Pages

Hollywood's Ten Best Sailing Movies

By Kathleen Brooks


Whether it's for the relaxing sounds of the sea or the peaceful blue skies, there is something about setting a story on a water way that adds a certain dimension to a story. Sailing movies have been around for years, and everybody has their favorite. Ask five people to list their top five, and you will end up with a list of 25 different features.

Military stories are always popular for obvious reasons. They appeal to Navy veterans who enjoy reliving their exploits, while also being liked by those land-lubbing Army vets, who like to poke fun. Everybody likes a good maritime adventure, be it, "Das Boot, " the German serial drama about life on a submarine, or "Master and Commander, " with Russell Crowe in the starring role as an English sea captain in pursuit of a French vessel during the Napoleonic Wars.

Two stories of sea voyages that didn't turn out as they were intended are "Adrift, " and "White Squall." The former starts out as a weekend cruise among friends to celebrate the 30th birthday of a member of the closely-knit group. As the souls plunge into the sea for a frolic, the last one in forgets to set the ladder in place and the group faces a set of challenges as they are stranded off the boat, with a young baby left topside. The 1960s film, "White Squall, " sees a group of teenage boys facing tough conditions on what was, and turned out to be, the voyage of a lifetime.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise, starring Johnny Depp, is one of the most successful series' of maritime movies. These films were produced by the architect of numerous hit crime series', Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, not to mention hit films, "Top Gun, " "The Rock, " and "Con Air, " among many others.

Aging fishermen never seem to lose their appeal as leading characters. Ernest Hemingway's fishy tale, "The Old Man and the Sea, " has been released twice, four decades apart. Both films starred eminent actors Spencer Tracy (1958) and Anthony Quinn (1999) in the starring role. It has also been made into an animated cartoon lasting 20 minutes.

People who enjoy the sensation of their hearts pulsating in their throats will enjoy 2013's, "All is Lost, " a harrowing tale with no dialogue starring Robert Redford. Coping with the aftermath of crashing into a shipping container during a raging storm, Redford has no time for friendly chit chat.

Equally nerve-shattering to "All is Lost, " is "Dead Calm, " a romantic tale gone horribly wrong. Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman set out on the cruise of a lifetime which changes tack considerably when they take on the shipwrecked psychopath, sailor Billy Zane.

The sea lends a dramatic backdrop to any type of story, lending an added dimension to the characters and the action. With seagoing vessels tending to be relatively confined spaces, it allows the director the chance to develop characters and story lines without distractions of wardrobe or complicated scenery. Claustrophobic scenes aboard submarines allow the viewer to experience new levels of autonomic nervous system symptoms.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment