Just when I thought I’d seen it all in fly fishing movies, Once in a Blue Moon lands on my doorstep. The first comparison that ran through my mind after watching it was that this is what you’d get if you crossed Drift with the Planet Earth Series on the Discovery Channel. In short, this film is more National Geographic than it is Jackass.
From the film makers:
Set amongst the spectacular scenery of southern New Zealand, a most strange and bizarre tale unfolds. The stuff of folklore, ‘Once in a Blue Moon’ unravels the mystery of an event that occurs briefly once a decade. This strange and unreal journey takes us into some of the most remote and beautiful parts of New Zealand as we follow one anglers quest to document and unravel a childhood mystery and catch the fish of a lifetime.
You see the underwater footage of these monster trout swimming around; you see the footage of these big, fat mice hopping along the bank, jumping into the water and swimming along the surface. You are on the edge of your seat waiting for a big brown to crush one of them, but it never happens. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, and the storyline, something we haven’t seen before, is intriguing- the only problem is- I didn’t feel like I saw the entire story. The whole movie feels like it’s building up for this magical moment when the trout, and the eels, go bananas for these mice. But all it really does is keep building. As a matter of fact, I was a little surprised when the credits started rolling towards the end. It’s as if they unlocked the secret to this mythical “mouse hatch”, and then started shooting off fireworks to draw us in. You sit there with your head pointed towards the sky, ooh’ing and ahhh’ing at the big booms and the streaks of fire filling the cosmos. You’re loving every minute of it, the only problem is when it’s over, you don’t feel like you saw the grand finale.
Not to say I didn’t like it.
As much as I felt that there was more story to tell, I still loved this DVD. On a scale of 1-10, I wouldn’t hesitate to put Once in a Blue Moon in the 8-9 range. However, I can’t help but feel like it could have easily been an 11 or a 12.
Get yours at the Hatches DVD Store by clicking HERE. Or, keep an eye on 40 Rivers next week as I’ll be announcing details on how you can win a copy for free…
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