Dead Calm

I’ve seen enough Billy Zane movies to know if he is getting on the boat you get off said boat immediately. Probably too many Billy Zane movies...

It's like Cape Fear but the cape is an ocean. Hold on, I can do better. Instead of Straw Dogs it's Straw Sea Lions. Not there yet. Unlawful Entry on a boat so Unlawful Boarding? No, that doesn't work at all. Single White Seamale? Oh my God, this is getting worse. Pacific Ocean Heights? Yeah. Yeah that's good enough. Pacific Ocean Heights.

A dull thriller that's lacking in thrills & carried solely by three great leads who all deliver better performances than the material deserves, it starts off pretty alright but declines into a plodding mess void of any suspense. Between the unbelievably stupid decisions that Kidman's character makes, which inexcusably only get made to draw out the paper-thin plot, and the ridiculously lazy writing on the whole, this has wasted potential written all over it. A few decent moments, but not enough.

Dead Calm is a good thriller, only spoiled by the questionable reactions of the woman seeing as she is alone on a boat with a crazed murderer. Zane, Kidman and Neill all put in good performances, camera shots are well done, pacing is decent and the plotline is an interesting one. It's a pretty serious film but occasionally it throws in the odd joke, most notably over the flare-based demise of Zane, adding quite a substantial amount of unrealism but making for a good watch.

fuck you metascore. fuckin moron critics ! this bullshit better than Joker uh? idiots

If Billy Zane is the best thing about your movie, you've probably gone wrong somewhere.

A pretty alright film. Makes me want to get a boat.

I’m generally not a fan of thrillers, but this one is good.

This movie is a psychological experience. The relationship between the psycho and Kidman is full of ambivalences that the movie touch upon.

Nothing special, bu I miss thrillers like these nowadys. Driven purely by its story, without bunch of special effects and stuff like that,

A-

Quite a nice thriller. I sensed a bit of a "Straw Dogs" influence which seemed presumptuous, but most of it is pretty straightforward, the characters' behavior is fairly sound, and I even liked the slightly over-the-top ending.

#90s(e)#, rw4, story

Fairly entertaining if hammy thriller. The three actors were all good choices for their roles and I enjoyed the exotic setting. The far-fetched plot was the movie's weakest point. It did lead to plenty of excitement with a fresh-faced Nicole Kidman being chased around a boat, although Sam Neill got the short end of the stick on the baffling ghost ship. I'm in favour of more seafaring psycho thrillers.

It's a prototype tv-thriller, enjoyable to watch but best not too think too much about. Biggest flaw in this that Billy Zane is unconvincing as the psychopath. Unfortunate the movie fails to utilize on its simple premise by having Kidman make many of those typical stupid movie choices.

Don't be rude to the cabin boy

Decently enjoyable, with some impressively sparse mise en scene and interesting but incomplete "nice guys finish last" sub-text. It's too bad there's some very dumb decisions by Kidman's character (and some by Neill's character) towards the end that really sour the conclusion of this film. I thought the first five or so minutes (not on the boat yet) were probably the best.

The contrast between the wide open sea and the closed confines of a small ship give this a unique atmosphere for a thriller. While at times it's a bit plodding there are quite a few wonderfully executed moments and all three actors do a great job. That flare at the end is also pretty amazing.

Billy Zane plays a really great psycho.

1.5 speed.

Points for atmosphere and Sam Neill. Big problem is the final act, which drags on and on before culminating in absurdity.

Excellent thriller. I've seen Noyce's Tom Clancy adaptations but those films were pretty ruthlessly ruled by the script, and I think he works better with something simpler like this. Shame about that ending though.

The final scene is terrible, but overall it's a tightly-wound thriller with a nice moody atmosphere and a fair bit of suspense. Good acting performances by all three leads, a great ambient electro soundtrack, and some lovely shots of the open expanse of the ocean. Of course it's the setting that really makes this movie work. Stranded at sea with a psychotic Billy Zane; who wouldn't be afraid of that? You wonder why Kidman doesn't just bash him over the head after about 5 minutes, but whatever.

74.250

Classic.

Billy Zane is great in this film, like never before, and never again in his career. The film perfectly captures the feeling of being alone in a vast space, and at the same time being isolated in a small room with someone you really don't want to be with. There are a lot of under-tides going in relationship between Zane and Kidman characters that I really enjoy. On top of all that is simply brilliant soundtrack, that enhances the movie a lot.

Although impressive overall, the movie has some unnecessarily explicit scenes. A near classic.

The set-up is promising and the director gets a thrilling claustrophobic atmosphere out of it with great lensing and on-point performances. The ending betrays the feeling of the movie though.

Haven't seen this in a while, but from what I remember I really liked it! How did Billy Zane get to the boat? I for the life of me cannot remember... ::shrugs::

Pretty disturbing horror. Some scenes I would not care to see again.

Surprisingly good perfromances all round and a neato soundtrack by one SPK member Graeme Revell

Nicole Kidman is soooo annoying in this movie. Practically every decision she made had me wanting to scream at the screen. Normally I'd be able to accept that characters don't have to act in a logical way all the time, but this was just ridiculous.

Excellently paced thriller with consistent performances by Zane and Kidman.

Good plot but something just did not work in here.

Enjoyable, in its way. Hyper-violent in moments, particularly the ending. Some lovely shots of ocean, some lovely shots of a shirtless Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman pre-blonding & freckle removal.

well done overall

Good

Good movie, just makes me very uncomfortable. Which, I know, is the point.

Good suspense film. Better than some George Miller-directed films I could name

Great film!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe Nicole Kidman's best film. Taut thriller with just three characters lost at sea.