Open Water

[b&w]

Any members personally viewed the movie yet and can offer up some opinions? Thanks..

[Jamie Tate]

Going to see it tonight. It's kind of a face your fears evening.

Next stop is a tattoo parlor. Mmmmm, maybe not. I don't think I'm ready to look at one of those things yet. :hurl:

[Dan C]

The critic in the Denver Post (who raved about it) said it made "Jaws" look like an episode of "Flipper"! Yikes!!! Not sure if I have the stomach for this one, looks pretty intense.

Dan C

[JMT]

Thought I would revive this old thread. My wife and I rented and watched the DVD last night. It is indeed intense, and almost gives the feeling of it being shot as a home movie. Kudos to the actor and actress who played the main characters as they must have spent countless number of hours bobbing around in the water. I know it was based on a true story, but the movie sure left me with a rather bad feeling. I won't spoil anything, but I would recommed renting the DVD.

Tonight...the Manchurian Candidate.

[Grant]

Thought I would revive this old thread. My wife and I rented and watched the DVD last night. It is indeed intense, and almost gives the feeling of it being shot as a home movie. Kudos to the actor and actress who played the main characters as they must have spent countless number of hours bobbing around in the water. I know it was based on a true story, but the movie sure left me with a rather bad feeling. I won't spoil anything, but I would recommed renting the DVD.

. That's all the encouragement I need! I'm going to rent this out later today.

[Grant]

Well, I watched last night, and found that the directors really tried to make it realistic. Everything from the acting down to the script, VERY realistic! And, most of it was shot with ordinary digital cameras and tape you can buy down at your local Target. It was edited in a bedroom, too!

I actually got seasick watching it, but didn't throw up.:)

They used brand new unknown actors that helped keep everything real. These two are headed for stardom, at least the woman, anyway! She's FINE! Wooo!

Not bad for a very low budget film with only a crew and cast of six or seven people.

BTW, the story was somewhat based on the case of a US couple who were vacationing in Northern Australia back in 1998. Basically, the same thing happened to them. This is all I can tell you without giving the movie away. If you're looking for escapism, this movie ain't it.

[Cheepnik]

Not a bad little movie, especially given the obvious budget restrictions. And not scary so much as tense. They didn't make the couple very likable, but I guess that made it all the more rewarding when I actually did wind up caring about them. Great ending, too. Moral of the story: Next time you take a trip to the ocean, stay on the beach.

[Grant]

They didn't make the couple very likable, .

I thought they ware very likeable, and normal. They argue just like my wife and me, almost verbatum! :D

[JohnG]

Not a bad little movie, especially given the obvious budget restrictions. And not scary so much as tense. They didn't make the couple very likable, but I guess that made it all the more rewarding when I actually did wind up caring about them. Great ending, too. Moral of the story: Next time you take a trip to the ocean, stay on the beach.


and even thats not safe!

[fjhuerta]

I was scared for days after watching that film...

[Jimbo]

Moral of the story: Next time you take a trip to the ocean, stay on the beach.

Even then, ya gotta watch out for those land sharks, too!

http://ultrawarp.com/chevy/snl/land%20shark.jpg

[SuperMusicFan2003]

My wife and I watched this the other night and both found it to be a very good movie. I agree with the others the way it was filmed gives you that feeling that you are there and after awhile on the water scenes you do feel a little sea sick.
The movie sounds great in DTS and I have to agree with Grant - the lady is fine.

[Squealy]

The directors of this film had their own oceanic scare this week - they were nearly drowned by the tsunami on Phuket.

[mrstats]

I just watched the movie and thought it was very good. The most angry line in the film was "We paid for this!"

[billdcat]

I, along with two other friends (one of whom is a huge movie/dvd fan) bought the hype
surrounding this film and couldn't wait to see it.

Major, MAJOR disappointment. The worst movie we had endured in two years.
All three of us HATED this movie. And I do mean hate!

[stypee]

I bought the DVD on a blind buy, excited about what I've read and heard. Watched it New Years Eve with the folks and at first I thought it was a stroke of genius, I even loved the ending. Than after watching the extras I gave it some thought, the film was clearly nothing more than a quick marketing fix. It had some great trailers but lacked any type of lineage to keep the ball rolling. I felt really "had" by the film, the acting was bad, the script was horrible. My only credit is the sometimes beautiful photography. When taking a deeper thought on it, the filmmaker's didn't go out to make anything "new", they simply took the art of Roger Corman, William Castle and Sam Arkoff while creating a totally boring and unsatisfying movie experience. It was pretty evident at the start when our lead actress was lying in bed naked. That just screams OVER SEA'S (no pun intended) DISTRIBUTION! One of Corman's rules and tricks of the trade. In fact, if you watch the extras carefully you'll note that they really didn't care all that much about the flick, it was just a good idea that made a lot of money. I'd love to see this guy's other film "Grind".

[Grant]

I think the movie works if you aren't any type of student on cinema. I simply saw the acting as as portraying real people and how they act in real situations. Traditional acting doesn't exactly do that. I think the only place they dropped the ball was in the scenes where they descovered that the couple was left out to sea.

I don't know about you, bit I loved that nude scene, if you know what I mean!:) If you're looking for the typical Hollywod fare, forget it!

[pjaizz]

I, along with two other friends (one of whom is a huge movie/dvd fan) bought the hype
surrounding this film and couldn't wait to see it.

Major, MAJOR disappointment. The worst movie we had endured in two years.
All three of us HATED this movie. And I do mean hate!

But why? Did it make you feel too uncomfortable?!

I know sometimes when a movie is hyped, you are disappointed because your bar of expections was so set so high. But this little movie was a tense exploration of the human character. I don't want to see it again, but when I was in the theater watching, I was on the edge of my seat! It made me feel the horror of coming out of water and seeing no boat, no assistance, nothing but water (I love to snorkel).

I thought it was amazing and highly recommend it!

[Grant]

But this little movie was a tense exploration of the human character.

Give this man a prize!

This is exactly what this movie was about, the human element, not sharks, or how the people on the boat were irresponsible, or the photography.

I guess some people don't want realism in their movies. This movie is fantasy, fantasy of what could have really happened out there in the middle of the ocean. But they strived to keep it real.

The nice thing is that they reminded us that not all sharks will just automatically attack you. I think they mentioned that in the extras.

[stypee]

I think the movie works if you aren't any type of student on cinema. I simply saw the acting as as portraying real people and how they act in real situations. Traditional acting doesn't exactly do that. I think the only place they dropped the ball was in the scenes where they descovered that the couple was left out to sea.

I don't know about you, bit I loved that nude scene, if you know what I mean!:) If you're looking for the typical Hollywod fare, forget it!

I agree with your opinion, it is difficult when you are a filmmaker and an actor watching a film like these. I was hoping for escape from typical mainstream poop and that was delievered. However, the film lacked any strong sense of realism when the camera started jaring up and down making it obvious they were "safe". This example really isn't fair since it's pretty dam hard to shoot on a boat but with proper editing technique much could have been avoided. It only felt as if there were a few moments in the "Open Water". While I mentioned that I thought the ending was great, I just felt as if I'd watched 87 minutes of filler. The film would have probably worked well as a short. It needed to be tight and that it wasn't.

[pjaizz]

Give this man a prize!

This is exactly what this movie was about, the human element, not sharks, or how the people on the boat were irresponsible, or the photography.

I guess some people don't want realism in their movies. This movie is fantasy, fantasy of what could have really happened out there in the middle of the ocean. But they strived to keep it real.

The nice thing is that they reminded us that not all sharks will just automatically attack you. I think they mentioned that in the extras.

LOL! Thanks Grant. I'll take a copy of the movie and give it to the naysayers so they can see it again.

Happy New Year!

[RickH]

I picked this up from Best Buy over the weekend ($15.99, on sale) and me and the wife watched it Saturday evening. It totally lived up to the critic comments/hype quotes on the packaging - it's the scariest movie involving sharks that I've seen since the original Jaws, except this is less standard Hollywood fare and more like reality-based (based on true events) plus it was shot on digital video, which gives it more of a realistic feel. The part where everyone is on the boat and the guy is giving instructions on diving procedures, etc. totally seemed natural and unscripted. The performances by the two main characters in their situation also played totally natural. This is one movie where you will feel like you're in the water with the characters - it's that intense.

(edit) I posted the above without reading any prior posts and it appears I echoed almost exactly what was said by the posters who liked this movie. I agree with the poster who said they did not want to see it again because of it's intensity. As for the naysayers, well, there'll never be any one film that everyone likes, but the way this movie plays like real life has a major part in it's success.

[stereoptic]

I saw the movie over the weekend. It was tense, all right! And it did stretch on a bit, but I think that more or less emphasized the isolation and the despair (I kept trying to think of myself in that situation). The film technique and minimal use of music gave it a real "cinema verite" feel.
My wife said that she would have freaked out from the first minute on!

The gratuitous "over seas distribution" scene was well photographed as well! :)
I haven't watched the extras yet. Since Blockbuster has "No more Late Fees" (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=45976&highlight=blockbuster), I'm not in a hurry to get the movie back!

[jojopuppyfish]

This movie was a POS. Someone said it best..."The Blair Shark Project"

Its sad the real story about the people that died wasn't told. They were in the Peace Corp and taking a long deserved vacation. I found the story on their real lives much more interesting. This movie changed it to plastic yuppies.

[Ron Stone]

Wow, this was two hours of nothing . . . People liked this?