Watched this on DVD from my public library. This is about a few kids and a teacher in an Albuquerque high school deciding they would build an underwater robot to compete in a national contest.
The central character and catalyst is Carlos PenaVega as Oscar Vazquez, a dedicated and polite young man who plans to join the Army and based on his prior ROTC experience hopes to start as an E3. But Carlos has an issue, he needs a birth certificate. He came to the US as an illegal when he was a very small boy and was undocumented.
But Carlos learns about the robotic competition and makes the request to new substitute math teacher, George Lopez as out-of-work engineer Dr. Fredi Cameron. (This character is a composite of two teachers that actually guided the kids.) Reluctant, because he didn't envision that it could lead anywhere, he gave in when Carlos found three other students for the team.
The community is not a wealthy one and part of the challenge was to raise money for building the remotely controlled robotic sub. They ultimately built it for just under $800 of parts, while many of the teams they would be competing against spent thousands.
This is a very nice movie, it has the inevitable feel-good ending, but is gratifying since it is a true story. Of note after all this Carlos voluntarily gave himself up, was deported, but returned legally, served in the military, and was brought to the White House for special recognition.
SPOILERS: When the team traveled to California for the competition and saw the line for the college competition was shorter they actually entered that competition because they didn't think it mattered. If they were to lose badly wouldn't it be better to lose to college teams? But their little PVC pipe and spare parts sub worked, and each team member explained it so well in the after competition interviews that counted for 30% of the overall score, they finished 1st, the beat the old champions MIT and other colleges. True story!!
The central character and catalyst is Carlos PenaVega as Oscar Vazquez, a dedicated and polite young man who plans to join the Army and based on his prior ROTC experience hopes to start as an E3. But Carlos has an issue, he needs a birth certificate. He came to the US as an illegal when he was a very small boy and was undocumented.
But Carlos learns about the robotic competition and makes the request to new substitute math teacher, George Lopez as out-of-work engineer Dr. Fredi Cameron. (This character is a composite of two teachers that actually guided the kids.) Reluctant, because he didn't envision that it could lead anywhere, he gave in when Carlos found three other students for the team.
The community is not a wealthy one and part of the challenge was to raise money for building the remotely controlled robotic sub. They ultimately built it for just under $800 of parts, while many of the teams they would be competing against spent thousands.
This is a very nice movie, it has the inevitable feel-good ending, but is gratifying since it is a true story. Of note after all this Carlos voluntarily gave himself up, was deported, but returned legally, served in the military, and was brought to the White House for special recognition.
SPOILERS: When the team traveled to California for the competition and saw the line for the college competition was shorter they actually entered that competition because they didn't think it mattered. If they were to lose badly wouldn't it be better to lose to college teams? But their little PVC pipe and spare parts sub worked, and each team member explained it so well in the after competition interviews that counted for 30% of the overall score, they finished 1st, the beat the old champions MIT and other colleges. True story!!