Open Water the MOVIE...

[LilmanHSU]

I did some research on the topic, and it turns out it was a couple plagued by busy lives that needed a chance to rest and relax on the great barrier reef.. This whole film for the most part is speculation, but neither of them survived.

The crew didn't even notice they forgot someone until 3 days later when they noticed their gear still in the storage locker. The Austrailian Coast Guard spent 10 days searching for them, but all that turned up was some gear.

I guess six months later a dive slate turned up with a message written from them.

It freaked me out too!! I really don't think I want to see it, because I believe it was directed by the same person who directed the Blair Witch Project and the purpose is to hit your inner psyche as a thriller, not as a documentary. I don't need to have my wits frightened that much that I never go back in the water!! I dive comfortably, and as safely as I can (with plenty of other people and on familar boats)

What does everyone else think?

I'm not sure if this is the right forum or not for this, so I apologize if there is a more appropriate spot for it.

I went to see I, Robot today and one of the trailers was for a new movie called Open Water. The gist of it is that two divers, out in the middle of the ocean, surface to find that their party boat has left them behind. I don't know much more about the plot than that, but I can tell you, it freaked my wife and I out because that almost happened to us just after we were certified.

Here's one of those "I learned from that dive" things. We were out on a party boat with a bunch of other divers. When we got to the first wreck, we jumped in the water and descended down the drop line. As soon as we got to the bottom, my wife gave me the out of air sign (something went wrong with her regulator). I gave her my octopus and we ascended the line and got back on the boat. As we got on, one of the crew members asked us our names. We told them, switched her reg and went back into the water. About 20 minutes into our dive it hits the two of us at the same time that "Hey, they think we're back on the boat. No one knows we're in the water"! We freak out and ascend as quickly and controlled as we can. When we get to the surface, we find one of the crew members looking rather surprised to see us. Apparently, they were just getting ready to pull the anchor and move off to the next wreck. We tucked our tails neatly between our legs and climbed back on the boat.

Needless to say, we both felt exceedingly stupid and never did anything like that again. Seeing the trailer today though, was a tad disturbing.

John S.

 

[H2Andy]

there was some discussion on this movie some time back:

http://scubaboard.com/t61437.html

i haven't seen it yet, and probably wont. i don't like how hollywood dramatizes
everything. life is drama enough without theatrics.

 

[LilmanHSU]

yeah i hear ya.. its not worth the 8 dollars.. i'll wait til it comes out on USA Network

 

[squicker]

I've seen the same thing happening on the shoal.

Luckily it hasnt happened to me, what did happen is that we were the only boat out one afternoon and we surfaced to find the boat gone. Well after 2 hours of finning and 8 kms later we got to the shore and later that evening the boat skipper phoned the dive master and told him the both engines had died and the boat had drifted off. The halfwit hadn't even throw the anchor out to slow him down. The boat eventually washed up on some rocks about 15 kms up the coast and was wrecked.

If the seas had been rougher or the current going offshore it wouldnt have been somehting to laught about.

Moral of the story - Get a decent boat crew!

 

[diver567]

Have you heard about this new movie that is coming out? It is supposedly based on the events of Eileen and Tom Lonergan, who went missing in Australia in 1998 (never to be discovered). The film makers have decided to work with the concept rather than with any factual information. I think I know what this means - sharks, tidal waves, near death experiences. I wonder if this one has a happy ending?
Anyway, question is. Is this publicity for SCUBA good publicity?

 

[kabluton]

The fact that it says "based on true events" leads me to believe the filmaker had a lot of artistic freedom and that probably only 25% of it actually happened.

I hate to see another film that demonizes sharks like Jaws did in the 70's. Aren't they already being killed fast enough by the Asians for their fins?

Hollywood seriously needs some new material. There are SO many other diving related stories they could make a movie about. The new book Shadow Divers about John Chatterton and Richie Kohler would make an excellent movie.

 

[Jacqueline]

In my opinion - this movie will hurt the industry by sending the wrong message to people who are thinking about getting certified. But that's just my opinion - what does everyone else think?

http://movies.go.com/movies/O/openwater_2004/index.html

People are going to decide to opt out of diving with or without a movie about a real life tragedy. I saw this movie and have not yet gone to a diving class. However, I grew up swimming in the N. Atlantic, riding rip currents and lateral currents with fun and ease - long before learning how to master balancing a bicycle, and even assisted with rescuing panicked novice swimmers who did not know how to deal with the currents, so I guess you can say I am a proficient swimmer who has somewhat of an understanding of what being in the ocean is. What bothered me about the movie was several issues:
1. The self-absorbed fellow divers, especially the obnoxious guy who forgot his mask, failed to notice this couple was missing, or if the did notice, they did not give enough of a crap to tell the DM or the skipper. In the real case, the couple's "buddy" ascended without them as they lingered to look at some pretty colored fish.

2. When the couple was in the water, their initial situation was not as bad as it could have been. Salt water is dense and provides more buoyancy, making swimming or staying afloat easier than in fresh water. They had inflatable life jackets on them to aid them. Given the option of trying to swim to the nearest ship, buoy (sp?), or even use the sun and direction towards land as a rough estimate, why would they opt to sit there waiting for rescue - possibly risking shark encounters later if no one found them?

3. When they realized they drifted from their ascent point and missed their boat, why did they fail to assess their situation and think through the options of at least trying to swim for it rather than bicker with each other which solved absolutely nothing?

4. Since no one really knows for sure what the real couple experienced when they ascended to find themselved left behind, do we know if there really were any nearby boats, buoys, or anything else that they could have either signaled or swam towards?

5. Why did the man chicken out of his wife's initial suggestion to swim leisurely toward the direction of land or one of the baots, using currents to their advantage?

 

[Wayward Son]

Worst movie I ever watched. I waited to rent it, then did so even after hearing how lousy it was. I had to see for myself.

I want the 1.5 hours of my life back. I'm not kidding. Someone needs there *** kicked badly for fostering such an atrocity on us.

It wasn't just that the *diving* was done badly. The entire movie simply sucks. You'd expect better from a college student with a decent camcorder.

The one look we got at a naked chic wasn't anywhere near enough to be worth watching this one for.

 

[ScubaAngel831]

The movie came out about a year ago to theaters. It was actually pretty boring- not horrible for an INDEPENDENT film, was not hollywood material for sure. The most interesting part of the movie was when the girl was shown naked in the beginning. It could have been cut down to about 20 minutes worth of footage. Its like a ocean based version of the Blair Witch Project- only you actually see what the "scary" part of it is. Divers are lost all the time, not only in areas where they are careless in keeping count of the divers. It also happens when divers are careless, don't keep track of their bottom time, run out of air, etc. I think most of the domestic lost diver situations are that the diver gets lost in the current- but most of the time, the dive operator knows they are missing a diver or two. In other countries though, they don't seem quite as careful because they don't have nearly the amount of lawsuits that are made in the good ol' US of A

 

[ScubaAngel831]

Worst movie I ever watched. I waited to rent it, then did so even after hearing how lousy it was. I had to see for myself.

I want the 1.5 hours of my life back. I'm not kidding. Someone needs there *** kicked badly for fostering such an atrocity on us.

It wasn't just that the *diving* was done badly. The entire movie simply sucks. You'd expect better from a college student with a decent camcorder.

The one look we got at a naked chic wasn't anywhere near enough to be worth watching this one for.

I hadnt even gotten to the end of the thread when I made my post, but it seems we had the same thoughts in mind!! LOL