Muro-ami

Finally, the Philippines has a film that stands out to elevate the country's film industry standards. This is such a great departure from the many mediocre formula melodrama films I've seen from the Philippines. I will recommend this to everyone who want to know something about the Philippines, particularly its beautiful locations.

Excellent cinematography, particularly the underwater photography. Perfect tie-in of story lines and plots, characters, location. The movie ingredients fit well and raise awareness of bigger social and environmental issues faced by the country: including child labor vs. realities of everyday survival for the masses; the destruction of marine natural resources.

Cesar Montano acting proved him a top actor worthy of much bigger future roles and international exposure.

The director, producers, cast, and crew took many risks in making this film. I'd say the money invested was well spent for the still low when compared to Hollywood budgets. The Philippines movie industry has the talents and can do things as in Hollywood. It just needs bigger funding to continue making top caliber films worthy of international venues. Muro-Ami may be the catalyst for such future offerings.

The only disappointment I had was on the sound quality. Sound design and engineering and editing needs big improvement. Then again, I only saw the DVD version and perhaps something got lost in translation.