Race the Sun (1996)

• Year: 1996
• Released: 22 Mar 1996
• Country: United States
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117427/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/race_the_sun
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Hawaiian, Russian
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
• Runtime: 100 min
• Writer: Barry Morrow
• Director: Charles T. Kanganis
• Cast: Halle Berry, Jim Belushi, Bill Hunter
• Keywords: hawaii, australia, teacher, solar power,

	5.4/10
	22% – Critics
	41% – Audience

Race the Sun Storyline

Idealistic Sandra Beecher has just started working as a science teacher at Kona-Pali High School in Hawaii, being hired for this job despite her teaching background being in English. Her reason for taking the job is largely to run away from the mainland and a failed marriage. She finds that her students are an unmotivated lot, largely because there are low societal expectations of them, including from their parents and the school faculty. As such, she directs a handful of her most unmotivated students to attend a regional science fair at which there are no Kona-Pali displays to come up with their own science fair projects. An incident at the fair does spur one of her students, Daniel Webster, self-professed as not being good at most things but believing he is a good designer, to announce, with the support of his fellow students, that they want to build a solar powered car of his design as their project, and to enter that car in the upcoming Inter-island Race. American Corporate giant, CelTech, has agreed to sponsor the winner of that race for the grueling six day, 2,800km long Trans-Australian World Solar Challenge, at which the best minds in this field – corporate and academic – will be participating. CelTech expects their own financially supported entry to win the Hawaii race. Despite the odds against them, Ms. Beecher agrees, and is eventually able to convince, albeit reluctantly, the school’s shop teacher, Frank Machi, to be another school supervisor on the project. The students, Sandra and Frank have to overcome many obstacles to even getting a finished product to enter the race, from self-doubt, to internal issues which may raise irreconcilable differences between the team members, to mostly everyone external to them believing they cannot achieve their goal. Their largest naysayers are their competitors, including CelTech, and current world champion, Hans Kooiman of the Euro Team, who have an elitist view of their world.—Huggo

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Race the Sun Movie Reviews

Another chance to see Halle Berry

OK, not the greatest movie in the world, and the outcome is fairly predictable, but it was another opportunity to see Halle Berry, and I cannot pass that up. Besides that, I am trying to get my teaching certificate, so I watch teacher movies, no matter how silly.

I understand that it is also based upon a true story.

In addition, it also featured Eliza Dushku (Buffy, Tru Calling), Casey Affleck (brother of Ben), and James Belushi.

It wasn’t memorable, but it was cute and not a total waste of time. Also, it was written by Barry Morrow, a member of the Association of Retarded Citizens, the National Association of Social Workers, and the Austism Society of America – a lifelong advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. That puts him solidly in my camp as I am also a member of NASW and work with the developmentally disabled. Morrow won an Oscar for writing Rain Man.

Fine, for what it is

The theme for this movie is as old as the sun itself, but that does not prevent the viewer from caring about the outcome. The movie is harmless (think “Rocky” on wheels) and has a great cast, all of whom give it their all.

I wouldn’t run out and buy a copy but you get to see some great young actors and some nice Australian scenery.

Nice Little Film

For curious movie buffs, “Race the Sun” is a blend of “Breaking Away”, “Walkabout”, and “Summer School”; making it quite unique and considerably better than its rating. It’s neither ambitious nor technically brilliant; in fact the cinematography somehow manages to NOT capture the inherent scenic beauty of a series of Hawaiian and Australian locations. But the casting and directing are solid and the story has so much charm that you don’t mind it being corny and predictable.

Halle Berry and James Belushi play teachers at a Hawaiian technical high school who reluctantly sponsor a team of students building a solar-powered car. “Race the Sun” was inspired by a group of Hawaiian students who actually entered the World Solar Challenge in 1980. The film would have been better if the cartoonish corporate villain had been replaced by some actual scientific explanations and a bit of background on the race itself. Speaking of cartoons, the solar cars look like something out of “Wacky Races” but there is no sign of Penelope Pitstop in this entertaining race.

The school is in Hawaii, which makes for some interesting cultural details (as does the race’s Austrialian setting), but for viewer identification purposes the settings could be anywhere.

Thankfully the film avoids a couple of obvious traps. Berry and Belushi end up liking and respecting each other but there are no obligatory romantic sparks between them. Likewise for Casey Affleck and Elisha Dushku-who plays his step-sister.

Then again, what do I know? I’m only a child.