Open Waters

[Lexmark3200]

Saw this last night after a MASSIVE waiting period for this to arrive in local theaters near me; my better half wanted to see this in a big way, being a fan of shark films, but Lion Gate Films was doing a test period in theaters to see how this would draw. Only select art house theaters in New York City (I live in the suburbs of NY) were showing this, until last night.

I gotta say....this was the absolute creepiest, most frightening thriller I have seen in a long, long time....and the documentary-style film does not rely on any music, effects, score or CGI to achieve these results. The fact-based story about two scuba divers who are left behind by the boat that dropped them there scared the **** out of us because of the REALISM about it.....they are left out there in the water for just about 24 hours and encounter sharks, jellyfish and skin-biting undersea life of all kinds....and they have no way of defending themselves...it was REALLY creepy.....just imagine being in that situation, yourself, and what you would do....with no land or anything to tread over to and grab hold of....just the middle of the ocean with unknown life beneath you. Truly chilling, and MUCH MUCH better than the handful of these direct-to-video pieces of crap about shark attacks that are littering the new release shelves of video stores now.

And I mean the whole way this was filmed was good and creepy.....how the scuba diving boat director takes a wrong head count and forgets about the two left behind, how the two of them drift off course until finally the sun sets and night falls and the sharks begin circling them.....and man, were the night time scenes frightening.....the screen is black, with sudden flashes of lightning and thunder and then you suddenly see the sharks circling the two divers' feet beneath them while they scream....really creepy.

You know what annoyed me most about watching this film? The ****ing idiots that came to the theater thinking this was supposed to be Jaws....I cant tell you how many morons I saw walking down the aisle with their tubs of popcorn, their date next to them, humming the Jaws theme and giggling like idiots....thinking this was supposed to be a horror shark attack film. After the film broke, two guys behind us were cursing, moaning and groaning that this was the "worst piece of **** they ever saw".....I was SO tempted to look back there, confront them and ask them "what EXACTLY did you expect this to be? This was NOT supposed to be a horror film --- you just DIDNT get the point because, like everyone else in the idiotic John Q Public, you need to be ENTERTAINED by some kind of Hollywood over the top extravaganza of special effects and top-tier actor titles; GOD FORBID something like Open Waters comes along, made with an independent feel without Hollywood's sugar coating of everything with a stupid love story and computer graphics, and you actually need to FOCUS ON THE FILM and what is happening up there....God Forbid, right? THIS WAS NOT THE POINT of what you just saw....it was NOT about horror, it was about IMAGINING being out there and enduring that yourself"......but I didnt because I simply thought that it wouldnt have made a difference anyway with these jackholes.

At any rate, go see Open Waters....I am not going to give the ending away, suffice to say that it shocked us. And it was refreshing in this day and age of "everything working out for the hero at the end of the film" motion picture-making.

[Retardking]

I saw Open Waters yesterday. It was okay... not bad, not great just okay. It didn't creep me out like it did Lex that may stem from watching too much Discovery channel I suppose. The acting was mediocre at best unfortunately and I didn't much care what happened to the characters because of that. The short comings in the acting department lost that pseudo-documentary feeling. I wanted to see it mainly because it was shot on video and wanted to see how well the video tranferred to film, so I wasn't terribly disappointed with it. I wasn't expecting JAWS so my expectations were modest. It did have a strange effect on the audience though. Nobody said anything as they were leaving, almost like a funeral procession. Kind of strange. I'll give it another look when it comes to DVD or HBO.

[Lexmark3200]

I saw Open Waters yesterday. It was okay... not bad, not great just okay. It didn't creep me out like it did Lex that may stem from watching too much Discovery channel I suppose. The acting was mediocre at best unfortunately and I didn't much care what happened to the characters because of that. The short comings in the acting department lost that pseudo-documentary feeling. I wanted to see it mainly because it was shot on video and wanted to see how well the video tranferred to film, so I wasn't terribly disappointed with it. I wasn't expecting JAWS so my expectations were modest. It did have a strange effect on the audience though. Nobody said anything as they were leaving, almost like a funeral procession. Kind of strange. I'll give it another look when it comes to DVD or HBO.

No, it did not come from watching too much Discovery Channel, as "you suppose"....I dont watch much Discovery Channel.....it was just the fact of IMAGINE being out there while you are watching this....I closed my eyes and imagined what that must have been like....no land around you to swim to while you dont know what the **** is swimming under you.....sounds to me like, no offense really, that you were one of those people I was talking about that "just didnt get the point" of what they were trying to do with this.

You speak of the acting in this, but honestly, were you really expecting top notch acting from this? THAT is what I mean when I talk about the public's perception of what this was supposed to be.....the acting was not supposed to be A-List; there were no Tom Cruises, Salma Hayeks, Gene Hackmans, Jack Nicholsons....I think it worked so well because the two main characters were just PLAYING THEMSELVES without much drama; their terror as the 24 hours went on seemed madly real to me, and made it all the more frightening.

[Worf101]

On your and Roger Eberts recommendation. I must admit your review was better than his. Remember one thing Lex, if I can't sleep tonight... I'm comin' after YOU!!!! LOL... and I'm a whole lot scarier than some dad blasted shark...

Da Worfster :eek:

[Retardking]

I just never got the sense of fright that you did out of it. If they wouldn't have shown the sharks every twelve seconds maybe the sense of not knowing what is underneath you would have had a more dramatic effect on me. If not knowing what's around you was the scare, then don't keep showing what's around them. I understand fully what they were going for. Thet unfortunately fell short of the mark with me.

As for the acting, it was mediocre. There are a lot of great b,c, & d-list actors. These two are not in that catagory. I have seen many well acted parts played by nobodies. To give them a pass because they aren't A-List is weird. To not expect good acting because they are no-names is weird. It is a movie afterall. Acting is a pretty big part of what happens on screen. It's hard to get a sense of terror when you don't get it from the actors. That's all I'm saying.

[Lexmark3200]

On your and Roger Eberts recommendation. I must admit your review was better than his. Remember one thing Lex, if I can't sleep tonight... I'm comin' after YOU!!!! LOL... and I'm a whole lot scarier than some dad blasted shark...

Da Worfster :eek:

Hahahhahahahhaha.....I really am shaking already Worf....Im not kidding!!! LOL.

[Lexmark3200]

I just never got the sense of fright that you did out of it. If they wouldn't have shown the sharks every twelve seconds maybe the sense of not knowing what is underneath you would have had a more dramatic effect on me. If not knowing what's around you was the scare, then don't keep showing what's around them. I understand fully what they were going for. Thet unfortunately fell short of the mark with me.

As for the acting, it was mediocre. There are a lot of great b,c, & d-list actors. These two are not in that catagory. I have seen many well acted parts played by nobodies. To give them a pass because they aren't A-List is weird. To not expect good acting because they are no-names is weird. It is a movie afterall. Acting is a pretty big part of what happens on screen. It's hard to get a sense of terror when you don't get it from the actors. That's all I'm saying.

No, I have to tell you, after seeing MANY direct to video releases over the past couple of months, I was exposed to way too many B C and D list actors and actresses; none of them, in my opinion, could hold a candle to the way these two pulled off Open Waters; their reactions were natural.....precisely the way most humans would react to what was going on out there. I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion, and yours is yours and thats fine....its just that how do you think YOU would react, if differently, if YOU were out there? Do you think you would have "acted" any different from these two?

There is nothing that is going to change my general opinion about the way the moviegoing public today expects film to be; they are, for the most part, morons (I am not talking about you and me and the folks on this board, but the general population) who simply want to be entertained without history lessons, without a sappy love story attached or without some sub plot regarding teens and their coming of age bull****....a film like this comes along with some validity to something that actually happened to two innocent people and everyone in the theater I saw this in expected Jaws or Deep Blue Sea....that is a joke to me. That is what I am saying. All these kids --- and I mean ALL of them --- in the theater I saw this in were groaning, moaning and cursing at the end that it sucked....BECAUSE THEY DID NOT GET IT. Thats what I am saying. They did not understand what the director (happily working for Lion Gate Films by the way) was going for with Open Waters. It was SUPPOSED to have a documentary style feel with little or no music. It was SUPPOSED to have a documentary style visual treatment with no Hollywood polishing syrup. If it didnt do it for you, it didnt do it for you.....but personally, as a film student and a film buff, this film did EVERYTHING it was supposed to do TO ME....and this made me TERRIFIED to go into the water much much more than Jaws ever did.

[Worf101]

There is nothing that is going to change my general opinion about the way the moviegoing public today expects film to be; they are, for the most part, morons (I am not talking about you and me and the folks on this board, but the general population) who simply want to be entertained without history lessons, without a sappy love story attached or without some sub plot regarding teens and their coming of age bull****....a film like this comes along with some validity to something that actually happened to two innocent people and everyone in the theater I saw this in expected Jaws or Deep Blue Sea....that is a joke to me.

To quote an old Bugs Bunny short, "you can't call me a stupid I'm a moron". Wow, tell us how you really feel Lex. I know HWood panders to the lowest possible denominator, but it was ever thus. Ever thus. I'll be seeing the film tonight then I'll have a more educated opinion on the matter.

Da Worfster

[Lexmark3200]

To quote an old Bugs Bunny short, "you can't call me a stupid I'm a moron". Wow, tell us how you really feel Lex. I know HWood panders to the lowest possible denominator, but it was ever thus. Ever thus. I'll be seeing the film tonight then I'll have a more educated opinion on the matter.

Da Worfster

Ahhhhh....come on Worfster....you know what I am talking about.....the KINDS of people I mean....these everyday dopies that are walking around without a clue; the Wal Mart zombies...I hope you find the film to be as entertaining as I did, kid.....

[Worf101]

It was a "good" if not great film. Made on lunch money. The fact that it was shot in video and transferred to film is nothing short of amazing. I loved the actors and the juxtaposition of the their plight with the forced "happy go lucky" nature of the tourista experience was stunning and saddening. The film was very effective. I'll swim again, but don't ask me to go out of sight of land. The ending was powerful... rending. The use of "nobodies" was brilliant. John and Jane everyyuppie. Inspired casting. Silent theatre told it all....

Good movie.

Da Worfster

[Lexmark3200]

It was a "good" if not great film. Made on lunch money. The fact that it was shot in video and transferred to film is nothing short of amazing. I loved the actors and the juxtaposition of the their plight with the forced "happy go lucky" nature of the tourista experience was stunning and saddening. The film was very effective. I'll swim again, but don't ask me to go out of sight of land. The ending was powerful... rending. The use of "nobodies" was brilliant. John and Jane everyyuppie. Inspired casting. Silent theatre told it all....

Good movie.

Da Worfster

Very well put, your entire analysis....I am in total agreement that the use of nobodies was brilliant, and John and Jane Everyyuppie was a perfect description of these two.

Perhaps "saddening" was the most effective term to describe the experience with this film....the ending was saddening, and I do not think I would be able to re-visit this on DVD because it just seemed all too real. My girlfriend made an interesting analogy with Open Waters and Silence of the Lambs, in a personal sense, with regard to the scene in Lambs where "Buffalo Bill" tricks the girl into helping him into the van and then kidnaps her....she (my girl) says she cannot watch Lambs because of this scene, because it seems SO REAL, that something like this can happen any place, any time, to any girl....seems the same could happen to anyone out there on the water with regard to the events in Open Waters....

[JSE]

Silent theatre told it all....

Da Worfster

Yep, everyone in the theater with me was fast asleep. This movie um, er SUUUUUCKKKED. My god, what a bunch of horse crappy. This thing was only about an hour and fifteen minutes or so and I could barely hold on. 5 or 6 people got up and left about 45 minutes into it. They could have cut it down to the last 20 minutes and it would have been better.

I just did not "get" it. (And I got Donnie Darko, sorry just read that thread) I understand the premise but I just thought it was poorly done. Way to much silent time with views of flowers and tourist and such. Ok, the girl was hot. More of her in her birthday suit would not have saved the movie but definitely would have made it at least entertaining.

Interesting side note, the girl really got bit filming the movie. The cuts to her leg were real from a Barracuda.

I was impressed that they made the movie on a shoestring budget and used mostly film crew in the movie for other parts. But, the movie blew.

BTW Worf, I'm 100% with ya on Darko. If you need a change of pace, check out Boondock Saints. Very Cool B style movie that I think might be up your alley.


JSE

[Lexmark3200]

Yep, everyone in the theater with me was fast asleep. This movie um, er SUUUUUCKKKED. My god, what a bunch of horse crappy. This thing was only about an hour and fifteen minutes or so and I could barely hold on. 5 or 6 people got up and left about 45 minutes into it. They could have cut it down to the last 20 minutes and it would have been better.

I just did not "get" it. (And I got Donnie Darko, sorry just read that thread) I understand the premise but I just thought it was poorly done. Way to much silent time with views of flowers and tourist and such. Ok, the girl was hot. More of her in her birthday suit would not have saved the movie but definitely would have made it at least entertaining.

Interesting side note, the girl really got bit filming the movie. The cuts to her leg were real from a Barracuda.

I was impressed that they made the movie on a shoestring budget and used mostly film crew in the movie for other parts. But, the movie blew.

BTW Worf, I'm 100% with ya on Darko. If you need a change of pace, check out Boondock Saints. Very Cool B style movie that I think might be up your alley.


JSE

Yup,

If you fell asleep and thought it sucked, like the lamebrains I got into an argument outside the theater about it did, then you clearly DID NOT geeeet it.

[pildo]

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[alumpkin]

Although the story is BASED on a true story, there are things that happen in the movie that physically could not happen! I know I am nit-picking somewhat, but being a certified advanced diver, I couldn't stand it. For example, she takes her weight belt off to put it around his wound and then later she goes under to look at the wound. This is not possible, you have to have a weight belt in order to provide negative bouyancy to get under water.

Another big problem I had with this movie was the ending (so stop reading if you have not seen it). I mean for the girl to basically give up and go under and give herself to the sharks... give me a break! If this is based off a true story, I think this is an insult to the people it is about... to say that they gave up. From my knowledge, there is no proof of this from the real life story. I think a camera was found, but someone would not take pictures of themself giving up.

I'll tell you one thing, when I went diving out in Australia and Fiji where the temperature outside is nice and warm, the ocean water flowing in and out of your wetsuit really cools you down. After all, water takes heat away from your body faster than air. So sitting there bobbing on the surface would make them a lot colder then they were and would have a good chance of lowering their body temps to bad levels.

One thing I liked was how it was told. This situation has actually happened a few times in history and I agree with other posts that it was good movie making with regard to the pitch black night lighting up with the storm and the lower quality movie camera look. But overall, this movie really dissapointed me.

[Kam]

Haven't seen it yet and stupidly read all of alumpkins post, damnit. all my fault for being a curious idiot and ignoring the spoiler sign. stupid. still want to go see it and more importantly alumpkin.... Oct 23, my boys are payin' a lil visit to the wolfpack...

[Lexmark3200]

Well, I am sorry that it dissapointed you, but I will continue to contend that it was excellent in terms of what they were going for; as a matter of fact, it was so chillingly real to me that I will not watch the DVD version when it comes out, at least for awhile....no music during the attack sequences, the bleakness of it all; chilling. You say "give me a break" with regard to how the last character "gave up", well, I was watching a special documentary on the Travel Channel about this case, AND have rented handfulls of documented tapes on the subject from local libraries, and according to these well-researched sources, this is exactly how it went down....I think anyone out there in those conditions would have surrendered to fate at that point --- you may say ABSOLUTELY NOT because you are in a clean, dry computer office right now typing away and watching insistently the boards on audioreview.com, BUT placed in that situation....with no hope of contacting anything that remotely resembles society, you would need to re-analyze that position. Im telling you, you would give up too. She didnt do anything outside the realm of anything considered "impossible" or "possible"; she did the only thing left to her because there was simply no energy left inside that shell we call a body.

EXCELLENT film in terms of what they were going for.

[alumpkin]

Well, I am sorry that it dissapointed you, but I will continue to contend that it was excellent in terms of what they were going for; as a matter of fact, it was so chillingly real to me that I will not watch the DVD version when it comes out, at least for awhile....no music during the attack sequences, the bleakness of it all; chilling. You say "give me a break" with regard to how the last character "gave up", well, I was watching a special documentary on the Travel Channel about this case, AND have rented handfulls of documented tapes on the subject from local libraries, and according to these well-researched sources, this is exactly how it went down....I think anyone out there in those conditions would have surrendered to fate at that point --- you may say ABSOLUTELY NOT because you are in a clean, dry computer office right now typing away and watching insistently the boards on audioreview.com, BUT placed in that situation....with no hope of contacting anything that remotely resembles society, you would need to re-analyze that position. Im telling you, you would give up too. She didnt do anything outside the realm of anything considered "impossible" or "possible"; she did the only thing left to her because there was simply no energy left inside that shell we call a body.

EXCELLENT film in terms of what they were going for.

I agree that the movie was well done, just not realistic. And I am not going to argue with you about what I would have done because no one will ever know unless I was in that position. If you have read documentries that say that is the way it went down, then the film got better in my mind. I never heard any of that and I guess it depends on the person's individual level of hope. Anyway, didn't mean to ruin the film for anyone, I just couldn't get over the physically impossible things.

And Kam, like you, I cannot wait for Oct. 23rd! It is going to be a great game! You going?

[Lexmark3200]

I agree that the movie was well done, just not realistic. And I am not going to argue with you about what I would have done because no one will ever know unless I was in that position. If you have read documentries that say that is the way it went down, then the film got better in my mind. I never heard any of that and I guess it depends on the person's individual level of hope. Anyway, didn't mean to ruin the film for anyone, I just couldn't get over the physically impossible things.

And Kam, like you, I cannot wait for Oct. 23rd! It is going to be a great game! You going?

I dont know how you can call it unrealistic, but okay...

[Kam]

i haven't been to a 'cane's game in far too long. my first big home game was Wide Right II, an unbelievable game! will just be watching it on tv unfortunately, rooting for my boys as always!! but that'll be a good one, am gonna have to watch the next few wolfpack games if i can find 'em, see how it'll match up, but that virginia-miami game AT virginia is gonna be for the ACC i think. great games this year! gotta love college football!

peace
go 'canes!!!
k2

[alumpkin]

I dont know how you can call it unrealistic, but okay...

I don't know if you understand physics and diving, but okay...

[alumpkin]

i haven't been to a 'cane's game in far too long. my first big home game was Wide Right II, an unbelievable game! will just be watching it on tv unfortunately, rooting for my boys as always!! but that'll be a good one, am gonna have to watch the next few wolfpack games if i can find 'em, see how it'll match up, but that virginia-miami game AT virginia is gonna be for the ACC i think. great games this year! gotta love college football!

I totally agree, very tough competition all around this year. I mean, NCSU lost to Ohio State, but it was mainly the turnovers. In college football today, you have 5 turnovers and it is almost impossible to win. NCSU's defense sure showed up though. But Miami, VT, and Virginia are all nasty! Almost every team in the ACC can knock off a top ranked team in the NCAA! I just hope we don't beat up on each other so much that we miss out on the BCS bowl games.

And I have to agree, gotta love college football!

[Lexmark3200]

I don't know if you understand physics and diving, but okay...

Sure I do; I had detailed undergrad studies at Long Island University Southampton Campus in marine biology: advaned techniques (course code certification LB687U) and underwater survival training; I was TOLD by instructors at this college, after contacting them once this film broke to the public --- as well as researching what I told you I did --- that the film was very, very factual, so I dont know where YOU are getting YOUR information or insight from; I believed it to be VERY realistic, so, what, my opinion is not as valid as yours? You are kidding, right, please tell me you are.....

Ended up with a bachelor of science degree from Long Island, New York's Adelphi University's Technology and Communications highly regarded program, and achieved a masters in Business: Future Methods from New York's acclaimed Hofstra University program; sure, I didnt end up being a rescue diver but I sure knew my **** from Southampton University's marine division --- one of the most regarded in the nation.