Rating: 
Summary: WOW Breathe
Review: Ever since I heard about Open Waters I wanted to see it. So finally when it was out on vidieo I rented it. My dad and I watched it together. Holy cow this movie is intense. I just got chills from when the boat first left thinking about what it would be like getting deserted. I also thought that the Digital Camera worked really well for the water scenes. The shots were so creepy and I jumbed when the sharks came up. And the storm scene was very well done even if it was a horrible gut wrenting scene. This movie made my neck hairs stand up. The ending is kind ofa twist. You won't think the ending is possible but it is and it haunted me that night. I will be able to go in the water again, but this movie affected me in a weird way. After the end I just sat there for like 5 minutes. Watch it for a great filmed film but not for pleasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Unintended shark bait
Review: "Open Water" was a low budget flick starring two unknowns, Daniel Travis and Blanchard Ryan as an upscale married couple. Unfortunately it's camcorder quality played like a low budget offering, not exactly being riveting.
The young couple both in high stress professions, desperately book a relaxing Caribbean vacatiuon. They plan to join a diving charter. They inexplicably get left behind due to a head counting error by the charter boat crew. They are marooned in the open ocean and decide to remain in place hoping for rescue, rather than swimming to some boats in close proximity. This bad decision soon leads to hunger, hypothermia and harrassment by sharks. It's not till the following day that the charter crew realizes that they're missing.
This inane movie supposedly based on a true story is incomprehensible. A simple head count would have determined their absence. The dialogue between the couple was sophomoric at best and there was an amateurish quality to the acting. The movie played like underwater version of the equally mediocre "Blair Witch Project".
Rating: 
Summary: When on water good....when on land bad.
Review: First off let me start by saying that my number one fear is being stranded in the ocean with sharks so this movie already had a place in my heart. The movie is no masterpiece by any means, but it did indeed invoke a fear in me while I watched it that I haven't felt in a long time. However there are several genius scenes that are effective ie: thunderstorm and schools of sharks". There were many times I jumped throughout, usually from a shark popping up. The acting isn't oscar caliber but I felt it was passable enough. To me this should have just been a 30-45 minute film that only took place in the water like a documentary. Anyways I like it, but again only because that is one of my fears, I can understand how others would think it was terrible. So basically to put it straight out: If you are afraid of sharks and the ocean this movie will probably effect you like it did me, just don't expect too much when you view it so your expectations won't be too high.
Rating:
Summary: Don't judge a review by its rating!
Review: I know a lot of people said they were going to give out bad votes to people who said they liked this movie. Well, I was one of the people who liked Open Water. I indeed say I know why a lot of didn't. When purchased by Lion Gate's Films, Open Water was distributed as a big budget movie, and that could probably be the help of the exaggerated posters, but I think it brought in a good thrill here and there especially since I had my own experience with a shark when I was little.
Susan Watkins and Daniel Kintner (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis) are an overworked couple who are trying to find a good vacation they can both enjoy, and where else is there to go on such an occasion that paradise? And naturally, in paradise, anyone would want to go diving out on the irresistable coral reef, surrounded with beautiful water in the open ocean.
But the unthinkable happens to the two when they are accidentally left behind in the water by their incompitent tour boat 15 miles from shore. The two try to keep calm within the first few hours, but soon, sharks begin to encircle, and the weather doesn't look too good for the two either. But even after drifting into 1,000,000 square miles of ocean, the couple soon realizes no one even knows they are missing.
Indeed I think it's a very well done movie and worth owning. A lot of people were dissappointed with Open Water because they didn't know it was going to be shot on digital video. They most likely expected a big budget film. The thing about the movie that made it interesting was that it had only a crew of three people not including the actors. The crew consisted of only the director Chris Kentis, his wife Laura Lau who was the producer, and her sister Estelle, who also starred in the movie. The whole movie which looked expensive with how it was made, was spent on every single cent of their budget of $130,000. Not many people cared about how it was made because they hated the movie, but once I realized how it was made, I had a whole new aspect on it.
Don't ask me why, but it felt neat to be watching a movie in the same manner that documentaries are made in, shooting on digital video. I felt at any moment someone was going to come on the screen and start talking about the subject. I just found that neat in a way. At times it does make you feel like you're watching a documentary, but the illusion soon sits in about these two unfortunate people.
The movie which starred unknown actors had a chemistry between Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis that seemed unlikely within a lot of other big budget movies of our time. They just seemed to go good as a couple, almost perfect with the way they acted. It seemed also smart to work with unknown actors because the unknown ones are also the ones that do the best in anything. Well known actors are okay, but are too used to acting already. Saul Stein and Estelle Lau also did very good jobs for the small parts they had including the rest of the cast.
It was originally only intended for the Sundance film festival, but I'm thrilled that Lion's Gate Films bought it out or else I would've never seen it, probably. Also, I liked the idea of having it based on true events because the real couple never did make it back to dry land. It was three days before anyone even realized they were gone. It's fairly original to see how they could make the couple say things that were actually believable. After all, there's not much you can say drifting farther into the ocean. Believe me, I'm a junior author, and it's hard. For the director/editor/writer, his wife, and her sister, it was amazing what they accomplished with what little they had. 5 stars for originality and creativity.
Rating: 
Summary: Blair Witch meets Jaws...
Review: I've heard this described as The Blair Witch Project on water. It is a very accurate comparison. Like BWP, it was shot very inexpensively on video and it deals with the horror of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. However, in a certain sense Open Water is more scary for two reasons: 1, you are in MUCH more danger in the water, and 2, the terrors in Open Water are completely realistic as opposed to supernatural. As it says at the beginning, "Based on true events" - I don't know if that is for true, but this really could happen.
The plot is simple enough: a vacationing couple go scuba diving and the boat takes off without them, leaving them stranded in the open water. They can't see land and they can't swim anywhere. The terror mounts gradually - at first the couple refuses to believe that they are in any danger: they're on vacation, after all. They see boats around them - surely one will pick them up.
The great technical achievement of this film - the one that kicks it up a notch from Blair Witch - is that it uses live actors and live sharks. There are no special effects on this film - the sharks are shown swimming just out of arms reach of the actors through most of the movie. The maddening thing is that they don't attack and the couple having nothing to do but wait. This is a creepy, disturbing film and one of the few genuinely scary films I've seen in a while.
Rating:
Summary: Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
Review: If "Jaws" made you think twice about going back into the water, "Open Water" will keep you out of the water... for good.Based on true events & the surprise hit of this years Sundance Film Festival, "Open Water" is a knot twisting, thrilling experience that you won't soon forget & will make you think twice about going into the open ocean ever again. When a couple, on vacation, decide to finesse their way onto an overbooked deep sea diving excursion by way of the ship's captain, they wind up getting more than they bargained for, and pay for it with their very lives. After the boat docks and the divers hit the depths below, the couple, since they are both certified divers, decide to go it on their own. But when they call it a day and resurface to go home, the couple find out they have been left behind possibly due to a mistake made by the captain. Anger turns to shock.
Shock turns to panic.
Panic turns to fear. With daylight fading, and a lightning storm brewing not far off, the couple's worst fears come to light as they both start to realize they are live bait for whatever has started to circle below the water's surface. This low budget film was shot in much the same way "The Blair Witch Project" was, with digital cameras and in the view point of the people and their doomed consequence.
Since this is low budget filmmaking, director Kentis had his cast sign insurance wavers in case anything tragic happened.
If you haven't guessed by now, the sharks in this film are very real, and although they are only Tiger Sharks these are one of the more agressive sharks in the ocean.
The cast & crew wore chainmail under their wetsuits, but, their hands, feet, & head were still exposed to the elements. Blanchard Ryan got bit on the hand by a barracuda on the first day of filming. She was hospitalized, with stitches, that morning and resumed filming that afternoon... in the water (talk about brass balls!).
"Open Water" works in the same way "Jaws" does, less is more and everything is viewed at eye level (no over head shots or any huge sweeping pan shots). "Open Water" is a worthy successor to "Jaws" & is highly advised not to be watched while on a boating trip (even on a cruise ship).
Rating:
Summary: open water
Review: it is great. water. sharks. people. stranded. putt those together and what do u get. a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: drowning in boredom
Review: Nope - this movie didn't work for me. Clearly a cheapie indie flick, there is a cast of two and most of the shown set is in the water. The director tries to build the suspence by raising the volume of the soundtrack at key moments but it comes across as contrived.
Truly, wasn't frightened at all and in fact drowing in boredom. If you want a suspence flick, you can surely do better elsewehere.
Rating:
Summary: A DARK MOVIE.......
Review: Obviously low budget, this movie details the events surrounding a couple at a resort island who go on a deep sea diving expedition....and are mistakenly left behind by the tour group. What follows are the events surrounding their attempts to stay alive--in the middle of the ocean with no land in site. There is inky blackness as they float in the dead of night, there are storms, and most frightening of all they have begun to perk the interest of the local sharks--which, as it turns out, are anything but harmless.
The movie is not edge-of-your-seat action; but it will certainly hold your attention. The ending is a shocker--and as one person commented to me, "disturbing." I think that says it all. 4 stars only for the low quality "home movie" type spin on the film. Other than that---I'd recommend.
DYB
Rating:
Summary: Scary situation, but no suspense or entertainment value!!
Review: Okay, a good idea, lets take a horrifying news story and put it in production for a film. The movie is not horrible, its just dreadful to watch. I can see where the director was going with a realistic point of view, but it just was not well put together and I was looking at my watch wondering how much longer is this thing going to go on. How would you feel if you were in this situation being stuck in the ocean with no one around, jellyfish stinging you, sharks circling you, no food, cramps from staying a float, and over 12 hours of torment? Not good and not fun to watch either. Jaws is a much more entertaining movie, and has all the elements that will scare you while swimming in a pool. This movie lacks the thrills, is boring and is like watching a reflection of a bad vacation become worse!!! Don't waste your money!
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