The Perfect Storm [Blu-ray] [2000] [Region Free]

I'm really surprised reading the reviews here to see the criticism and scorn that has been poured upon this film, at the end of the day it's not all that bad and at least it is a vast improvement on some of the disaster movies that have gone before it.

That's not to say it's not without its faults. Certainly there is an amount of cheesy dialogue between the main players and the some of the whooping and bonding scenes on the boat are toe curling embarrassing.

The film is based on the book of the same name by Sebastian Junger and is the true story of the phenomenal storm that crashed onto the North Atlantic in 1991. I haven't read the book but apparently it is a most compelling series of survivor accounts of personal experiences that the storm brought about.

The main thrust of the film is the story of the swordfish fishing vessel "Andrea Gail", after a run of bad hauls, skipper Billy Tyne (George Clooney) decides to take the ship out for one more trawl but to the more dangerous waters of the Flemish Cap. His crew are a motley collection of various characters and include Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg) a young fisherman currently trying to develop a relationship with a single mother, Chris Cotter (Diane Lane). David "Sully" Sullivan (William Fitchner) a older fisherman who has his own personal conflicts with his ex-wife and son. There's also Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne) a family-less Jamaican, Mike "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes) the sort of man who'll always be missed in a crowd and Dale "Murph" Murphy (John C Reilly) who is only recruited for this one voyage. I mention the crew in completion as the first part of the film really deals with getting to know all the characters and their own particular issues and problems and this is one of the most enjoyable pieces of the film.

What the second part of the film deals with is the struggle the Andrea Gail faces when she gets caught up in the storm. It's certainly exciting stuff with rolling waves, crashing spray and all round soakings for the entire cast. I guess to be truer to the book the film also includes the fight in the storm of the pleasure vessel Mistral and also that of the search and rescue helicopter that comes to their aid. Although both these series are exciting and well filmed they do detract from the main action from on the fishing vessel and therefore detract from the main thrust.

The film does become a bit formulaic towards the end but to its credit it is still an effective tear jerker. Mention too for the lovely and moving musical score and the special effects which were nominated for an Oscar.

I have read the book, seen the film, sailed on a tall ship, kept watch, up the rigging, etc. The film is excellent. You must have interaction between people in a commercial film, so criticisms about that are pointless. The scenes at sea, the storm, the waves, the shots of the ships, helicoper rescue, are all so well done, and the final sequence of the central ship meeting the rogue wave mind blowing. The sequence is what actually happens when a ship meets a wave which is too high for it to mount... So see the film and read the book too, and then go on a tall ship...

"The fog's just lifting, you throw off your bow line, you throw off your stern-you head out to South Chanel past Rocky Neck.....Ten Pound Island, past Niles Pond where I skated as a kid-and you blow your air horn and throw a wave to the lighthouse keepers kid on Thatcher's Island-then the birds show up, black backs and herring gulls, big dump ducks-the sun hits you, head North, open up to 12, you're steaming now, the guys are busy, you're in charge-you know what? You're a god damn sword boat captain, is there anything better in the world?"

Ordinarily I would write a review that is fair minded and as honest as I can call it, something that hopefully would interest the readers either side of the fence. But here with The Perfect Storm I just want to write why I love this particular picture, and what a most divisive picture it has turned out to be. I'm aware of the complaints about the movie, even the ones from the family of the real Captain Billy Tyne {played by Alpha Male regular George Clooney}, but as an entertaining spectacle with huge slices of emotional fortitude, The Perfect Storm will forever be hitting my spots.

The character build up is just wonderful, people with things to prove, fractured and blossoming romances, loyalties on the line, grudges carried over from previous encounters, the lives of sea fishermen fully formed in the films first quarter. Then there is a sequence as George Clooney says the monologue that I have opened this review with, beautifully recited, but it's the emotion in Linda Greenlaw's face (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) as she watches and listens to him speak it, just wonderful. Then the boys go out to see, heading off into dangerous waters to hopefully make a killing in the fish market, tensions run high, accidents happen, heroes are born and rivalries quickly overturned, but the boys must go further if they are to corner the market, the Grand Banks are evil at this time of year.

A three pronged hostile weather front is heading their way, they are, as Linda tells Billy on the radio, heading into the belly of the monster, and what a monster it is. Here the makers excel, director Wolfgang Petersen, his cinematographer John Seale and his S/E maestro John Frazier do literally put me right there in a amongst the waves and daring do bravado. Then it's the final couple of reels, the emotional mangler, even a spiritual coda that is hated by so many can't make me dislike the film any less, and I'll wager right here and now that as funeral eulogies go, few if any have been delivered with as much heartbreaking emotion as the one read by Mastrantonio here.

It's a personal opinion you know, but The Perfect Storm is a magnificent film that I enjoy three times a year, every year, and nobody will ever be able to take that away from me.

"There's no goodbyes Christina, only love," damn straight!. 9/10