wearing on the DVD cover; It was worn by the films main character 'J.C.;' This is probably because Ewen McGregor has become a more well-known actor than Sean Pertwee(JC)since Blue Juice was conceived.

I absolutely adore Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it was great to see an early performance of hers. However, besides that and the fact that the actor playing JC is quite good-looking, this movie has nothing going for it. None of the scenes feel longer than about two minutes, so it's hard to follow any plot lines. And the plot lines aren't terribly interesting, anyway...when I wasn't confused by the vague and random plot turns, I was bored. The humor is, for the most part, bizarre or just forced. I suppose the movie might be of greater interest to those who care about surfing. Overall, I would only recommend this to die-hard Zeta-Jones (or Ewan McGregor) fans who want to experience her/his whole filmography.

This is a good coming of age (30) movie. I believe it shows well the stress that a lot of males feel when they hit their thirties.

Everything form the longing for the past to feeling time fleeting. I could definitely relate.

This film almost had me.

I am a fan of Sean Pertwee, which is why I was bummed that the film has been re-branded as an Ewan McGregor film. McGregor is only a supporting character though he does a good job playing a drug dealer trying to turn his life around with the help of a surfer called JC.

Unfortunately, Pertwee's JC is about the only likable character in the film. His girlfriend played by Catherine Zeta-Jones is poorly written and uninteresting. McGregor's character is amusing until we learn about his personal issues; after which, he becomes quite whiny and unappealing (that being said, McGregor's performance is still admirable).

The bonus story-line with the music producer Josh Tambini is completely unnecessary, nor is his character in any way likable.

The film has an underlining plot about how JC won't grow up, though they never commit to it. They never explain why JC still pals around with his high school buddies, because whatever the reason may be, it sure isn't because he likes being around them. The film also plays itself up to be a movie about surfer culture, though that aspect only takes up about 20% of the movie.

With all this being said; I did enjoy the film.

The actors and the direction by Carl Prechezer gave the film the endearing quality it needed to combate such a week script. The costuming was also admirable, as well as the soundtrack and there were a few comedic moments that made their mark. All this gave the film a cool-kid vibe that I respect.

Though it's far from perfect, and won't be re-watched any time soon, I must say I was thoroughly entertained.

Thematically, "Blue Juice" has a lot in common with Barry Levinson's "Diner" from a few years earlier. Both are what might be called "delayed coming-of-age movies". Coming-of-age films traditionally focus upon characters in their teens, but for many young men their twenties, when they have finished full-time education, are starting out on their careers and are starting to think seriously about marriage and relationships with women, can be a time of even greater changes. Both "Blue Juice" and "Diner" focus upon a group of young men in their mid-to-late twenties who are confronted with the choice between growing up and accepting new responsibilities or keeping their old, carefree lifestyle centred around a group of like-minded friends.

The main character of "Blue Juice" is JC. (We never learn what those initials stand for). Unusually for the hero of a British film, he is a keen surfer. Britain might not have the balmy climate of California, Australia or Hawaii, but we still have our own surf culture, mostly centred upon the South-West Peninsula, especially Cornwall. JC's great dream is to travel around the world surfing accompanied by his beautiful girlfriend Chloe, but she would prefer to settle down and buy a café. Things are complicated by the sudden arrival in Cornwall of musician Josh, drug-dealing Dean and Terry, three old friends from London, friends that Chloe does not really approve of. The plump, easy-going Terry has his own difficulties, which are the opposite of JC's problem- he is keen to marry and settle down, but his fiancée longs for a more adventurous life. One thing I didn't care for was the film's rather laissez-faire attitude to drugs and the implication that it was the drugs supplied by Dean which helped Terry become a more relaxed, open-minded character.

Despite the similarity in theme, this film is not nearly as good as "Diner", which was better written and better acted and had more characters with whom the audience could identify. The first half of "Blue Juice" is particularly slow-moving and often baffling. There is an attempt to establish JC (played by Sean Pertwee, son of the former Doctor Who) as a sympathetic character, but it is never really explained why he should have become friends with unsympathetic losers like Josh and Dean. (Terry, although treated as something of a figure of fun, is rather more likeable).

It is interesting to note that when the film was released on DVD in 2000 the cover showed not Pertwee, who plays the film's main character, but Ewan McGregor, who plays the smaller role of Dean. Mc Gregor was relatively unknown in 1995, but five years later he had become much better known than Pertwee. Neither, in fact, is particularly good here. The lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones, as Chloe, shows plenty of the charisma which made her one of Britain's hottest young actresses of the nineties, but few would class this as one of her best performances. Unless, of course, you judge the quality of an actress's performance by the amount of flesh she reveals.

Rock fans might enjoy the music; there is a cameo appearance by rock star Edwin Starr, some of whose songs are featured on the soundtrack. The film brightens up and becomes more comprehensible in the second half, and I quite liked Peter Gunn's amusing contribution as the hapless Terry. Overall, however, I found this a rather mediocre production and one of the British film industry's weaker efforts. 5/10

I'm surprised this got such a low score. At the time it was quite a funny little quirky movie, featuring catherine Zeta jones and Sean Pertwee doing some pretty good roles. Its nothing too sophisticated, but a plot about friends "growing up" and getting serious about life. Some funny lines and a great glimpse at surfer culture in the UK.

One of Ewen Macgregor's early roles. His role was pretty small, but there are various DVD cover redesigns over the years where, as he got more famour, he gradually gets bigger on the cover until he completely replaces the main lead actor!.

I chose this movie by the cover which was a bad move. It wasn't funny at all and the main characters were obnoxious. The girl was beautiful but the story and the acting were terrible. It had absolutely nothing to do with surfing. Terrible movie with a surf "theme" that had nothing to do with surfing and no real surfers. Catherine Zeta Jones was beautiful and the movie will probably see a resurgence just becuase she is in the limelight now, being married with Gordon Gekko and all, but if you haven't seen it don't waste your time. A bad movie with GREAT surfing, REAL surfers and AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL cinematography was IN GOD'S HANDS.

It's a good Brit movie. I only watched it because of Ewan Mcgregor, I'm a big fan. But really there are better Brit flicks around like Shallow Grave and Get Carter.

The storyline is a bit plain. The characters are played well by all the actors. I could see the ending early on though, that's a bummer. I reccomend it to Ewan McGregor fans and other person who like British movies from a time gone by.

Being a surfer means you're always looking for movies, books and magazines about your chosen passion. However, something always ruins movies about surfing. This movie, while wonderfully acted and filmed on the gorgeous coast of Great Britain, falls prey to several surf film cliches. For instance, we have the protagonist who's reaching 30 and must either turn his back on his surfing lifestyle or lose his beautiful girlfriend. Also, there are his band of goofball friends (plot furtherers) who show up and help the main character realize his destiny. Finally, there's the inevitable cheeseball ending where the hero has to ride the giant wave and save the life of his friend. Trouble with this segment in "Blue Juice" is that the waves that are supposed to be so threatening aren't even that big. Unfortunately, the movie is trying to be too many things. All performances are above par, however. One bit of annoying marketing, though: Ewan MacGregor appears on the box, but isn't the main character. "Blue Juice" peters out like a North Carolina day of summer surf.

Be warned: Neither Zeta-Jones nor McGregor plays the main part as the poster would have you believe. Their roles are in fact minor.

The film stumbles badly between exaggerated comedy and realistic drama, with neither being really engaging. Especially I find it impossible to muster much sympathy for the main protagonist, not to mention his screwball friends and sex obsessed fiancé. The plot drags terribly, and I turned this one off after about 2/3 - unusual for me, as I like to finish what I start. The good acting and beautiful setting takes it from 1 to 2 stars.

2/10

The title and cover of this film are both quite misleading. First of all it shows a nice, handsome looking Ewan McGregor in a wet suit, surf board and waves splashing around in the background. Right. So...where does the "Blue Juice" come in? I mean there's no surfing in this movie whatsoever. It's quite humorous in that aspect actually. And Ewan doesn't even look good in the movie. He's a drug addict whose pretty nasty looking throughout most of the film. I don't get how British films get the excuse of making bad films just because they're British.

Seriously, if this was made in the U.S. it would've been made fun of by all the critics and probably never even shown in the theaters. Poor Ewan, but he's made up for it.

A proper little gem of a feelgood movie, it has well wrought characters and great character portrayals. It also has production values way above it's budget. For what it is worth, England ( well, Cornwall really ! ) has never looked better, and, projected with a script of some worth, the whole movie adds up to a true mini classic. Each character's role is well explored and developed, and the level of each actor's ability is truly impressive. All it lacks is a first class music soundtrack, something which one is entitled to take for granted in a movie aimed at the market it does. A little more hot sex would not have gone amiss either !...especially with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the driving seat !

It is no easy life, if you're nearing thirties and you are a British surfer! Soon you'll have to settle down and make out your living somehow. In 'Blue Juice' yesterday has come suddenly to JC, who is played by Sean Pertwee – an actor who looks a bit like Robert Redford or Graham Chapman. His buddies are in same situation: not young anymore, penniless and without proper job. JC was once a great surfer, who now has to leave his post with dignity. He has to go surfing once more even if it's dangerous. By successfully completing his final task he would leave the field as a legend and also renew his relationship with his girlfriend Chloe.

Quite considerable supporting actors for this film are Ewan McGregor and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who play decent roles but are shadowed by Pertwee's performance. The now available DVD-cover does not present Pertwee, but Zeta-Jones and McGregor on the cover, which is somewhat misleading. If you wanted to see Catherine and Ewan on the movie, you'll have to accept that they're not the stars in this one, although you'll see them in quite many scenes.

The film is in its aspects very retrospective. Marc Bolan rocks on a record player and the characters are dreaming about King Arthur and his knights. As a curiosity, 'Blue Juice' is an excellent chance to see Zeta-Jones playing a young woman and in some scenes she's even furious, which is quite exciting.

As she often does, my wife walked away from this movie after 10 minutes. But I really enjoyed it, rate it "7" of "10". Without Zeta-Jones I probably would have given it a "5"! I saw the DVD version. Unfortunately it is only pro-logic, not Digital Dolby, but the soundtrack was pretty good. And the picture is wonderful, colorful, sharp.

British movies and British actors in them tend to be a bit "quirky", and this one is no exception. But, if you generally like British modest-budget movies, which I do, you'll like this one. The theme is "surfing" but the movie is really about the 4 male friends from high school, and the relationships they all have as they approach mid-life (their 30s).

This movie is just good entertainment, but worth the hour and a half.

This film is not a great film. On some accounts, it's not even a good film, but it has a silliness to it that is kind of endearing. It's a grade more serious and better than Beach Blanket Bingo, but throughout it I was hoping they'd break into song or do the swim or have Frankie Avalon or Annette Funicello appear. It's a film I'd recommend for a party. It's not too "smart" but it's not too "stupid" and you could walk out of the room for a moment and still know what's going on. The film's story deals with J.C. who's having a heck of a time with facing the fact that he's thirty. His girlfriend Chloe is trying to tell him that you can be fun and carefree, but still be mature and responsible, but this message is somehow not hitting J.C. over the head. Trouble starts brewing more when J.C.'s best friend, Dean, comes into town. Dean needs to have J.C. surf a gigantic wave to make an interesting news story so he can get some money because Dean has had some financial and drug troubles. Then J.C. is faced with the problem of choosing between his friend or his girlfriend. I'd recommend it to someone who wants to watch a fun, silly movie.

It is customary, in a surf movie, to use footage from at least similar locations for a single ride. For a character sketch the characters were a little flat. For a bit of afternoon fluff the movie was a little inane. All in all quite a long vehicle for 5 minutes of laughter.

Note to self- just because a film is foreign, obscure, and stars Catherine Zeta-Jones doesn't mean it's any good. Such is the case with 'Blue Juice,' a 1995 Brit flick about an unlikely group of surfing enthusiasts in what would seem (to a dumb American, anyway) an even more unlikely place to find surfers: Cornwall, England. You might be thinking this has the makings for an amusing, quirky little comedy. If only. The film is just a bit over ninety minutes but it seems interminable. The easiest way to describe it is as a sort of '90's British version of 'Grease' without the dancing, but even that makes it sound better than it is. No, the best way to take it is as a little slice-of-life set in a small town. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Chloe, a young woman living with a surfing instructor, JC (Sean Pertwee; you remember him). Pertwee is actually the film's star, and his character is something of a surfing legend to a small group of surfing devotees, the requisite oddball group of free spirits that inevitably inhabit films like this. In this case, it consists of a drug dealer who wants to be a journalist, a former nightclub dj who wants to be a record producer, and a fat nerdy guy who, in a needlessly extended scene, gets stoned and loses all his inhibitions which of course turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. I can't honestly say everything that goes on in 'Blue Juice' is predictable, since it's set in a place and reflects customs and manners I'm not very familiar with, but there's certainly nothing surprising or even interesting that takes place there or with the characters. The comedy, though, IS very predictable and tired. One can sense the set-ups a mile away and almost recite the dialogue (in American form, of course) before the actors do. The relationship between JC and Chloe is every bit as hackneyed. She wants him to grow up; he wants them to stay the impetuous teenagers they started out being. He's afraid of losing face with his gang; she thinks he prefers them to her. You get the idea. As I struggled to stay focused on 'Blue Juice,' toward the end I felt, as the saying goes, that this was an hour and half of my life I'd never get back.