Open Water (2003)

Excellent but underrated film

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Open Water is shot in an almost documentary style and with two part-time actors. Do not let these facts deter you from catching this movie wherever you can. The film is based on a true story about two scuba divers(couple) who happen to get left behind by their tour boats in shark infested waters. You know the ending of the story but the lead up to it is an exercise in creating and maintaining tension. The film is also great for budding filmmakers on how to make a cheap but good film- this was made for a mere 120,000 dollars. Do not miss it, even if you have a fear of sharks.

Crap! Complete waste of time! Nothing else to be said!

I tuned into this at 1 a.m.in the morning, desperate to watch something that would hold my interest, and this turned out to be worth it. I wasn't expecting Jaws, nor did I get anything remotely similar, but it is on equal footing with "The Shallows"--another stranded-at-sea-in-the -midst- of -sharks film. By no means predictable, the film seemed intentionally truncated (only 1 hr.20min.) to keep from dragging. But there is enough tension built to keep you leaning forward in anticipation, and no "danger approaches music" to hype the scene. The ending delivers the goods and carries over into the credits. Overall, a good effort.

Saying this looks like home video is no false statement because this was actually filmed on one of those early digital cameras for homemade movies. I do think it is a cool look, but I cannot say that the rest of the movie is cool, except for one or two things. The story is a couple is going on a last-minute vacation for some relaxation and go scuba-diving on their first morning there. Unfortunately, their boat leaves them behind and they are left in the middle of the ocean with no land for miles and only an occasional boat or plane in sight. I myself have made comparisons to this and The Blair Witch Project like many others, mainly because of their styles of film-making, but here's the comparison that I made: the main characters in both movies get into trouble because they act like IDIOTS. I'm not kidding; the couple stays underwater longer than their given time, when they get stranded and do see a boat, they don't yell out for help and simply wave their arms (even though the husband has no problem yelling out in anger after being stranded for some time), and they pass up on a couple of opportunities to get help from a boat, simply because they don't think it's their boat (although this happens very soon after they get lost). Even the tour guides are pretty irresponsible. They miscount their passengers simply because one passenger dives back in with someone who didn't dive yet, and they leave without doing a role call. They don't even notice at the end of the day that some of their scuba gear is missing. I know that people will tell me that this is based on real events so my complaints are unrealistic, but here's my response: write a better script that doesn't make its characters seem like idiots, because I don't care for movies centering around people who act as such. I even think the concept is good, but again: the idiotic behavior of the characters ruins it. P.S. If you're trying to recapture a bit of Jaws, Open Water, at least be more subtle about it (you'll know what I mean when you see it). P.P.S. The ending is chilling, though.