Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Keira Brennan The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Sanjeev Waters A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

robertsays2182 I have this thing where I have too much time on my hands, I look through over the years and decide who would be nominated for certain awards...you know like the Oscars. Well this is one of those movies. Great acting, directing, writing. But there is one beef I have with this movie. It seems like it takes no time in one scene to get from Vermont to Hawaii. Other than that great. Nice photography, I love the music score. 8 Like the T.V. show 8 is enough. Is it me or does Lee J. Thompson seem lost at times? Well it was nice to see him in his part...Which in the sequel is played by someone who totally craps on it. But that's the other movie. A Disney channel classic.

bkoganbing Young Johnny Kapahala from Hawaii has two great loves in life, surfing and his grandfather, the latter teaching him all about the former. The grandfather is known throughout the Hawaiians Islands as the legendary Johnny Tsunami. And young Mr. Kapahala shows every indication of inheriting that name and all that goes with it.But Johnny's parents played by Yuji Okumoto and Mary Page Keller are going to be moving to Vermont where Johnny is going to get to go to a fashionable prep school because Okumoto is going to teach computer programming. The free and easy life of Hawaii contrasts with the snobbery he finds among all the young yuppies of the future. And while Johnny finds he's managed to adapt his surfing skills to snowboarding, the ruling elite in the school are skiers as headed by an especially snotty young preppie in Zachary Bostrum.It's a Disney Channel production so don't expect the best in the way of acting, but Johnny Tsunami has two very good things going for it. Nice location photography both in Hawaii and Vermont and very good chemistry between Brandon Baker and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa as the junior and senior Tsunamis. Their scenes together are really something special.Johnny Tsunami proved to be one of the most popular of Disney features, warranting a sequel, Johnny Kapahala, Back on Board with most of the same cast. I've always maintained Hawaii is so beautiful it's almost impossible to make a bad picture there. At least I've seen very few of them.Look also for a good performance by Gregory Itzin as the headmaster of the prep school whose attitudes are most reflected by the student body.

Amy Adler Johnny lives with his parents in Hawaii, where his grandfather is the legendary Johnny Tsunami, an accomplished surfer. Young Johnny's father, Pete, has serious misgivings about his own father's more unconventional lifestyle and decides to move the family to Vermont. He does this, in part, to get the teenage Johnny away from his love of surfing and into a more serious role as a dedicated student. As one can see, to travel from Hawaii to snowy Vermont is quite a change in venue and 13 year old Johnny has some big adjustments to make. He has to find new friends and new activities. But, the stuffy students at the private academy his father chose tend to snub him. Instead, Johnny makes friends with the so-called urchins (public school students) in town and takes up snowboarding. Yet, complications continue to present themselves. Will Johnny adjust to his new life? This is a fine and funny film for families everywhere. Despite all of his problems, young Johnny continues to have an attitude as sunny as the beach on Oahu and it is very infectious. All of the actors do a great job and the production values are quite nice. Most of all, the settings, in both Hawaii and Vermont, are picture perfect and wonderful to behold. Are you looking tonight for a film to entertain your loved ones? This lovely film is an excellent choice that will have everyone cheering.

genik10 Johnny Tsunami is the perfect blend of extreme surfing/snowboarding action, memorable quotes/characters, emotionally and morally draining subject matter, and guilty pleasure. It is the ultimate Disney channel movie. Brandon Baker does a superb job portraying Johnny, or Puno, grandson of famous hawaiian big wave surfer(and the coolest movie character ever) Johnny Tsunami. The other characters in this film are like a big swell coming in from north shore. Johnny goes from shredding raging monsters down at pipeline with Jake to workin' the hill with Sam all with wonderful transitions and excellent story lines. I wouldn't want to give too much away, but he even gets the girl.Johnny:"How come you never told me you could snowboard grandpa?" Grandpa:"How come you never asked?"