One of my all time favorites.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It's not gonna win any awards for most original screenplay or anything.The theme of underdogs going against the odds to try to win big in competitions have been done countless times before and the script follows the same mold more or less as far as that goes.But what it does have that's a little above the average is some truly likable characters that you just can't help but to root for.4 Hispanic teenagers from a rougher part of town, some with no paperwork to live in the US attempts to rise above what is expected from them (which in short is really not much) and become the first group from their school to enter a robotics competition.The cast is nothing short but excellent, with lesser known actors as the teenagers but also George Lopez as their teacher and in supporting roles there are Marisa Tomei, Esai Morales and Jamie Lee Curtis.The soundtrack is also really really good with latino acts such as Frankie J, Fonseca and Ozomatli mixing some pop, rap and r&b and latino, will definitely try to see if the soundtrack is avaible somewhere.So yeah if you're looking for something to get your emotions going and something that's also based on a true story then this should definitely do the trick.

I had no idea what I was going to watch except for the fact that it would be some kind of inspirational movie inspired by true events. Well, by the time I was done watching it, I had tears in my eyes, smile at my face and a prayer in my heart! This movie shows what a true attitude can do for oneself. Talent and money isn't everything. If one believes that one is putting one's heart and soul in a project, God will take care of the rest. The acting is flawless and every character has done a remarkable job in keeping the viewer engaged for the entire length of the movie. A soulful, family movie in these times is very rare and this is one of such gems!! I recommend everyone of you to watch it and experience God's way of enlightenment. PS: Had I known basics of Robotics, I would have rated it 10 on 10!

Based on how this was hyped, it now appears incredibly controversial as to why the Carl Hayden High School won this competition. In the actual underwater challenge they finished 3rd behind MIT which completed the most challenges. So in effect MIT still had the best robot but since the competition also factored in their engineering interview and a review of each group's technical manual they somehow won the entire competition. I am incredibly suspicious that MIT did a worse job in the engineering interview or with their technical manual. Not buying this since at the end of the day the robot that can complete the most challenges should be the winning robot. This challenge is supposed to show who are the better engineers not who are the better salesmen. Sorry but it seems like it was handed to them. Further evidence this is misleading BS. If the Carl Hayden Team was really full of engineering geniuses they would be employed as such. Carl Hayden Team (Luis Aranda, Lorenzo Santillan, Cristian Arcega, Oscar Vazquez) Where are these engineering geniuses now? Luis Aranda (Janitor); Lorenzo Santillan (Line Cook); Cristian Arcega (Worked at Home Depot); Oscar Vazquez (Railroad Foreman)MIT Team (Kurt Stiehl, Lauren Cooney, Jordan Stanway, Thaddeus Stefanov- Wagner) Kurt Stiehl (Product Design Manager at Apple Inc.); Lauren Cooney (Embedded Software Engineer at Teledyne Webb Research); Jordan Stanway (Postdoctoral Fellow at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute); Thaddeus Stefanov-Wagner (Mechanical Engineer at Bluefin Robotics)

Life is consists of moments going by one at a time. What we choose to do with each moment can cause barely a ripple in the next, or it can completely change our life and the moments yet to be had. When Hollywood is able portray real examples of how such decisions in fact HAVE changed lives for the better, the movie itself has TWO qualities that must be considered. The first of course is the quality of production, script, direction, soundtrack, and so on that makes a movie viable or relegates it to B status. This movie PASSES such standards. Can you pick it apart technically in some regards? What movie can't you? I appreciated the non-patronizing, non-melodramatic script and the low key, down to earth portrayals of people who in fact are High School students and their teachers, not Ghandi or the American Sniper. The second aspect to consider with this movie is the balance of making it so their story can be told though within the constraints of budget allowed or not making it at all. I very happy they did make it and I would recommend it to anyone. Pick it apart to death if you like.. so what? The events really happened, regardless of whether this movie was made or not. yet some will still focus only on the production, and not the story.. sad...