Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Tribute
Review: What's really surprising is how many reviewers here seemed to miss the boat on what is nothing short of an awesome movie. It's based on a true story, and much of what we see (especially regarding other boats, and the helicoptor ditching, etc.) DID happen. Naturally, what happened on the doomed Andrea Gail can't be known for sure, although much can be postulated from all the research done by Sebastian Junger for his book (upon which the movie is based). It's gleaned from other's accounts of what has happened on prior fishing trips, and what it must have been like for them out there in that storm of storms. The point is simply that this movie is, essentially, a tribute to these guys, and to show what it can be like in this highly dangerous occupation. (rated more dangerous than firefighting & policework for the number of deaths involved) So as a composite work showing what this job could be like, coupled with what happened in this 'Perfect Storm', the movie is right on. Not to mention wonderfully done and awesomely scored.What many also seem to miss the boat on as well is that real heroism, real courage, is based on the only kind that truly matters... the kind that gets you from one minute to the next, day to day, as you go about your life and business. And these guys were just trying to make a living as best they could. The simple heroism and tragedy of it all is that even in our lives of 'quiet desperation' we still fight instinctively for life... and hold on with everything we have to hope.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT based on a True Story and an insult to our intelligence
Review: See Colin E J Genders review on 8/6/01 for my precise sentiments. If there were no survivors, and no transmissions beyond one saying "we have lost our bearings", how can this be based on a true story. The only truth is a ship was lost and all passengers assumed dead after being lost at sea. Had this been portrayed as fictional, I may have enjoyed it. However, when I saw the ending I felt sure Hollywood was laughing all the way to the bank at our stupidity for falling for this.
Rating: 
Summary: just watch it
Review: This movie's strength is its visual portrayal of being at sea in a storm. The dialouge is painful at times, perhaps most of the time, but the plot is generated by facts: the struggles of making a living as a fisherman, the dangers of being at sea, the isolation of a boat, and the visciousness of rich capitalists. The characters show no promise at exhibiting depth, but keep in mind they have to say something to make it a movie rather than a short action sequence.
Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Disappointment
Review: First of all, what lies at the heart of this story is a bunch of men who kill themselves in attempting to make a few bucks. Courageous music plays as the men go on their supposed "heroic" voyage. It's not like they are setting out to save the world but only to catch fish. As the second mate said to the Captain while the boat sank, "It was a hell of a fight." Sure, it was. But to make a hell of a movie out of it, the fight should be based on a worthy cause. The movie lacks originality. There are other sea adventure stories out there and there is nothing about this one that sets it apart from the rest. I was turned off by the instance in the Perfect Storm where the man falls into the water and the first one to dive in and save him is his enemy. Similarly, in the novel "Moby Dick", Quequeeg is ridiculed by a man aboard but then when that man falls overboard, Quequeeg dives into the icy water to save him. Furthermore, Quequeeg acts as if it was nothing, just all in a days work. That's the same way the hero in the Perfect Storm acts. Also as in Moby Dick, the disaster ahead is foreshadowed for the crew although I didn't lose hope for a happy ending in the movie until the very end. For alternatives, I recommend the book/movie "Jaws", and the books "Moby Dick" and the true story, "In the Heart of the Sea".
Rating:
Summary: I Felt Cheated
Review: While technically I thought the movie was well done, and the special effects were quite impressive, I came away from the film feeling that it had somehow insulted the memory of the crew of that doomed long liner. When you get to the end movie, and realise that in reality there were no survivors, you are forced to acknowledge that everything which is purported to have happened on the boat, before and during the storm, is nothing but a figment of someone's imagination. The words and actions, depicted as being those of the crew, are nothing but subtefuge and imagery created just for dramatic effect. Were one of my relatives to have been lost on that unhappy boat, I would be incensed by the liberties this movie takes.
Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding me?
Review: There could not have been more strategically placed tear jerkers in a FICTIONAL movie. So much of this fabricated story is offensive to the deaths of these men. How do we know if any of the male bonding occured, or the shark? Maybe the crew killed the "Skippa" because he brought them all the way out there. And as for the special effects, come on, seriously...big waves at night???
Rating:
Summary: Special effects a tale of human endurance.
Review: For those of you looking for an action tale, you might fall asleep before the 30 minute mark! For you action addicts, a new problem happens every 10 minutes to keep you on your toes, like a shark attack, waves, men overboard and more. Everyone likes to focus on it being a perfect bore, or action, this review will focus on the big picture. The reason why people may fall asleep before the 30 minute mark is this establishes a story, why each of the 6 men aboard the fishing vessel has a reason to return home safely, they have reasons, not for money, but for heart. This movie is a tale of three vessels, a small sailboat, an Air Force rescue helicopter and of course a swordfishing boat. Each as their own story of human endurance and what got them into each situation, such as the swordfishing boat who all of its members have someone waiting for them when they get home, to which they have to make a decision, waiting out a storm and not going through it, or going through the storm with their huge payload and making a fortune on it. If they wait out the storm, then their payload will spoil, no money, if they go through the storm, they risk dying. Yep they go through it.
Rating:
Summary: That Sinking Feeling
Review: Yes I admit it a couple of weeks ago I watched "The Perfect Storm" and I got that sinking feeling. Every rotten cliche and nonsensical scene you dread was in this movie. It was so bad it resembled a comedic knock off and I laughed all the way through. For a start the weather is erratic, it's sunny one minute, stormy the next. The weatherman keeps appearing and saying it's the storm of the century but someone forgot to tell the weather because it remained confused throughout three quarters of the movie. And as to be expected two of the swarthy seadogs who man the boat hate each others guts but of course one has to bury the hatchet in order to save the others life. Hatchets buried the crew start to catch rubber swordfish and in one bizarre sequence a shark decides it wants to come aboard for some chow (he probably read the menu "Swordfish Tonight") The skipper (played by Mr. Lovepants himself - George Clooney) is everything you'd expect from a crusty old seadog - a broody silent loner, capable of only a few sentences "run that line" (let's fish), "watch out" (anchor heading your way), "I smell fish" (better have a shower) and of course "hell I've never seen this before" (quick everyone dive overboard). And of course, we suspect (although it isn't revealed), he's an emotionally scarred man, dragging his heart around like a rusty anchor, wounded by an unspeakable pain. What caused this pain? Did she run off with Jim the acne laden young grocery store bagger or was it his once best friend Dirk the grave digger? i.e. someone with better prospects. Perhaps his Orchids died one year, we'll never know. But the funniest part? when the skipper (I think it was in the middle of the storm who knows) decides to climb out on one of the fishing booms with a welding torch to cut off a rogue anchor that had been naughty and crashing around the wheelhouse. As he climbs out with the crew anxiously watching, the boat dips violently and poor old lovepants is ducked under for about 5 seconds, but suddenly the boat rights itself and there's our hero holding the still lit welding torch triumphantly aloft! hahahahahaha and when you think things couldn't get any funnier he's dunked again and again. Yet each time that welding torch remains alight. If things begin to go bad for ole George in the future you just know he'd be a dead cert for lighting the Olympic Torch.
Rating:
Summary: Vaguely Interesting
Review: The special effects and the Coast Guard rescues are the only features of this film worth watching. The characters played by George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are only vaguely interesting. The movie would have been much better if it had centered around the rescue attempts of the Coast Guard. As it is, it rather crawls along and you have to wonder where it's going.
Rating:
Summary: Smells worse than a cargo hold of rotting fish.
Review: To quote Kevin Kline in "Fish Called Wanda", "DISAPPOINTED!". Hollywood took one of the most gripping novels of recent history and turned it into a loose collection of bad music videos. It was a joke, a hackneyed, no punch line told by your least favorite uncle, pull my finger kind of joke. The "Making of..." video was far more interesting. Watch that instead. Oh yeah..."Beware the Flemish Cap". too. BWAHAHAHA The Perfect BLEECHH!
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