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Comments 1 - 7 of 7
CorPse
I was quite surprised at how effective this film was. I've seen my share of disaster movies over the years, and I'd say this ranks among the best. I'll say it... Peter Berg has become a really solid director.Torgo
This was an unexpectedly good disaster action film, one of the rare serious kind with real budget - they even built a complete oil rig set for this, sweet jesus! A shame it flopped at the box office, but how many people walk into theaters to watch some oil rig accident? I liked the build-up to the catastrophe, quite technical, reminding one of a blockbuster version of the opening to the Chernobyl series, of course way less mature.One thing is sadly missing from this production, and it's not USA flags in face of the fire inferno (of course not!), but how devastating the consequences to nature were. It's noble to honor the 11 fatal victims, sure, but how would you end the dramatization of such an event without stressing the horrendous environmental impact in the pre-credit text? "200 million gallons spilt", that's it? It's an unparalleled ecological disaster, the biggest of its kind in US history, call it so! At least the workmen had a choice to do a risky job - tens of thousands of animals dying in agony hadn't. Grant them a line of text, for heaven's sake.
Cynicus Rex
Pleasantly surprised by this one. What did annoy me was the running next to motherfucks of flame. An embarrassing misconception that nearly all movies err in. Fire that huge is near impossible to run next to without immediately getting second-degree burns and fainting because you're burning your lungs. Even with protective suits the heat swiftly becomes unbearable up close. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie.CaptainMarica
Such an incredibly intense and heartbreaking movie. It had me cringing, tearing up and kept me on the edge of my seat.MonsieurBlutbad
A poorly written exploitation of the Deepwater Horizon desaster without any real characters or any narrative besides obvious foreshadowing and expository dialogue.Siskoid
I'm not the audience for movies "based on a true story", especially tragedies that take place in recent memory, as I find them particularly exploitative. So why would I watch Deepwater Horizon? Surely it can't be because it's by the director of Battleship! Or by the producers and star of Transformers. The writer of Ninja Assassin? No, it's because Kurt Russell is in it. I'm not made of stone here, folks! Anyway, despite its dodgy resume, the film IS an effective real-life disaster movie that, in its first half, captures what life on an oil rig is like, with real-sounding technical jargon, and stakes the film finds a way to spell out adequately. Russell makes a great blue collar patriarch, and Mark Wahlberg, as usual, does well as a blue collar hero. And of course, the explosive second half has plenty of excitement. What Deepwater Horizon does not do is tell us anything particularly novel about the event. Greed is bad. Good folks needlessly died. The ecological disaster merits a line of text. But beyond the pure mechanics of drilling for oil, it's short on illumination.ikkegoemikke
"The Runner" was about a congressman who tried to provide financial support for local fisheries after the BP oil spill. "Deepwater Horizon" displays in a consistent manner the pure facts on the day of the fatal accident with this oil platform. It could have been just another disaster movie, like I've seen a lot before. Full of heroism, spectacular scenes and emotionally charged images of families at home, waiting for some good news. Ultimately, it wasn't that kind of a movie. They managed to make a film without any Hollywoodian, exaggerated situations. In short, no tricks to make it more spectacular in terms of action and emotions. It's an accurate reporting of the facts that took place before and during the disaster. Sometimes I feel like watching an action-soaked disaster film where people end up in a very explosive situation, both literally and figuratively. On the other hand, I would have enjoyed a piece about the aftermath of this disaster as well.
As in any disaster movie we get to see two different groups of people with opposing opinions. First we have those who predict the danger and who tried to point out to the others what consequences will result from making rash decisions. And then there's the other party rejecting any danger and trying to nip any protest in the bud, which ensures that the whole situation derails. In the group of individuals who are using common sense and where safety is top-priority, we find Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) and Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg). Harrell is a hardened foreman on the rig, who insists on checking the cement layer that'll protect the rig against a blow out. You don't have to be a genius to know this test isn't carried out properly and what consequences it'll bring. Mike Williams is the technician who's responsible to make sure everything that needs to function will function perfectly (including the toilets). It's no surprise he transforms into the person who keeps his nerve when the trouble begins and acts in an effective way to prevent worse.
The sad thing about films like "Deepwater Horizon", is that the outcome is already known in advance. It's quite annoying when your wife peeks around the corner once again and calmly asks the same question over and over again : "And? Is it already happening?". But isn't that the moment you're waiting for in the first place? The moment the mayhem starts? The prelude only has an educational purpose (with a can of Coke explaining how drilling oil from an platform works) and merely serves to gradually build up the tension. When hell breaks loose, you'll witness a chain of explosions with such destructive force that walls, iron structures and workmen literally fly away in all directions. There's nothing so annoying as when you're enjoying a refreshing shower and the wall blows up right in your face with broken glass and twisted iron leaving a trail of destruction and death. That's what some of the crew members experienced the first minute.
Mark Wahlberg plays a terrific part as the indifferent technician Mike, who isn't is impressed by the rather authoritarian tone used by the big shots from BP. I'm not Wahlberg's biggest fan, but now I felt like this was a suitable role for him. Ditto regarding Kurt Russell who stands his ground against these BP representatives. John Malkovich (who I always will remember as the provoking Russian poker-player Teddy KGB in "Rounders") plays the arrogant, pedantic BP man who at first acts extremely haughty and self-confident. But when the sh*t hits the fan, he runs off like a scaredy-cat, realizing he escaped a certain death. He looked like one of these male passengers who sneaked in the rescue boats with the women and children when the Titanic hit that giant ice cube. Pathetic.
Don't expect much profundity in this movie. No blame directed towards the managers of BP whose only concern is to make a profit. That's more important to them than the safety of the staff. No epilogue in which these bozos are held responsible for one of the largest environmental disasters ever. And no real character development when talking about the main characters. The only goal they had in mind, was to escape from the flames and survive. But the special effects, action sequences and nail-biting race against the clock will blow you away. Exactly what the crew experienced.
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