Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

matttaylor-65065 This film is a really good suspense drama, from start to finish its edge of your seat drama. The plot is really very realistic and it will make you think all the way through. It could happen to me! Absolutely nothing about this could be considered made up or even far fetched, every scene just perfectly directed and acted out wonderfully I can't say enough about how realistic it is. Along side the excellent acting the sound track is just as intense. There are a couple of minor issues which is what reduces the rating of the film down from a 10 to a 7 but there is enough drama, action to make it a film well worth watching. Make sure you strap yourself to the sofa before you sit down and start watching it!

LeonLouisRicci Slightly Underrated and Highly Enjoyable Sea Going Thriller. Three Handsome Actors and the Deep Blue are the Ingredients in this Never Complicated Story. It Just Moves with a Familiar Formula and Presents Itself as a Picture Postcard From Hell.Early Nicole Kidman Looking as Fresh as a Sunrise and Billy Zane, Darkly Tanned and Buff, Exuding Pathological Behavior from the Get Go are Teamed with the Centralized Character of a Navy Veteran (Sam Neill) that is Definitely Worth His Salt.Except for a Completely Unnecessary Prolog the Movie Sails Along with Contemporary Fulfillments Like a Sex Scene and Some Obligatory Topless Shots (what's a yacht movie without those), but Along the Voyage Some Surprising Things Happen Until the Predictable Ending. Anyone who has Seen More than Three Movies will Not Find that Surprising.Overall, a Tightly Paced and Great Looking Movie with a High Entertainment Value and it's About as Attractive as These Things Get.

wes-connors After tragically losing their son in a car accident, wealthy Australian Sam Neill (as John Ingram) and his exceptionally beautiful young wife Nicole Kidman (as Rae) take their dog "Benji" and set sail for a hopefully restful vacation on their yacht. Out on the "Dead Calm" Pacific Ocean waters, they find handsome Billy Zane (as Hughie Warriner) in distress. He claims his boat is sinking and everyone else on board has died from food poisoning. As this seems a likely story, they rescue the attractively shirtless and suspicious-looking Mr. Zane. This leads to the problems you'd expect, under these circumstances. This situation, probably done best by Roman Polanski in "Knife in the Water" (1962), is built on the supposition that the handsome newcomer may be dangerous and will reveal an aggressive sexual interest in the pretty woman. The cast is attractive, the formula works and the photography (by Dean Semler) is beautiful.****** Dead Calm (4/7/89) Phillip Noyce ~ Nicole Kidman, Billy Zane, Sam Neill, Rod Mullinar

zetes An excellent, sparse thriller. I think it'd be one of the greats if not for the opening and closing sequences. The opening one, about Nicole Kidman's and Sam Neil's loss of their son, could have easily been explained with dialogue - or not, since it never really comes back up again and only serves to slightly inform the audience of their emotional state. It compromises the rest of the film, though, which is set at sea. Kidman and Neil are on a long sailing trip when they come upon a stalled yacht. Before they even have much of a thought about it, a young man (Billy Zane) rows over to their boat as quick as his muscles will guide him. He claims that everyone else on the boat died of food poisoning and that it's now sinking, but Neil doesn't buy it. When Zane falls asleep, he rows over there himself and finds that everyone else has been murdered. Zane wakes up while Neil is gone and commandeers his own boat - and kidnaps his wife. Neil, an experienced sailor, fixes the other yacht and chases after them. Man, this is tense stuff, and all three of the actors are brilliant. It's too bad about that final sequence, which harms the movie far more than the unnecessary opening sequence. Supposedly test audiences reacted badly to the original ending, so they had to wrap it up more neatly in a bow, which just sucks. Well, I guess it's the film's only laugh, so there's that.