Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Special Effects, But Not Much Else
Review: If you are the type of person who will go see a movie just for the special effects (i.e., you liked "Twister") than I would highly recommend this film. If, however, you primarily want a good story (whether for intellectual purposes or just to be entertained), interesting characters, and intriguing dialogue, you will be very disappointed with this film.The characters and dialogue are about as interesting as whatever the most recent release of the Rocky series was. Much more interesting than the endless struggle at sea were the characters waiting at home for the return of their loved ones. But the director didn't give us much of them. Instead, we were treated to a sailboat struggle with the storm which didn't seem to have any relevance to the story. That, and a shark that jumps onto the boat and bites down on a leg yet inflicts practically no damage. Hmmmmm. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one. Clooney and Wahlberg were great in Three Kings, but that made a bad decision taking this script.
Rating: 
Summary: An Exciting Disaster Film That Delivers!
Review: This film was made by the same director who made the claustrophobic classic 'Das Boot', so you can expect it to be good. The film is admirable for what it is, a blockbuster disaster film that with agreeable performances, exciting action sequences and awesome special effects. But it is also admirable for what it doesn't 'try' to be, Peterson knew he had a 'money making machine' on his hands and concentrates on the action pieces and doesn't overdevelop it's characters. It's only main flaw is the hokey sentimentalism in the beginning, it's a little too savvy. But once the storm begins that's when the film really takes off. An impressive cast with big name actors such as George Clooney and Mark Whalberg who never get to really show off their acting talents. Diane Lane overdoes it a little, which is the exact opposite of Elizabeth Mastroniano who plays it safe. The top-notch special effects are incredible. The sentimental ending actually works. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 7!
Rating: 
Summary: Can anything match up to the Patriot this summer?
Review: I've got to start off by saying that this summer has been a disappointing time for movies. It all began with Battlefield Earth. Gladiator was horrible, but finally I found something worth buying. The Patriot! But from the sales and the top ten rank, The Perfect Storm has been declared a better movie. I don't think so. I'm not saying that this movie is bad. It's far from it. The Perfect Storm is an enjoyable movie, but it takes some time to get there. The first half of the movie is mainly talking, or might I say, all talking. But once you hit that one hour and fifteen minute mark, it's a pretty good movie. It has teriffic special effects mainly because of ILM (Industrial Light and Magic, a company that did films like Star Wars.) The acting was good and you felt bad for the fishermen at the end of the film. But still, it had its flaws. For one, the movie was a bit dragged out. It could've been shortened by at least twenty minutes, and still would've been just as good, probably better. Although the Patriot was long, very long, it still moved along faster than this movie. Second, I don't like how TV gave the ending away. I guess that's not the movie's fault, but I was disappointed knowing how it ended before it even began. I, like many others, enjoy to be surprised sometimes. None here, sorry. But overall I have to say that this is an average movie worth seeing at the theater just because of the special effects that were truly remarkable. Is it worth buying? For me, no. But I can see why this movie is doing well at the box office. It's good, no doubt about it. But Wolfgang Peterson did a better job with Air Force One. So don't think this is a bad movie, because it's not. Go see it, then see the Patriot. I think you'll like Mel Gibson's film better, but even if you don't, you won't be too disappointed. Now it's time to see how good X-Men is.... Enjoy the movie, and have a good time.
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly depressing.
Review: What a depressing movie! I don't think there's really a happy scene in the whole movie. That just made it mostly unenjoyable for me. The acting was great! I usually find George Clooney annoying, but he did a pretty good job here. Mark Wahlberg was also good. The problem is that we never find out who these people really are. There is a serious lack of character development in this film. Motivations, aside from Wahlberg's character, aren't really explained either. The story itself was pretty good and the special effects were amazing. The storm scenes just had my heard pounding and my hands gripping the armrests. Talk about a thrill ride! Unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy the movie overall, especially the ending.
Rating:
Summary: Good Action Movie
Review: I thought "THE PERFECT STORM" was a good movie. It had a lot of incredible special effects. I liked the part when the boat was going up the huge wave. I think people that like action should see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: The Perfect Storm didn't excite me that much, but I decided to go check it out. What I got was awesome characterization, lots of excitement, and a lil teary eyed. The first hour or so gives the fishermen character development, so you care for them. This part is kind of slow, but there are some good parts. Funny ones too. Then it's out on the big blue for the fisher guys. The captain of the ship decides to risk it by going farther than he's ever gone to make a big catch (which they are in serious need of), and end up...to begin with...in some stormy weather that brings an unexpected visitor onboard (gotta see the movie). Then we are introduced to three people who are stranded in the hurricane system. Then the rescue team, and the weather people. The weather people make the discovery of two hurricane systems colliding, and the fishermen's boat are heading straight into it. The rest is a very good movie, and a very sad one too. I suggest you check it out!
Rating:
Summary: entertaining if only for the special effects
Review: This movie got plugged so much with TV previews prior to release that I didn't expect much of the actual film. So I was pleasantly surprised when the movie was better than I expected. The storm-scene special effects are just fantastic. The storm effects alone are worth the price of admission, so go see it if only for that. Watching it on video tape on a smaller TV screen won't be as spectacular. Once you get past the somewhat simplistic plot and characters there is a lot of excitement and drama to watching these men trying to survive the "storm of the century." Mark Walhberg and Michael Ironside are competent actors, although Ironside only gets a few scenes. I hadn't seen much of him in recent years, since he did Starship Troopers, and before that, Total Recall. Good to seem him working again. My father grew up in the Boston area and when I was a boy he used to regale me with sea stories about the whaling era, in which Gloucester had a prominent role. So I found it sort of interesting watching a movie that depicts something of the fishing industry that had developed since that time. It is now 100 years since that era ended, but small, ocean-going fishing vessels still play a dangerous game with the elements, and in that sense nothing has changed since then, and that's what this movie is all about. The final scene with the killer, 100 foot rogue-wave is awesome. Hard to believe it's not the real thing you're seeing. All in all a pretty good movie to kill a Saturday afternoon. While I'm at it (since we're on the subject of fishing) if you enjoyed the book by Sebastian Junger, try William W. Warner's delightful book about fishing in Chesapeake Bay, "Beautiful Swimmers." The book is non-fiction, but it won a Pulitzer Price for it's depiction of the crab fishing industry in Chesapeake Bay some years ago, and even today the book remains a remarkable account of fishing in the area and a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: This is an excellent movie that I would recommend to anyone. I am glad I read the book first, as that helped me understand much of the terminology of the movie. The book, which is very well written by Sebastian Junger, focuses on facts or events that very likely occured. It also goes into a little bit of the fishing history, prior storms, and what is involved in the swordfishing business. He didn't make things up to make the book more exciting. In the movie, on the other hand, the director felt free to use his imagination in many scenes that added to the drama. It wasn't done in a "cheezy" way, I would just prefer a true "true story". It was a true thrill ride as soon as the action started(about mid-movie). It was a little slow to start, but overall the 2 hours and 20 minutes went fast. There were many dramatic scenes and it would have been nice if they dug a little deeper into the lives and motivation that drove the characters. The ending is excellent. Reading the book first is my recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: A perfect storm wets theartres...and nothing alse
Review: A Perfect Storm....well the movie could be sumed up in 3 words which are how the movie starts, carries on and ends. Boring, Exciting, Sad. The special effects on the storm were really something amazing but i think for the rest of the movie they were a bit low on budget. A couple of well known names were out into the movie, George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg. all in all if your are really bored and have nothing better to do still..don't go see this movie
Rating: 
Summary: Awsome sound/special effects
Review: I saw this movie w/ my sister and brother in law (he used to be a commercial fisherman, after seeing the movie I'm glad he USED to be) so it had more of a meaning to me. The special effects of the waves and the sound was incredible in the theater. Although other people thought the sappy parts of the movie could have been left out, I thought it was necessary to see how the families dealt w/ the trauma. As stated before, I can't imagine that being my brother in law. I look foward to owning this movie on DVD to hopefully view the "making" of the movie or possible actual footage of the real storm. I don't remember the storm myself, as I was old enough to remember(19) but I wished I was more in tune w/ the news at that time b/c it was a heart-renching story. EXCELLENT MOVIE. A must see in the theater to get the "feeling" of being there.
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