Belated movie review: Open Water

[nagel]

I agree with most, terrible movie, but I must say I only caught the last hour of the movie. At first, I was on the bandwagon about what a terrible movie it was and how dare they take that hour away from me. But, think about it - didn't it get people thinking? I guess it is based on a true event, so, it can happen. When you go on a boat are you at least a little more sensitive to making sure people know you and do you think that atleast the charter boat operators may be a little more sensitive at making sure they have everybody when they cut for shore? If we got this out of the movie, maybe it did serve a purpose for atleast a small period of time.

I'm grasping at straws to substantiate the hour I lost watching the movie.

S. Nagel

 

[Tom Smedley]

This was a cheaply produced movie but I use a segment of it for my rescue classes. There are things that can better be shown than said and the section where the deckhand is giving the briefing and the jerk pipes in is truly educational.

1. A type-a personality forgets an important piece of equipment and makes a scene disrupting the dive briefing.

2. The arrogant female crew member claims that there are no spare masks on board and adamately refuses to help.

3. The deck hand uses a tally to keep track of divers instead of calling roll. When Mr. type-A takes over the lady's mask and talks her husband into going back with him the deck hand does not correct his tally.

4. Although they constantly bicker and the female protagonist proves she is a witch with a capital B with the "I'm not in the mood" bedroom scene (among others) they are just divers having fun in the water and are left victims not of their own making but of a scene started by the distractor Mr Type-A - and of the apathetic crew who apparently just want to get the trip over and head home. When they got to the dock they apparently left the boat uncleaned because they didn't find the extra equipment until the next day.

This is an outstanding demonstration of how things start small and build quickly to set the stage for disaster. The rest of the movie kind of sucks.

 

[RS]

The Big Blue. ...if you can find it.

That was just on "Comcast On-Demand"; missed it. The Deep is on now, though and I always have the wakulla springs video recorded (is it "Florida's Aqua Caves"?..)

After reading the link to the real "Open Water" story (sad and unbeleivable story), I'm interested in seeing the movie, even though this link had already told me the ending. I still can't believe a boat would leave without confirming the head count.

 

[RS]

When you go on a boat are you at least a little more sensitive to making sure people know you and do you think that atleast the charter boat operators may be a little more sensitive at making sure they have everybody when they cut for shore?

I'm grasping at straws to substantiate the hour I lost watching the movie.

S. Nagel

Maybe a good invention is a timer in your dive bag. If you don't turn it off within an hour or whatever, an alarm goes off that says "Hey! You left me behind! Go back and get me! I come from a family of lawyers!"

Don't have a suggestion to help with the lost hour.

 

[nagel]

Nice idea....or dive boat operators could do their job and make sure they have everybody. But, I do like the idea of an alarm.

S. Nagel

 

[Newlynarked]

So here's a curiosity question...

Have those of you who do a lot of boat diving noticed any difference before or after this movie in the way that the divemasters handle the roll? Did it make Joe Public any more "aware" or paranoid that prompted divemasters to "annunciate" the way that they keep track of people in order to assure people that they weren't going to leave them behind?

 

[jim T.]

I once read that DAN used to offer free to dive operators, a numbered tag on a board system. Kind of like coat checking. If there was a number missing on the board before leaving the site, then find out why...

 

[Easy Rider]

This is not a good film to inspire people to take up recreational diving. (Uh, huh, I'm going going to do that, I'm afraid of sharks. No way am I getting left behind in the ocean)



I don't think that was the intention, OPen Water, like the movie Into the Blue, showed recreational divers/cattles boats as bafoonery at it's best.

Suprisingly, the public at large does not see scuba as a glamor sport, instead, something of a nerd event.

N

Actually this movie did get me (re)-interested in diving.

Isn't the guy who made this movie a diver?

 

[dlwalke]

Wow. I loved this movie. I thought it was very daring to make a movie in which 95% of the movie was dialogue between 2 characters. Kind of like Dinner with Andre. And for me, it worked. Plus, I thought it was double cool that the couple who made it were not professionals and, as I understand it, never quit their day jobs as they made the movie. At the end of the day though, I just thought it was a very good movie - even more so in that it didn't stick to a standard hollywood formula. And to be honest, I don't even remember the gratuitous nude scene. I certainly don't think this was a movie that tried to slide by with nudity or anything like that. The Deep would definitely be the better movie if that sort of thing is what appeals to you. This was more of a inter- and even intra-personal dynamic movie, in what for me was a fun setting - i.e., open water.

 

[rockjock3]

So here's a curiosity question...

Have those of you who do a lot of boat diving noticed any difference before or after this movie in the way that the divemasters handle the roll? Did it make Joe Public any more "aware" or paranoid that prompted divemasters to "annunciate" the way that they keep track of people in order to assure people that they weren't going to leave them behind?

The movie didn't, but the event did. At least it changed how the boat operators in Australia operated. I am sure it prompted changes elsewhere as well. The even took place in 1998.