Whether it's for the relaxing sounds of the sea or the peaceful blue skies, there is something about setting a story on a water way that adds a certain dimension to a story. Sailing movies have been around for years, and everybody has their favorite. Ask five people to list their top five, and you will end up with a list of 25 different features.
Military stories are always popular for obvious reasons. They appeal to Navy veterans who enjoy reliving their exploits, while also being liked by those land-lubbing Army vets, who like to poke fun. Everybody likes a good maritime adventure, be it, "Das Boot, " the German serial drama about life on a submarine, or "Master and Commander, " with Russell Crowe in the starring role as an English sea captain in pursuit of a French vessel during the Napoleonic Wars.
Another category of sailing film includes stories about hapless souls having misadventures at sea. Excellent examples include, "Adrift, " a nail-biting thriller from 2006 about a group of men and women who go diving off their boat without making sure there was a ladder or other means of getting back on board. In "White Squall, " set in the 1960s, a group of teenage boys embark on the sailing trip of a lifetime, only to confront the storm of a lifetime.
The perennially popular five-feature film franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean, " began with the "Curse of the Black Pearl, " and concludes (or does it?) in 2017 with, "Dead Men Tell No Tales." A sixth film is under consideration. The series is masterminded by the legendary Jerry Bruckheimer, the brains behind television hits such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, " and adventure movies, "The Rock, " "Con Air, " and "Top Gun."
Then there are the films about tough fishermen on a quest to pit their wits against the ones that got away. Examples here are "The Old Man and the Sea, " a dramatization of the book of the same title by Ernest Hemingway. There are now three versions of the fishy tale: the original 1958, featuring Spencer Tracy, a popular 1999 remake starring Anthony Quinn, and a 20-minute animation version, which was directed by Alexander Petrov.
"All is Lost, " is a harrowing 2013 film starring Robert Redford. The film has no dialogue, which is hardly surprising. Redford has enough on his plate colliding with a shipping container in furiously stormy seas without having to make idle chit chat.
"Dead Calm, " offers levels of terror similar to those found in "All is Lost, " but from a different angle. Grieving couple, Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill go on a romantic cruise to put their lives back together. It's all going swimmingly until the psychopathic shipwrecked sailor comes along.
The sea provides a stage for all types of stories, from war films, to romance and psychological thrillers. Pirate movies are in a genre all their own. Sometimes, the most dramatic stories take place with a small handful of characters, making them perfectly suitable for the claustrophobic confines of a seagoing vessel. The combination of confined spaces and minimal casts enables the director to fully develop the characters of the individuals and the way in which they interact with one another.
Military stories are always popular for obvious reasons. They appeal to Navy veterans who enjoy reliving their exploits, while also being liked by those land-lubbing Army vets, who like to poke fun. Everybody likes a good maritime adventure, be it, "Das Boot, " the German serial drama about life on a submarine, or "Master and Commander, " with Russell Crowe in the starring role as an English sea captain in pursuit of a French vessel during the Napoleonic Wars.
Another category of sailing film includes stories about hapless souls having misadventures at sea. Excellent examples include, "Adrift, " a nail-biting thriller from 2006 about a group of men and women who go diving off their boat without making sure there was a ladder or other means of getting back on board. In "White Squall, " set in the 1960s, a group of teenage boys embark on the sailing trip of a lifetime, only to confront the storm of a lifetime.
The perennially popular five-feature film franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean, " began with the "Curse of the Black Pearl, " and concludes (or does it?) in 2017 with, "Dead Men Tell No Tales." A sixth film is under consideration. The series is masterminded by the legendary Jerry Bruckheimer, the brains behind television hits such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, " and adventure movies, "The Rock, " "Con Air, " and "Top Gun."
Then there are the films about tough fishermen on a quest to pit their wits against the ones that got away. Examples here are "The Old Man and the Sea, " a dramatization of the book of the same title by Ernest Hemingway. There are now three versions of the fishy tale: the original 1958, featuring Spencer Tracy, a popular 1999 remake starring Anthony Quinn, and a 20-minute animation version, which was directed by Alexander Petrov.
"All is Lost, " is a harrowing 2013 film starring Robert Redford. The film has no dialogue, which is hardly surprising. Redford has enough on his plate colliding with a shipping container in furiously stormy seas without having to make idle chit chat.
"Dead Calm, " offers levels of terror similar to those found in "All is Lost, " but from a different angle. Grieving couple, Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill go on a romantic cruise to put their lives back together. It's all going swimmingly until the psychopathic shipwrecked sailor comes along.
The sea provides a stage for all types of stories, from war films, to romance and psychological thrillers. Pirate movies are in a genre all their own. Sometimes, the most dramatic stories take place with a small handful of characters, making them perfectly suitable for the claustrophobic confines of a seagoing vessel. The combination of confined spaces and minimal casts enables the director to fully develop the characters of the individuals and the way in which they interact with one another.
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