The Perfect Storm

I have a very unusual recommendation with this film. Rent it, and watch it in fast forward.

I was absolutely shocked at how bad this movie is. Although most critics panned it, some of the best critics praised it greatly. But nothing prepared me for the grade-z script. All of these people were overwhelmed by the f/x. And the special effects are dynamite.

Here is the summary: some strangers go out in a fishing boat. The weather gets bad. They die. The end.

Roger Ebert gave this three and a half stars, and wrote this, "It is about ships tossed by a violent storm. The film doesn't have complex and involving characters, but they are not needed".

Sorry, Rog, but I have to differ with you on that one. If I want to watch a special on storm fronts, I can watch the friggin' Weather Channel. And if I want close-ups of boats tossed by the sea in a storm, I can catch a special on Discovery.

NUDITY REPORT

None.

This movie is about absolutely nothing else besides guys fishing in monster storms. Some guys. You don't know who they are. They all have generic names like "Murph" Murphy and "Sully" Sullivan and "Marky" Mark. They die, but you don't care, because you have no idea who they are. Except Marky Mark, and you're hoping he'll die. Not the character, but the actor.

DVD info from Amazon.

Great DVD. Three separate commentary tracks. Two different documentaries. Plenty of conceptual storyboards and still photos from the set - everything you could imagine.

Widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1.

There are good special effects, the acting is good. It is technically splendid - perfect.

If you want to see a re-creation of some people trapped in a really big storm, this is your movie. As I said earlier, watch it in ff. Since there is no plot and no characters, watching it in ff lets you see two hours worth of excellent special effects in 15 minutes.

By the way, this storm really happened. Three storm systems collided in the Atlantic in 1991. Although this story is based on the adventures of a real boat, nobody knows what happened on that boat because ... well, because they lost radio contact, the boat sank, and they all died.

The Critics Vote

General consensus: Three stars. Ebert 3.5/4, Berardinelli 3/4, Maltin 2.5/4, Apollo 83/100.
Rotten Tomatoes summary. Only 38% positive from the critics. However, six out of the nine elite critics liked it.

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary. 6.8/10. Apollo viewers 68/100.

With their dollars. Despite only 38% positive reviews, and a 6.8 rating, this was a monster hit: $182 million in the USA, $140.7 million overseas. In terms of international box office, it is the 68th best movie of all time.