Kidman and Neill are trying to get over the tragic loss of their child by sailing out to the middle of nowhere to get away from things. They run across a sinking schooner which has only one survivor (Zane). He rows out to them and climbs aboard. Neill, out of curiosity, rows over to the sinking ship to find out what happened. This leaves Zane and Kidman on the boat...alone. I think what I wrote about accepting the insanity is pretty accurate as Kidman, in order to survive, feigns a relationship with Zane when she realizes that her life is in danger. Neill discovers what really happened on that boat and most of his story becomes trying to catch up with Zane and Kidman.

Metaphors aside, this is a good movie. The screenplay is taught. There are no scenes where you think to yourself that this is totally unnecessary. Everything establishes character or advances a situation. Neill's desperate struggle to get to the boat and his resourcefulness are real highlights.

The DVD doesn't really add too much, but I still recommend it for those who care about the quality of picture. It looks awesome on HDTV.

Recommended.


Shades of Hitchcock all the way through!   April 22, 2000
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

From the opening credits with that haunting music, to the tragic car accident scene, to the first scenes on the open sea (only 4 minutes in), all the way to the end, this movie is GREAT! There is no other movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The three person cast is amazingly talented. You feel trapped and scared with John Ingram (Sam Neill) as he tries to escape the bows of a sinking ship and get to his wife. You feel the hopelessness of Rae Ingram (Nicole Kidman) trapped with a madman and find yourself yelling "Yes! That's right! Go! Go!" as her quick witted mind begins to work as she attempts many different ways of defending herself. And it is understandable why she won't kill the captor, for after the death of her son, I think that she finds killing a last resort and will do anything not to have to kill a person. And as Hughie Warner, you can tell that Billy Zane is having soooo much fun with his crazed role.

On top of all that the boat, Sarascen, is really cool. Plus, throw in a heart pounding scene as Rae fights Hughie inside the boat during a huge storm, a heart wrenching demise to the family dog, a handful of sleeping pills, and one too many flares, there you have one awesome thriller.


Dead Calm is Dead On!   August 4, 2005
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Wow! Director Phillip Noyce sets you adrift with this thriller, where a relaxing voyage across the south pacific becomes a nightmarish trip of murder and madness.

Couple John and Rae Ingram are recovering from the loss of their only child due to a tragic accident. John, an experienced sailor and naval officer, takes his wife Rae on a cruise aboard their yacht to get her mind off the accident. While alone, many hundreds of miles from shore, they discover a black schooner that appears battered and unseaworthy, looming in the distance. A sole survivor from the disabled ship rows his way over to the Ingram's yacht at a hectic pace. Hughie, as he identifies himself, is obviously distraught from his experience aboard the schooner. The Ingrams graciously take the stranger in and let the exhausted man rest below.

John, suspicious of Hughie, decides to explore the ghostly abandoned vessel while his guest sleeps. Upon boarding, he discovers a shop of horrors below deck. Meanwhile, Hughie awakens and realizes John has discovered his dirty secret. He commandeeres the yacht with Rae as his captor, and leaves John alone with the crippled schooner.

This movie has a brilliant score that resonates with spine-tingling heavy breathing and fast rythm, adding intensity and desperation to every scene it's in. It's especially creepy when Joe discovers the corpses on the stricken vessel. But the most hyper-ventilating scene is where Joe runs out of air in the slowly sinking ship, while stuck in a compartment below deck. Whew!

This is an amazing film, considering it has so few actors and settings. Seasoned actor Sam Neill played convincingly as John Ingram, the caring husband and mariner. Nicole Kidman, refreshingly young and innocent as Rae Ingram, debuted to the world her acting talent. And as for Billy Zane, he adds flair (or is it flare?!!) to his part as the psychotic Hughie. I think you'll really enjoy this movie. It has all the elements of a really good thiller.


Has intensity   May 21, 2006
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I imagine the novel is better, but the film does have intensity. There isn't much change in setting, but the mix of emotions moves the plot along. Billy Zane is excellent as a madman, though we see some of the abuse he'd taken from his fellow crewmates and perhaps a glimpse of why this disillusioned artist went nuts. There are several scenes that moved me to the edge of my seat, but I regret not having a deeper look into the life and background of Zane's character. I'll have to read the novel for this info...
Chrissy K. McVay - Author


But what if you really donyt care anything about boats?   March 7, 2000
 6 out of 22 found this review helpful

Dead Calm is one of those movies that many have told me they liked, yet I have never really gotten into it. Maybe under one circumstance or another I've started watching it, or had an opportunity (a friend?) But just never got far past the opening.

So I finally sit down in front of it for 96 mins. I guess it tries hard to be a serious thriller, yet I can't take anything very seriously on a sailboat in the middle of nowhere. Phillip Noyce directed it, and, besides the two Jack Ryan movies he directed, he's made a couple of seriously flawed films (The Saint, Sliver). Maybe this movie takes itself a little too seriously.

I far prefer a campier version, like Kill Cruise (with Jurgen Prochnow, Jennifer Rubin, and Patsy Kensit) There the captain is a drunk, and his two passengers are the lowest form of party girls. When it starts to hit the fan there, you expect it. You've waited for it. You want it. You love it.

Here it's hard to imagine why Nicole Kidman didn't just kill Billy Zane any of the 1st 50 or so opportunities she had. The sort of needless and forced tension her hesitancy produces tends to lose my interest quickly. In the film's so called climax, she performs the Herculean task of driving the boat, and shining the light, and pulling her husband-200lbs of wet, exhausted man-to safety from a fast-moving boat. Yet in the film's opening she can't drive and talk at the same time without causing a fatal accident.

One man's irony is another's idiocy.