H2O EXTREME
Rating:PG-13 (for some sex-related content and language)
Genre: Action & Adventure , Comedy
Directed By:Bill Scharpf
Written By:Bill Scharpf , Tommy Garcia , Steve Welch
In Theaters:Apr 1, 2009
On DVD:Sep 15, 2009
Runtime: 95 minutes
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H2O Extreme is the story of a young man who gets one last shot to become a professional water skier, but has to overcome his family and the rigors of the pro circuit to see if he has what it takes.
This was the movie's official website.
I hope you enjoy the trailer of this 2009 movie, but other than that the movie has disappeared in the basement of unsuccessful films.
Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer gave ;H2O Extreme a 50% Audience rating. However no critics reviewed the movie. The content found on this page is from the site's archived pages and other outside sources.
Synopsis: Austin Roberts is a Pro Hockey prospect. The typical kid who grows up in Wisconsin, his summers were consumed with the local Water Ski Show Club and his Winters Playing Ice Hockey. A great Athlete no matter the sport, when Austin is 14 he wins the Most Outstanding Male Skier award. His Father then sends him off to Play Junior hockey year around and for 5-6 years Austin leaving water skiing behind. He is now in his early 20’s and going to try out for one of Florida’s Pro Hockey teams. On the way he and his girl friend stop by Cypress Gardens to see his best friends who are now living the dream Austin had always hoped for. Austin falls back in love with the sport and everything it has to offer a single twenty something.

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Part of the film's promo involved screening the movie at specific Pro Wakeboard Tour events. The Pro Wakeboard Tour is the most dominant professional wakeboard circuit in the world.
Pro Wake Tour #2 2009
UPDATES:
7/2- TEXAS SKI RANCH **in New Braunfels. Great screening with Dan Olson in the audience. He plays himself in the movie. The setting was great with beachside seating and wakeboarders in the background!
6/29&6/30- We are currently on the road towards TEXAS for few events.....
6/27-28- ProWake Tour #3 in Knoxville,TN. The site was awesome, the sun was blazing and No rain til the very end....as everyones leaving. Congrats to Jacob Disney for winning the HYPERLITE board from our contest.
6/24-RedLine Watersports in MADISON, WI. Director Bill Scharpf came back from ITALY the same night and walked in right at the films credits. We are headed towards Knoxville!
6/23-Thanks to the Pewaukee Lake &Badgerland ski club members for making it to the screening at Majestic Cinemas. Wish the projection/audio was better from the theatre though.
6/22-We are headed to Milwaukee for a special screening @ the Muskego Gateway 9pm!
*Thanks to the Waterbugs for a great screening.
6/21-ProWake Tour #2 was a blast, even with a tornado that blew through fri. nite and flattening EVERYTHING in site. 90mph WINDS!!! it was part Mudfest.
6/17-We are parked at PRAIRIE LAKE in Pleasant Prairie, WI.....getting ready for the PROWAKE TOUR
6/16-Special Screening @ Barts Watersports (one of our sponsors)....Very intimate screening.
6/15-Passing through the mountains by Nashville was pretty cool! Just in time for the Special Screening @ Boatworks (Taylorsville, KY). Thanks for the pizza Patti ;)
"Great film! Grabbed the Majestic Cinemas screening and while the sound was meh, the storytelling was fantastic! My friend and fellow hockey player Kurt drove me to the theater. We're both into skiing as well so we were excited to see this flick. But the most memorable thing that night was the discovery of the hazmat suit in the back seat of the car. Kurt's been taking courses in waste management and is considering opening a business handling medical waste from hospitals and doctors. He's aware of the regulations involved and the hassle of applying for the licensing, etc. I had no idea what he was getting into until he showed me a website that was focused on medical waste disposal that he's using as his reference frame for his future plans. But after seeing the film, I kind of got the impression that Kurt would rather ski or play hockey professionally than do anything else. Time will tell." Marshall Tuckman
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** If you are ever in the Austin or San Antoni area and have some time to burn, it is worth a trip to the Texas Ski Ranch. This 70-acre action sports paradise located in New Braunfels, TX. What makes TSR unique is the culture and facilities surrounding the lakes. Riders can indulge in just about every board sport under the sun including snowboarding, skateboarding and SUP.
When it comes to skateboarding and cable parks, the Texas Ski Ranchis consistently ranked as one of the top facilities in the world. With three cable systems and a boat lake there is truly something for all levels of water sports enthusiasts. First time riders can take advantage of their incredible coaching and beginner cables. More advanced riders can charge the park and hit structures.
From Austin:
Head South on Interstate 35. Take Exit 195 for Watson Lane and take a left over the bridge to cross the interstate. Continue heading south on the access road and TSR will be on your left.
From San Antonio:
Head North on Interstate 35. Take Exit 193 for Kohlenburg Lane. Continue heading north on the access road and TSR will be on your right about a mile down.
As a lifelong water skiing fan from a family that practically lives for the sport, I can’t even begin to describe how much H2O Extreme means to us. My daughter recently completed her residential treatment for bulimia, and when she came home, we wanted to find a way to reconnect and bring her back into our world. Water skiing became that bridge. It gave her confidence, joy, and a sense of belonging again. Watching her carve across the water with a huge smile on her face was the best kind of therapy for all of us.
That’s why this movie hits so close to home. It captures the passion, thrill, and community of water sports in a way few films ever attempt. Sure, it’s got its lighthearted and over-the-top moments, but the heart of the story—chasing a dream on the water—resonates deeply. My daughter absolutely loves it, and we’ve made it a family ritual to rewatch it before ski season kicks off. For us, H2O Extreme isn’t just a movie—it’s a reminder of how water skiing helped us heal and move forward together. Pat Owens
More Background On H2OExtremeTheMovie.com
H2OExtremeTheMovie.com was created as the official promotional website for H2O Extreme, a 2009 independent sports movie centered on competitive water skiing. The website supported a film that occupied an unusual corner of the entertainment industry: it combined a conventional coming-of-age story with extensive footage of a sport rarely represented in narrative movies.
Unlike websites for major studio releases, H2OExtremeTheMovie.com appears to have functioned primarily as a focused promotional hub. It introduced the movie, presented its trailer and synopsis, highlighted its cast, and documented a grassroots screening tour aimed directly at water-sports communities. The site’s surviving material offers a revealing look at how a small independent production attempted to build an audience without a large theatrical campaign.
The film did not become a mainstream hit, but both the movie and its website remain of interest for several reasons. H2O Extreme captured Cypress Gardens Adventure Park shortly before that historic attraction closed, featured professional water-skiing performers, and preserved images of a show-skiing culture with deep roots in Central Florida. The website, meanwhile, recorded an unconventional promotional strategy that took the movie to wakeboarding events, ski clubs, water-sports retailers, theaters and action-sports facilities around the United States.
The Purpose of the Website
H2OExtremeTheMovie.com was designed to generate interest in the movie and establish a recognizable online home for the production. At the time of the film’s release, independent movies increasingly depended on official websites to distribute trailers, publish screening announcements and connect with niche audiences.
The site’s purpose was narrower than that of a large entertainment portal. Its central goals were to explain the movie’s premise, promote its cast and water-skiing sequences, publicize upcoming screenings and encourage fans of wakeboarding and water skiing to attend events.
The surviving content indicates that the website included or promoted several core elements:
- A trailer for the movie
- A plot synopsis
- Cast and production information
- Updates from a traveling promotional tour
- Notices about screenings at water-sports events
- References to sponsors and participating businesses
- Reports from completed screenings
- Information about locations connected with the campaign
The website was therefore both a movie advertisement and a tour diary. Its updates captured the filmmakers’ efforts to take the film directly to the communities most likely to appreciate it.
The current version of the domain operates more as a retrospective information page than as an active studio marketing site. It summarizes the film, reproduces historical promotional details and discusses the movie’s reception and niche significance. This represents a common afterlife for an older film domain: the address survives even after the original release campaign has ended.
The Story of H2O Extreme
H2O Extreme follows Austin Roberts, played by Chris Carmack. Austin grew up in Wisconsin and displayed talent in two very different sports: ice hockey and water skiing.
As a teenager, Austin participated in a local water-ski show club and received recognition as an outstanding skier. His father, however, believed hockey offered the more realistic professional future. Austin was subsequently directed toward year-round junior hockey, leaving competitive water skiing behind for several years.
By his early twenties, he is traveling to Florida for a hockey tryout. During the trip, he reconnects with friends who are working at Cypress Gardens, where spectacular water-ski shows were a longstanding attraction. The visit rekindles his enthusiasm for skiing and forces him to reconsider the future that has been planned for him.
The central conflict is not simply hockey versus water skiing. It is the familiar struggle between external expectations and personal ambition. Austin must decide whether to follow the safer path supported by his family or pursue the sport that gives him a stronger sense of identity and excitement.
The movie frames that decision through training sequences, friendships, romance and competitive pressure. Although its story follows recognizable sports-film conventions, the water-ski setting gives it a distinctive identity.
Cast and Creative Team
Chris Carmack plays Austin Roberts. Carmack was already recognizable to younger audiences through television roles, particularly Luke Ward on The O.C. He later became widely known for playing Will Lexington on Nashville and Dr. Atticus Lincoln on Grey’s Anatomy.
Nikki Griffin plays Ashlyn, the film’s principal female character and an important part of Austin’s renewed connection to the water-skiing world. Griffin had appeared in television series and movies including The O.C. and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Rider Strong plays Greg. Strong was best known for portraying Shawn Hunter on Boy Meets World, making him one of the movie’s most recognizable cast members. Tad Hilgenbrink, known for films such as American Pie Presents: Band Camp, plays CC.
John Schneider appears as Crash. Schneider brought another familiar face to the production, having achieved widespread recognition as Bo Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard. Brian Patrick Clarke, Susan Gallagher and several additional performers rounded out the cast.
Bill Scharpf directed the film and shared screenwriting credit with Tommy Garcia and Steve Welch. Scharpf was also credited as a producer, along with Ryan R. Johnson. Velocity Pictures is identified as the production company in major movie databases and distribution listings.
Elie Alakji served as cinematographer, while Marcus Wolf composed the music. Their work was especially important because the movie’s appeal depended heavily on the energy and visual presentation of its sports footage.
Ownership and Production Background
The domain was associated with the filmmakers and promotional campaign behind H2O Extreme. Publicly accessible records do not provide a clear, continuously documented chain of domain ownership from the original campaign to the current version of the website.
The film itself is consistently associated with Velocity Pictures. Bill Scharpf and Ryan R. Johnson are credited as producers, while Scharpf was also the director and one of the writers. Home-video editions were distributed by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.
This distinction matters when discussing ownership. The production company, producers, distributor and domain registrant may not have been the same legal entity. The website acted as the film’s official online presence, but surviving public information does not establish that Velocity Pictures has continuously owned or managed the domain.
Today, the domain functions largely as a historical or informational resource. Its current presentation should not automatically be interpreted as an active website operated by the original production company or distributor.
Cypress Gardens as the Film’s Most Important Location
One of the most historically significant aspects of H2O Extreme is its use of Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Florida.
Cypress Gardens opened in 1936 and became one of Florida’s earliest major tourist attractions. Founded by Dick Pope Sr. and Julie Pope, it was known for botanical gardens, Southern Belle performers and elaborate water-ski shows. Long before Central Florida became dominated by Disney and other large theme parks, Cypress Gardens helped establish the region as a national tourism destination.
The attraction was frequently called the “Water Ski Capital of the World.” Its performers developed show-skiing techniques, staged human pyramids, performed barefoot skiing and helped popularize the sport for mass audiences. More than 50 water-skiing world records were associated with Cypress Gardens during its history.
The park also had a substantial connection to film and television. Esther Williams productions, travel films and television specials used Cypress Gardens as a location. Its combination of tropical scenery and skilled aquatic performers made it a natural outdoor studio.
H2O Extreme was filmed there near the end of the park’s operating history. Cypress Gardens closed in 2009, the same year the movie was released. The property was later transformed into LEGOLAND Florida Resort, which opened in 2011.
As a result, the movie now functions as an unintended visual record of the former attraction. Viewers can see elements of Cypress Gardens during its final era, before the site was redeveloped. This gives the film historical value beyond its story.
Authenticity and Professional Water-Sports Performers
The movie sought credibility by incorporating people with genuine water-sports experience. Professional skiers and wakeboarders were reportedly involved in the action, either appearing as themselves, playing supporting roles or performing specialized sequences.
Names associated with the production include Ryan Jones, Tino Santori, Andre De Villiers and Dan Olson. Their presence helped distinguish the movie’s skiing footage from scenes in which actors merely simulated athletic activity.
Professional stunt performer and water skier Karin Justman is also credited with playing Lisa. Her professional profile lists extensive experience in water skiing, scuba diving, swimming, jet skiing and precision boat operation. This type of background would have been particularly valuable on a production involving high-speed water action.
The participation of experienced athletes and stunt professionals gave the movie a layer of authenticity that appealed to its intended audience. Even viewers who were unimpressed by the dramatic story sometimes acknowledged the attraction of the skiing sequences.
The Grassroots Promotional Tour
The most revealing material preserved through H2OExtremeTheMovie.com concerns the film’s promotional tour.
Instead of relying entirely on conventional theatrical advertising, the production took the movie to places where water-sports enthusiasts already gathered. Screenings were connected with Pro Wakeboard Tour stops, water-ski clubs, sporting-goods businesses, theaters and recreational facilities.
Tour updates documented stops in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. These included screenings at or near:
- Boatworks in Taylorsville, Kentucky
- Bart’s Watersports
- Prairie Lake in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
- A Pro Wakeboard Tour event
- The Muskego area near Milwaukee
- Majestic Cinemas
- Redline Watersports in Madison
- A Pro Wakeboard Tour event in Knoxville
- Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels
The language of the updates was informal and personal. Rather than reading like polished studio announcements, they described travel conditions, weather, technical problems and individual audience members.
One entry discussed a tornado that passed through a Pro Wakeboard Tour location and produced winds reportedly reaching approximately 90 miles per hour. Another thanked local water-ski club members for attending a theatrical screening while acknowledging that the theater’s projection and audio were disappointing. A Texas Ski Ranch update noted the presence of Dan Olson, who appeared as himself in the movie.
These posts made the campaign feel accessible. The filmmakers were not presenting themselves as a distant studio operation. They were traveling from one community to another, meeting skiers and documenting the experience.
Connection to the Pro Wakeboard Tour
The Pro Wakeboard Tour gave the film access to an established audience of riders, spectators, equipment manufacturers and action-sports fans.
Although H2O Extreme focuses substantially on water skiing, wakeboarding audiences were a logical target. The two communities overlap in equipment, boating culture, training facilities and recreational interests. A person attending a professional wakeboarding event was much more likely than the general moviegoing public to be interested in a water-skiing drama.
Promotional screenings at tour stops also created an experience that could not be duplicated through conventional advertising. Attendees watched a water-sports movie while surrounded by active riders, competition infrastructure and lakeside activity.
The production also used contests and equipment giveaways to encourage participation. At the Knoxville stop, for example, the campaign congratulated an attendee for winning a Hyperlite board. Such promotions linked the movie to recognizable industry brands and gave audiences an additional reason to interact with the campaign.
Texas Ski Ranch and the Action-Sports Audience
Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels became one of the notable locations connected with the promotional tour.
Situated between Austin and San Antonio, the facility developed as a major destination for cable wakeboarding, boat riding and other action sports. Its location along Interstate 35 made it accessible to audiences from both metropolitan areas.
A screening there was especially appropriate because the environment extended the movie beyond the screen. Visitors could see wakeboarders riding in the background, gather near the water and watch a film about athletes pursuing similar activities.
The original site’s attention to directions and travel information suggests that some promotional pages were intended to help audiences physically reach screening locations. That practical function is another reminder that the website was not merely an online advertisement. It supported a real-world touring campaign.
Release and Home-Video Distribution
Major movie databases list April 1, 2009, as the film’s release date. Its home-video release followed on September 15, 2009.
Echo Bridge Home Entertainment distributed the DVD. The North American edition was a single-disc release with a PG-13 rating. Listings vary slightly on the exact runtime, generally placing it between approximately 92 and 95 minutes. The most commonly cited running time is 95 minutes.
The PG-13 classification was assigned for sex-related content and language. Although some databases categorize the film broadly as action, it is also commonly described as a sports movie, adventure movie or sports comedy.
The movie did not receive the type of nationwide theatrical rollout associated with major studio productions. Its audience was built through limited screenings, event promotion, DVD distribution and later digital availability.
Reviews and Audience Reception
Reception was mixed and limited in scale.
Rotten Tomatoes lists no professional critic reviews, meaning the film does not have a traditional Tomatometer score. Its audience score has hovered in the mid-50-percent range, based on a relatively small number of ratings.
IMDb users have generally rated the film in the low four-out-of-ten range. Letterboxd contains only a modest number of ratings and reviews, further demonstrating the movie’s limited mainstream reach.
Some viewers dismissed the plot as predictable, the characters as underdeveloped or the production as too modest. The film’s sports-movie structure follows a familiar pattern: a talented athlete faces pressure, rediscovers a neglected dream, trains for a major challenge and must decide what kind of life he wants.
Other viewers have been more appreciative, particularly when approaching the film as a water-skiing movie rather than as a conventional drama. Positive reactions often focus on the extensive skiing footage, Cypress Gardens location and appearances by actors familiar from popular television programs.
Moviefone has displayed a much higher audience score than some other platforms, illustrating how dramatically ratings can vary when only a small number of users participate. Such differences should not be treated as proof of broad popularity. They more accurately demonstrate that the viewers who deliberately seek out a niche sports film may respond differently from casual audiences.
Popularity and Commercial Reach
There is little evidence that H2O Extreme achieved major commercial popularity.
Its relatively small number of ratings on movie platforms, absence of professional Rotten Tomatoes reviews and limited press archive all indicate a modest release. It did not generate a major franchise, prominent awards campaign or substantial body of academic criticism.
However, popularity should be considered in relation to the film’s target market. Within water-skiing circles, the movie attracted attention because so few fictional films place the sport at the center of their stories.
The touring campaign also reached audiences in several states. People attended screenings at ski facilities, theaters and professional wakeboarding events. That type of engagement may not produce large box-office totals, but it can create lasting awareness among a specialized community.
The movie has also remained available longer than many obscure independent releases. It has appeared through rental, purchase and advertising-supported streaming services. DVD copies continue to circulate through secondhand marketplaces.
Its survival on digital platforms has allowed later viewers to discover it long after the original website campaign ended.
Awards and Industry Recognition
No reliable evidence was found that H2O Extreme received major film awards or nominations from prominent festival, critics or industry organizations.
The movie’s lack of major awards is consistent with its limited theatrical and critical presence. Its promotional material emphasized community screenings, athletes, sponsors and water-sports events rather than festival prizes.
This does not mean the production had no value within its niche. Its more meaningful achievement was bringing competitive and show water skiing into a feature-length fictional narrative. For participants in the sport, that representation may be more significant than formal awards.
Claims that the film won major honors should therefore be treated cautiously unless supported by a verifiable festival archive or official award database.
Website Design, Navigation and Content Style
The original site appears to have been structured around immediate promotional needs rather than extensive editorial content.
A visitor would have been directed toward the trailer, story information, cast details and screening news. The tour updates became one of the most distinctive parts of the website because they documented where the filmmakers had traveled and how audiences responded.
Its writing style was casual, enthusiastic and occasionally unpolished. Updates included exclamation points, abbreviations, personal thank-you messages and observations about weather or travel. This style helped communicate excitement but also reinforced the impression of a small independent campaign.
The site was not designed as a comprehensive history of water skiing. Nor was it a broad fan community with forums, athlete rankings or instructional content. Its purpose was to sell the experience of the film and guide interested viewers toward screenings and, later, the DVD.
As the movie aged, the domain’s emphasis shifted toward retrospective material. Information about the plot, ratings, locations and cultural significance now serves visitors who are researching or rediscovering the movie rather than planning to attend an upcoming release event.
Audience
The primary audience consisted of water skiers, wakeboarders, action-sports fans and families connected to show-ski clubs.
A secondary audience came from the cast members’ existing fan bases. Chris Carmack, Rider Strong, Nikki Griffin and John Schneider were recognizable from television and other movies. Their names gave the production promotional value outside the water-sports world.
The movie also appealed to viewers interested in inspirational athletic stories. Austin’s choice between hockey and skiing reflects a broader theme: the tension between the life others expect a person to pursue and the passion that person actually wants to follow.
Today, another audience has emerged: people interested in Cypress Gardens history. Because the film was made close to the park’s closure, viewers can examine the attraction’s buildings, ski-show environment and atmosphere during its final period.
Press and Media Coverage
Mainstream press coverage of H2O Extreme was limited. The movie did not produce a large archive of newspaper reviews or national entertainment reporting.
Most surviving coverage comes from movie databases, retail descriptions, streaming platforms, user reviews and material connected with the film’s own campaign. This limited record is itself informative. It demonstrates the challenges faced by independent sports films that do not have major studio marketing support.
The promotional strategy attempted to compensate for that weakness by generating direct community exposure. Pro Wakeboard Tour screenings, water-sports retailers and club events served as alternatives to traditional press coverage.
Rather than waiting for entertainment journalists to discover the film, the campaign went directly to people who already cared about the subject.
Cultural and Social Significance
The cultural significance of H2O Extreme rests primarily on representation and preservation.
Water skiing has a long competitive and recreational history, yet it appears far less frequently in narrative cinema than baseball, football, basketball, boxing or auto racing. When water skiing appears in movies, it is often a brief vacation activity or stunt rather than the foundation of the story.
H2O Extreme treats skiing as an athletic culture with training demands, friendships, rivalries and professional aspirations. That focus gives participants the rare experience of seeing their sport represented as a complete world.
The Cypress Gardens connection increases the film’s historical importance. The park played a central role in popularizing show skiing and shaping Florida tourism. By filming there near the end of its existence, the production preserved a location associated with generations of performers and visitors.
Former Cypress Gardens skiers later organized the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Team to continue the tradition. The team performs in Winter Haven and teaches show-skiing skills to younger generations. The survival of that community demonstrates that Cypress Gardens was more than a commercial attraction. It created a durable regional culture.
What H2OExtremeTheMovie.com Is Known For
H2OExtremeTheMovie.com is best known as the official online home of a rare water-skiing feature film.
Its most memorable qualities include:
- Promoting a movie centered on professional water skiing
- Connecting the production with Cypress Gardens
- Recording a multi-state grassroots screening tour
- Publicizing appearances at Pro Wakeboard Tour events
- Bringing together film actors and real water-sports performers
- Preserving promotional material from a small 2009 independent release
- Continuing to provide information about a movie that receives little mainstream coverage
The website is not notable because it became a heavily trafficked entertainment destination. It is notable because it documents how an independent production found and communicated with a specialized audience.
The Movie’s Continuing Availability
Despite its limited initial reach, H2O Extreme has not completely disappeared.
The movie has been offered through services such as Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Tubi and Plex, although availability can change by region and over time. Trailers and promotional clips have also circulated through video platforms.
Physical DVD copies remain available through resale websites and used-media stores. The Echo Bridge edition is still listed in movie-collecting databases.
This continued availability has given the film a longer life than its modest theatrical profile might suggest. Viewers who discover Chris Carmack, Rider Strong or John Schneider through later work can encounter the movie through cast searches. Water-sports fans can find it while looking for skiing-related entertainment, and Cypress Gardens enthusiasts can approach it as a historical artifact.
Legacy of the Website and Film
H2OExtremeTheMovie.com represents a particular period in independent-film marketing. Before social media completely displaced standalone promotional sites, a movie domain could serve as the central location for trailers, tour schedules, production updates and direct communication with fans.
The site demonstrates both the strengths and limitations of that approach. It gave the movie a distinct identity and supported real-world screenings, but it could not create broad demand for a highly specialized film without substantial press or distribution.
The movie’s legacy is similarly modest but distinctive. It is unlikely to be remembered as a major work of sports cinema, yet it remains one of the relatively few fictional features built around competitive water skiing.
Its footage of Cypress Gardens gives it additional historical value. Its use of professional athletes gives its action credibility. Its cast provides connections to several popular television series, and its promotional history illustrates how independent filmmakers can reach a niche audience through events and community partnerships.
For viewers who judge it strictly as a dramatic film, H2O Extreme may seem predictable or uneven. For water-sports fans, however, the skiing, locations and community representation may be the primary attraction.
H2OExtremeTheMovie.com preserves that story. More than a decade after the original release campaign, the domain remains a doorway into a small film, a specialized sport and the final years of one of Florida’s most historically important attractions.