| Dead Calm | | Cast : | Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane | | Director : | Phillip Noyce | | Studio : | Warner Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | April 07, 1989 | | DVD Released Date : | September 06, 2005 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | Dead Calm is Dead On! | Content
 | Wow! Director Phillip Noyce sets you adrift with this thriller, where a relaxing voyage across the south pacific becomes a nightmarish trip of murder and madness.
Couple John and Rae Ingram are recovering from the loss of their only child due to a tragic accident. John, an experienced sailor and naval officer, takes his wife Rae on a cruise aboard their yacht to get her mind off the accident. While alone, many hundreds of miles from shore, they discover a black schooner that appears battered and unseaworthy, looming in the distance. A sole survivor from the disabled ship rows his way over to the Ingram's yacht at a hectic pace. Hughie, as he identifies himself, is obviously distraught from his experience aboard the schooner. The Ingrams graciously take the stranger in and let the exhausted man rest below.
John, suspicious of Hughie, decides to explore the ghostly abandoned vessel while his guest sleeps. Upon boarding, he discovers a shop of horrors below deck. Meanwhile, Hughie awakens and realizes John has discovered his dirty secret. He commandeeres the yacht with Rae as his captor, and leaves John alone with the crippled schooner.
This movie has a brilliant score that resonates with spine-tingling heavy breathing and fast rythm, adding intensity and desperation to every scene it's in. It's especially creepy when Joe discovers the corpses on the stricken vessel. But the most hyper-ventilating scene is where Joe runs out of air in the slowly sinking ship, while stuck in a compartment below deck. Whew!
This is an amazing film, considering it has so few actors and settings. Seasoned actor Sam Neill played convincingly as John Ingram, the caring husband and mariner. Nicole Kidman, refreshingly young and innocent as Rae Ingram, debuted to the world her acting talent. And as for Billy Zane, he adds flair (or is it flare?!!) to his part as the psychotic Hughie. I think you'll really enjoy this movie. It has all the elements of a really good thiller. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Scary Fun! | Content
| This is a movie I could watch again and again. Even though you know what's going to happen, just watching the three actors is reason enough to view it. For a movie that takes place in such a small area (ocean, ships) and has such a small cast it really holds your interest. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 06, 2005 | | Summary | Poor beginning-Great Ending | Content
| The main flaw in this otherwise excellent thriller movie is the first 15 minutes or so. The horrific traffic accident in which the sailing couple lose their only child adds nothing to the main line of the movie's tale. In my opinion this remains Nicole Kidman's best film ably abetted by Billy Zane (who was disappointing and hammy in Titanic) and Sam Neil . Some reviewers were disappointed with the gory end of Billy Zane's eerie deranged psychopathic character, but in my opinion it was a touch of genius. Never mind that this kind of ending is often used by horror or thriller movie script writers, the classic twist often puts in the unexpected final chill after the audience has relaxed for the expected happy ending, which is in progress. The theme of a lone couple or small group who encounter danger of this frightening sort in a yacht or small craft somewhere in the ocean has been used a few times , but this is no where better handled than in Dead Calm, which for me will remain a classic. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 22, 2005 | | Summary | A noteworthy budget job. | Content
| This is an amazing and tense drama set at sea. The basic story line is of a stressed Dr (Neil) and his young wife (Kidman, in her first major movie role) taking a yacht trip to help recoup lost energies. They pick up a ship wreck victim (Zane) who is far from what he seems, and here is the premise for some tense and psychologically gripping cat and mouse games, largley between Kidman and Zane. It is an obvious, tried and tested format in many ways and follows a Hollywood trend of the 80's, for tense and psychologically testing, pursuit style, slightly paranoid films (the school of Fatal Attraction if you will). What slightly sets the film apart from the pack is the utter sense of diconnection and isolation, at Sea.
Kidman holds up well, she had only previously stretched her talents internationally, in the BBC drama about east asian drug trafficking in "Bankok Hilton". Neil is sedately strong and commanding as ever. Zane lets the film down slighty be being too much the obvious psychopath, he would have been well advised to study Glenn Close a little more carefully.
A worthy watch if only to see the dawning of Kidman's talent. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 02, 2005 | | Summary | Another Perspective......5 Stars for the visual effect! | Content
| I found the experience of "Dead Calm" very satisfying. Judged by modern standards, the pace is rather slow. It also requires some imagination and thinking to put the pieces together. Watched in peace the movie has the effect of an opiate.
Yet, I want to focus on the films great sensuality. The colors are beautiful. The deep blue of gently flowing waters, the bright crackling yellowish-orange of the burning yacht, the strange red of blood, the delicious color of the skin and the poreous texture like a wet orange peel. The black hair, the red hair, the brown and green eyes, and much more. The sound is mild and realistic!
Rarely have I seen a film so beautiful, easily watchable. And if you want a good thriller with scenic beauty but without too many far out events, this may be your cup of tea! |
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