IMDB Rating: 6.10, 27843 votes |
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Billy Tyne is a sword-fishing-boat captain out of Gloucester, highly competitive and stung by a string of poor outings. His crew is hardly back in port when he tells them he's going out again, even though it's October and the weather can turn ugly. Five join him: the young Bobby, newly in love; Murph, a devoted father recently divorced; Sully, a guy Murph despises; Bugsy, who's finally met a woman who likes him; and Alfred, a quiet Jamaican. They catch little, so they sail east, with Tyne ignoring storm warnings behind him. Finally, the fish bite, but the ice machine fails. Should they head home through the storm of the century, or wait it out and lose their catch? Fearful, the women wait.Actors
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31 Comments
I cried!! :’(
Maybe worth a matinee
Plot: 5
Originality: 4
Visuals: 6
Acting: 4
Overall: 4.75
Good enough for a special effects show
run-of-the-mill and not very involving
watchable
IT WAS A SUMMER MOVIE!!! What do you want? It’s not that bad.
Have you ever seen rain before? I’ve seen rain…
All it is is rain pounding a ship, a little danger, rain, more danger, rain…
Good special effects, everything else sucks
Not Perfect
The Perfect Storm doesn’t really live up to most of its title. It isn’t a complete bomb, in fact it is entertaining at times, but a better title would have been The Bloated Character Drama. But hey, I’m not a studio head….yet.
George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg team up again after Three Kings for one of the biggest blockbusters of the year 2000. The film is based on the "perfect storm" of 1991 that the "Andrea Gail" went right into. Clooney plays Captain Billy Tyne, the fearless leader of this group of ragtag Gloucester swordfishermen. Wahlberg plays the "rook," Bobby Shatford. The two are tough talking and have the ruggedness of fishermen. Director Wolfgang Petersen, however, has his two leading men get too dramatic at times. At one point, Wahlberg "speaks" to his wife from the sea. Sentimental thoughts are OK, and very common, but this telepathic communication reeks more of late night commercials rather than a summer blockbuster.
The story of the Andrea Gail is dramatic and wonderful; simply, it is great material to be brought to the silver screen. The dialogue and subplots, on the other hand, are woeful. The script gets cliched at times as each member of the cast spouts off their motivational speech that doesn’t seem contrived; it IS contrived. Clooney gives a "separate the men from the boys speech" as the group decides to ride through the storm, while John C. Reilly mentions how "hard this will be" on his kid as the ship hits some trouble. Well, NO DUH, Johnny Boy. Another problem with the film is its length. While the story of the men on the Andrea Gail runs fluidly, Petersen explores all of the storms that converge to make the "perfect storm." We see a small boat headed to Bermuda get rescued, and then a helicopter crew that goes down and has to get back to the carrier. This scenes drag on for SOOOO long because not only did I feel indifferent to these people, I was becoming captivated by the tale of the six men on the Andrea Gail. The scenes are long, boring and serve no purpose to the story except to pull more emotions from the audience. The only emotions these sequences pulled from me were hatred as Petersen pulled away from his main story to tell a useless one.
James Horner, who is well known for his Titanic score (a feat that scores no points with me), provides an inspirational score for the film. It is a real shame that we don’t need the score. The Perfect Storm should focus on the actual storm and trials that the crew went through, and even though Petersen accomplishes this as the film enters its second hour, the musical score clutters it up. True inspiration would have come from hearing only the howling winds and crashing waves of the "perfect storm." Instead, we hear the sounds of the storm along with the score from Horner which constantly battles with the storm for the ears of the audience. So instead of hearing the chilling sounds of the "perfect storm," or even an uplifting score from Horner, we get a mix of both, which works on NO levels. It becomes obnoxious and just makes your head spin.
Speaking of obnoxious, Diane Lane plays Christina, the girlfriend of Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg). Lane seems to touch off every emotion known to man with her character. She’s beautiful, loud, quiet, loving, angry, whiny, crying, and anything else you can think of. Not only does this bog down her character to someone who basically has no depth, but it annoys the heck out of everyone watching her. She didn’t need to play the damsel in distress, but she does need to play SOMEONE…unless Petersen intended for her to have split personalities or something, then this movie could have duked it out with Me, Myself and Irene for best schizo at the MTV Movie Awards.
I’ve bashed a few things about The Perfect Storm, so let me explain why it is still worthy of watching: It’ll thrill you and inspire you. When the film gets past its introductions and small nuances in the first hour, we can settle in to watch an exciting and tear-jerking story. I really began to like these guys as they were desperately attempting to catch fish and then get back to dock with their lives. The special effects are amazing as you see the Andrea Gail navigate a chilling and terrifying storm. Jaws it’s not, but you won’t exactly feel safe next time you go out on a boat. George Clooney gets past the tired script to energize the film and the rest of the cast. And despite Wahlberg’s psychic connections, the film hits home because you connect with the cast. You admire each and every one of them. You may admire them because of the terror of the storm. You may admire them because you are uplifted by Horner’s score. Or you may admire them because of their ruggedness and toughness. No matter what way, you still admire them, and that’s what makes The Perfect Storm compelling and entertaining. And most of all, despite its failings, Wolfgang Petersen still manages to endear us to the cast…aside from that schizo, Lane.
Despite its flaws, and there ARE recognizable flaws, The Perfect Storm still manages to connect with its audience. Instead of completely alienating the audience and trying to jerk tears out of death and loss, it brings us in to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event, in a film that takes some liberties, but still gives us a stormy experience that will definitely jerk some tears and leave you in complete awe of what nature can truly do.
Worth Seeing this tale of survival
Excellent movie. the effects were great. Defineately see this movie. It really gets you routing for the heroes of the film.
Solid film with great performances!
The Perfect Storm is the perfect story…Too bad unneeded subplots messed it up.
The Film Reaper
http://film.fanhosts.com/
The Perfect Storm doesn’t really live up to most of its title. It isn’t a complete bomb, in fact it is entertaining at times, but a better title would have been The Bloated Character Drama. But hey, I’m not a studio head….yet.
George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg team up again after Three Kings for one of the biggest blockbusters of the year 2000. The film is based on the "perfect storm" of 1991 that the Andrea Gail went right into. Clooney plays Captain Billy Tyne, the fearless leader of this group of ragtag Gloucester swordfishermen. Wahlberg plays the "rook," Bobby Shatford. The two are tough talking and have the ruggedness of fishermen. Director Wolfgang Petersen, however, has his two leading men get too dramatic at times. At one point, Wahlberg "speaks" to his wife from the sea. Sentimental thoughts are OK, and very common, but this telepathic communication reeks more of late night commercials than summer blockbusters.
The story of the Andrea Gail is dramatic and wonderful to be brought to the silver screen. The dialogue and subplots, on the other hand, are woeful. The script gets cliched at times as each member of the cast spouts off their motivational speech that doesn’t seem contrived; it IS contrived. Clooney gives a "separate the men from the boys speech" as the group decides to ride throught he storm, while John C. Reilly mentions how "hard this will be" on his kid as the ship hits some trouble. Well, NO DUH, Johnny Boy. Another problem with the film is its length. While the story of the men on the Andrea Gail runs fluidly, Petersen explores all of the storms that converge to make the "perfect storm." We see a small boat headed to Bermuda get rescued, and then a helicopter crew that goes down and has to get back to the carrier. This scenes drag on for SOOOO long because not only did I feel indifferent to these people, I was becoming captivated by the tale of the six men on the Andrea Gail. The scenes are long, boring and serve no purpose to the story except to pull more emotions from the audience.
James Horner, who is well known for his Titanic score (a feat that scores no points with me), provides an inspirational score for the film. It is a real shame that we don’t need the score. The Perfect Storm should focus on the actual storm and trials that the crew went through, and even though Petersen accomplishes this as the film enters its second hour, the musical score clutters it up. True inspiration would have come from eharing only the howling winds and crashing waves of the "perfect storm." Instead, we hear the sounds of the storm along with the score from Horner which constantly battles with the storm for the ears of the audience. So instead of hearing the chilling sounds of the "perfect storm," or even an uplifting score from Horner, we get a mix of both, which works on NO levels. It becomes obnoxious and just makes your head spin.
Speaking of obnoxious, Diane Lane plays Christina, the girlfriend of Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg). Lane seems to touch off every emotion known to man with her character. She’s beautiful, loud, quiet, loving, angry, whiny, crying, and anything else you can think of. Not only does this bog down her character to someone who basically has no depth, but it annoys the heck out of everyone watching her. She didn’t need to play the damsel the distress, but she does need to play SOMEONE…unless Petersen intended for her to have split personalities or something, then this movie could have duked it out with Me, Myself and Irene.
I’ve bashed a few things about The Perfect Storm, so let me explain why it is still worthy of watching: It’ll thrill you and inspire you. When the film gets past its introductions and small nuances in the first hour, we can settle in to watch an exciting and tear-jerking story. I really began to like these guys as they were desperately attempting to catch fish and then get back to dock with their lives. The special effects are amazing as you see the Andrea Gail navigate a chilling and terrifying storm. It’s not Jaws, but you won’t exactly feel safe next time you go out on a boat. George Clooney gets past the tired script to energize the film and the rest of the cast. And despite Wahlberg’s psychic connections, the film hits home because you connect with the cast. You admire each and every one of them. You may admire them because of the terror of the storm. You may admire them because you are uplifted by Horner’s score. Or you may admire them because of their ruggedness and toughness. No matter what way, you still admire them, and that’s what makes The Perfect Storm compelling.
Despite its flaws, and there ARE recognizable flaws, The Perfect Storm still manages to connect with its audience. Instead of completely alienating the audience and trying to jerk tears out of death and loss, it brings us in to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event, in a film that takes some liberties, but still gives us a stormy experience that will definitely jerk some tears and leave you in complete awe of what nature can truly do.
bad. great special effects. boring story
Great film, excellent effects, well worth seeing.
Not worth it
I thought that this movie was pretty devoid of plot. Most importantly I didn’t care about any of the characters or their fate by the end of the movie. The storm scenes were cool, yes, but how many waves hitting a ship do we need to see to get the point? Also, the two smaller, sub-plots of the other boat on the storm and the rescuers seemed lame. They just made an already too long movie longer
I expected too much… SPOILER ALERT!!
Having watched the specials on TV and hearing great feedback about the book, plus the extended articles in Entertainment Weekly and EOnline.com, I was really, really looking forward to this movie.
I was really let down.
Just knowing that 6 people lost their lives really choked me up while watching the television specials. Nothing is more heart-wrenching than watching friends and family members talk about how they know that their loved ones are gone, but some days they half expect to see them sailing back into port to explain where they have been for 9 years.
The movie did not capture this.
The special effects were great, it actually looked like they were out at sea. At no time did I feel like they were actors on the set being splashed with buckets of water. The storm was definately chilling and humbling, but never did I feel for the characters.
Maybe it was because I know the story didn’t really take place like this (no one really knows for sure what happened), maybe it was too Hollywood, maybe it was because seeing the George Clooney - Mark Wahlberg (3 Kings) - John C. Reilly (Boogie Nights) connection was too distracting.
I would wait for this to come to a discount matinee. Better yet, read the book. Or go and see the "Wall of Souls" in Maine where the names of the Glaucestermen who have never returned is located.
That will stir the emotions.
Best storm footage ever made
The real star of this movie is the storm, and it does not fail to entertain. Much like Twister, you are really on the edge of your seat during the storm sequences, which is pretty much most of the film, so eat your popcorn early because you will be too nervous to eat it once the film gets going. I was thoroughly entertained. Well worth the price of admission.
The storm is the star…
Sad that with so many interesting characters, the movie left little time to develop who they were and what their lives entailed. As is typical of many movies today, the special effects take center stage and eclipse whatever human side may be there. I suppose the fact that blue collar people live and die, and sometimes die a very horrible and lonely death is of little interest to Hollywood. This seems strange when you look at the connection between the Perfect Storm website and the various charities associated with the families and children of fisherman.
Want to check your brain at the door and ease into a good action movie, this is it.
In a word…"pathetic". The ending a huge let down
This movie was really good!!A lot like the book!!
Lots of water but very little substance. Just empty your bladder first and don’t sit too close, you may get sea-sick.
the boat capsizes.
I didn’t know the ending going into the movie. They penned it the "Perfect Storm" for a reason I guess. LOL. The best scenes were the ones involving the Coast Guard. "I need to find Josie" and he was still looking for Josie after the storm expecting him to be alive I suppose. Great entertainment.
I wish that it had told a little more about the actual fisherman and showed more of Gloucester, and less of the storm, but it was an event that should have been filmed for people to see…..
fun summer movie
a good movie. actually, i am not much for the kind of "event" nature destroys all movies, like "such" that they seemed to be churning out like crazy a few years back, although i like george clooney and decided to give this flick a shot. . . it was good simple fun.
go into it not expecting oscar an oscard award winning performance or screenplay. it is good, simple, summer all american fun.
the storm was cool.
The perfect average movie…
The storm was cool.
I really have very little else to say about it. I was disappointed by the movie overall. The dialogue was artificially suspenseful to try and make the storyline riveting and somehow it’s supposed to make me care more about the people in the movie. It didn’t work for me.
Very big waves, that’s what this movie is all about.
Great movie, great direction, amazing fx, solid story
Compared to the book, the movie’s a little light on factual detail, but that’s appropriate — it starts out slow, but once the winds start blowing it moves along at a hurricane clip.
Petersen’s direction is outstanding. Just like in Das Boot, you can really feel the power and the movement of the sea. And it gets moving something powerful.
The acting is solid all around. Sometimes the script devolves into "I am no longer speaking, I am making an impassioned speech", but that doesn’t happen too often.
Cool waves and stuff. CRAAAAAP ending.
People started leaving the theatre when it got close to the ending though 
Movie was fun. Took a while to get started - but then had some awesome scenes with some big bad-ass waves
Wolfgang Petersen rocks the boat, yo
What can I say? Wolfgang Petersen rocks on the water. He’s had a shaky decade of near-great action flicks, but always in the back of his films echoes the yet unrivaled greatness of his epic, nail-biting drama of life on a U-Boat, _Das Boot_.
That care in craftsmanship is back in The Perfect Storm, a well-paced, solidly realized action tribute to the faceless many killed, not in war, but in peacetime on the unforgiving high seas. The cast is built upon a foundation of solid character actors, who give the film a surprising evenness and fluidity. Michael Ironside, Mark Wahlburg and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio — these stars do not shine brightly on their own, but as an ensemble do not steal too much attention from each other or, more importantly, from the drama of the natural disaster bearing down on them.
George Clooney as the film’s headliner delivers a performance that, like his turn in Three Kings, shows that his flavor of tough-guy bravura has a certain appeal when kept on a leash.
The film has the visual polish and panache that long-time action fans will appreciate, and the attention to detail is consistent throughout. But most of all, there is a care for human life in general — and that of the many characters caught up in the story’s arc in particular — that make the final hour of film as gut-wrenching and powerful as it is. The film shines not simply as an overwrought disaster flick, but (like the Poseiden Adventure before it) as a testament to survival against all odds.
Some small weaknesses in plot advancement (after all, the film is based on a true story) and some obvious sops to appease the mindless action junkies (they do stick out like so many sore thumbs) aside, this film raises the bar for the rest of this summer’s blockbusters. The Perfect Storm is a great complement to the Das Boot, and a very impressive credit on Petersen’s cv.