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Movie Review - Poseidon (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Wolfgang Petersen |
| Starring: |
Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Richard Dreyfuss, and Emmy Rossum |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril) |
| Length: |
99 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Drama/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
None. |
| Studio: |
Warner Bros. |
| Website: |
Poseidon |
| Release: |
May 12, 2006 |
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PLOT
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Luxury cruise liner meets gigantic wave on New Year's Day. Before too long this boat is gonna submerge. A small
group of passengers, led by Dylan Johns (Lucas) and Robert Ramsey (Russell), is not about to wait around to be
rescued -- they decide to find their own way out. Fun water-knocking-people-every-which-way action ensues.
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STEPH'S TAKE
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When the 150-foot high rogue wave hits the ship, holy moly! The filmmakers did an excellent job making the havoc
realistic. People get tossed and slammed but good. I'm pretty sure my mouth was open for the length of this scene.
And the other scenes involving the ship succumbing to the sea are impressive as well. Great stuff.
Fortunately, the most famous people in the movie don't hang out in the ballroom and hope somebody comes to save
them. I don't think many people would enjoy Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas sitting around doing nothing. Josh Lucas
is immediately ready to make his way to the water's surface (and look mighty fine doing it). Kurt Russell's
daughter is elsewhere on the boat, so he's all for leaving the ballroom and finding her. Richard Dreyfuss is the
gay guy who is gay just so we can think, "Oh look how normal it is to be gay!" Emmy Rossum and her boyfriend provide
the small love story that is much more tolerable than the crap in Titanic. Matt Dillon's brother is the guy
you love to hate, there's the hot Latina, and finally, the mother-son combo.
Something these folks have in common besides their attempt to save themselves is that they are all quite good at
holding their breath. After about 20 seconds I'm about to pass out. If you put me in a stressful situation and
shove me under water, I'm sure the panic would set in at around 0.2 seconds and I'd be breathing H2O lickety split.
Not so for this tough bunch. It's like they are all related to David Blaine or something. But this is an action
movie, so I won't nitpick too much. It's not surprising that the bounds of reality might be pushed just a tad in a
movie like this.
Tension and action are consistent throughout. The hour and a half running time keeps lulls at bay. There are also
unexpected events that keep predictability at bay. It is quite an enjoyable ride.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Budget: $140,000,000
- The original title was to be Das Remake. OK, not really.
- For those of you who don't get the above lame attempt at a joke, Wolfgang Petersen directed the Oscar-nominated
Das Boot in 1981.
- Johnny thinks "Wolfgang" is a cool name and wonders why only Germans are named that.
- This is more of a re-imagining than a straight remake of 1972's The Poseidon Adventure. Says
Wolfgang, "We borrowed the idea of a luxury liner with thousands of people aboard, hit by a rogue wave on New
Year's Eve and then started from scratch with an all-new screenplay and original, contemporary characters."
- Johnny predicts that we'll see a new Sci-Fi Original entitled Rogue Wave by the end of the
year. Lorenzo Lamas and Kevin Sorbo are probably being contacted as I type.
- Kurt Russell did most of his own stunt work. It's a feat that is likely more respectable than wise as he
admits to getting pneumonia and nearly drowning on set.
- Russell played 3 1/2 years of minor league baseball until a torn rotator cuff ended his career.
- Johnny is embarrassed to admit that he saw Kuffs TWICE at the theater. I promise it was only because
of Milla Jovovich!
- There are over 600 VFX (visual effects) shots in the movie.
- Kurt Russell was in 3000 Miles to Graceland with David Arquette who was in The Road Killers with
Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Profanity is kept to a minimum. I don't remember anything specific in the way of bad language. The violent deaths
should cause parents concern. Little kids don't need to be seeing that. Mama could probably handle it though.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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WYSIWYG - I think the trailer makes it clear what kind of movie this is.
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THE GIST
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Poseidon is a great action movie that keeps the tension going strong the entire run. The story isn't too
deep, but the great effects and cool stunts make up for it in my book.
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