View from a Blue Moon

2015 • 58 minutes

About this movie

See the sport of surfing as it’s never been captured before in John Florence and Blake Vincent Kueny’s second signature release, this time in association with the award-winning film studio Brain Farm. The first surf film shot in 4K, View From a Blue Moon follows the world’s most dynamic surfer John Florence and his closest friends from his home on the North Shore of Oahu to his favorite surfing destinations around the globe. From the dreamy blue perfection of the South Pacific to the darkest uncharted waters of Africa (and everywhere in between), Florence faces a broad spectrum of emotions as he continues to seal his legacy as one of the most gifted surfers ever. And while the young Hawaiian is pulled in increasingly different directions, there is no form of pressure that will keep him from his ultimate goal — to redefine what is possible in the ocean.

Ratings and reviews

Incredibly boring. From the get-go, the pace is very slow. This can be nice but it takes a whole 15 minutes to even get past the credits which are at the beginning. For an hour-long film that's a little bit ridiculous. Then, hoping it would dive right into a story, I was dismayed. Surfing shots are great but there is absolutely no story or emotion attached to them. No message, nothing. I was bored half way though and only watched the rest because I wanted to give it a chance. Brazil was at least interesting and well captured visually. The rest of the shots are just the same thing again and again. This is coming from a photographer's perspective, too. There is some stellar footage here, it's just not paired with story.

While the cinematography was impressive and I liked the artistic value of the film, it lacked story and detail. There was hardly any narration, and not a single interview with John. In the end, it just felt like an hour and a half of fancy 4K drone shots without much context.

The surfing: as you'd expect from JJF and pals, it's awesome, although far too many aerials. Which is a shame because JJF can rail a sick turn. Cinematography: beautiful. Story: there isn't one! Not even at an Endless Summer level, it's just 'let's go here...' Music: awesome. Overall: well worth the ~£8 it is here. Basically a v well made surf film with snippets of JJF vanity project. SPOILER ALERT: It will make you sad about your life.