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Morning Light
Score: 72%
Rating: PG
Publisher: Walt Disney Home
                  Entertainment

Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 98 Mins.
Genre: Documentary
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
           Sound, French Language Track

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Features:
  • Stories from the Sea with Host Jason Earles
  • Morning Light: Making the Cut - As Aired on ESPN

Morning Light is a documentary chronicling the adventures of a group of young adults as they race to win the TransPacific Yacht Race, or the TransPac, as it is known. Conceived by Roy E. Disney, an avid participant in the TransPac, Morning Light is a project where 15 select young sailors are chosen to train to race in the grueling TransPac that will take them from California all the way to Diamond Head, Hawaii on a boat called Morning Light. They'll have to learn the ropes and train arduously, and eventually weed out 4 of the kids for the final journey.

While it sounds like a really neat concept for a reality show, which is what it is essentially, it's just boring. When the kids are reading their lines, they sound so phoned in. Now, once they get out on the water and into the actual race, well, things are far more realistic because they simply are real. But personally, I just didn't find the subject matter the least bit engaging. I'm sure if you are an avid sailor, then you might find Morning Light rousing and exciting. But for the average viewer, it's just not going to be something they would be all that interested in. The visuals are nice and the water is lovely, but the directing style felt a little too MTV for me. Sped up scenes seemed like an attempt to make it more modern and cool, but just felt distracting.

There are two special features included, one an ESPN special on the selection of the kids for the journey and another one that looks like a Disney special on boating in general. Again, unless you are an avid boater, you probably won't find much to love here. While it may sound like I am downing the production, I'm not. Clearly this is a labor of love and something near and dear to Roy Disney's heart. It's just that it won't draw in the average viewer and will only appeal to a select audience. If you are that audience, you'll dig it. If you aren't, however, pass on it.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins
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