"Open Water": Did I miss anything? WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS

[Pale Blue Dot]

I started watching it, but about a half-hour into it I realized that I hated the two main characters and I was going to be stuck alone in the water with them for the next 50 minutes.

The nice gentleman at Blockbuster told me how it ended. Was it worth it? Should I have stuck with it? I hate not watching movies until the end.

[Connie_Corleone]

1. SORT OF SPOILER

No, you didn't miss anything. All it is are 2 people bobbing up and down in the water for about an hour and some sharks swimming around them . And then the ending that the guy at Blockbuster told you.

That's it. It was only about 80 minutes long.

[Guaranteed]

2. EXACTLY the way I felt.

I hated them.

I think the director may have done that on purpose, though, because of the ending- which I actually thought was pretty eery (sp?).

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. You may be right about the director's intentions, but...

I think that this is a major, and common, miscalculation in a lot of modern horror movies. I think it is much more frightening to have someone you actually care about in mortal danger, then it is to have random shark bait, so to speak.

[Guaranteed]

8. That could have made it too much, though...

Left people with a really nasty taste in their mouths...

[newsguyatl]

3. yeh, i think you missed out

honestly, one of the best movies i saw all year.

couldn't say enough good things about it...

weird how different people can have such differing views on a film -- and apparently, this one seems to have its lovers and haters.

[Pale Blue Dot]

5. What made you love it?

I know a lot of critics loved it, too, and I usually agree with the critics.

Then again, this is why I shouldn't have turned it off.

[newsguyatl]

11. hmm, probably the whole realism of it

i've never watch a film and felt that much a part of it. i mean, i left the theatre feeling like i know exactly what it's like to be stuck in an ocean for days surrounded by sharks... in fact, there was a point in the film where i honest to god, felt sick to my stomach with fear and sadness for the couple in the film... i thought i was going to have to get up and leave just because of that alone... and trust me, i'm not one to easily get frightened or overly involved in films...

i also loved the dialogue between the two characters, funny, sad, just REAL. i thought they were both brilliant in it.

as well, i have so much respect for the guy who shot, wrote, edited and directed the thing all by himself... i didn't know about that until AFTER the movie.

et awful is exactly right... there's no "middle ground" with this film... people either loved it or hated it... when i was leaving the theatre, the couple in front of me were laughing and talking about how bad it was... i, on the other hand, was walking out just STUNNED!

then again, i'm not one for the big blockbusters that the majority of people really get into...

this film didn't have any big, hollywood, thematic effects... and it didn't need any... that's what made it so good.

[liberalhistorian]

16. What most people don't realize

is that it was actually based on a true story. An American couple (Tom and Eileen, I can't remember their last name) who loved to travel was left behind by an Australian scuba diving boat in one of the most shark-infested waters in the world. While no one will ever really know what truly happened to them, experts have pretty much said that they would have been surrounded by tiger and great white sharks within a very short period of time, and you can imagine the rest. Their gear washed ashore not long after that.

What's really tragic is that they could have been spared their really gruesome fate. Their diving bag and personal effects were on the boat, but went unnoticed for days by the boat's crew. The crew is supposed to do a head count before leaving a diving area to be sure all divers are present and accounted for, since there was no land or anything at all in the diving area, and no one knows why they left without accounting for the couple. The driver waiting to take them back to their hotel, and the hotel's managers, both notified the crew and the police that they were missing and it wasn't like them, but the crew paid no attention. They didn't notice the couple's bag for several more days, and by then it was too late. If they'd listened to the driver and the hotel people, they could have returned to the diving area and possibly have been in time to save the couple. The crew faced criminal charges, but were acquitted. They weren't so lucky in the civil action brought by the couple's families, however, and rightfully so, since they basically killed the couple with their all-around negligence.

This happened in 1997, I believe. God, what a HORRIBLE way to die, and to know that that's what's going to happen, too.

[newsguyatl]

19. yeh, well thing is

the REAL couple most likely faked their own death...

when i got home from watching it, i did a little research on them, and this seems the most likely outcome...

no bodies were ever found, nor any of their gear...

they had a shady background, too...


but who knows.

[liberalhistorian]

20. Really?

Could you tell me what your sources are? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that that's not what was indicated in the many accounts I've read. And their gear did wash up on shore several days later. And they were most likely devoured by sharks, so I really don't think it's likely that their bodies would ever be found, since there'd be nothing left of them.

[newsguyatl]

23. just read up on them

they were extremely shady.. they were both in some kind of governmental program like the peace corps or something, and both really wanted out bad -- and wrote about it in their diaries...

one had alluded to death, or faking it, as well, in their diary.

[Bitter Betty]

24. What do you mean shady?

I don't think working in the peace corps makes you a shady character. Even if he did write about suicide in his diary, the fact is that they were left behind by the dive boat & died either from the elements or sharks. The rumors about faking their deaths were likely started by the dive boat & used by the defense at the trial.

http://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/articles/AusTrial200001.pdf

[Downtown Hound]

27. That sounds like a defense tactic

used by the dive boat to shed themselves of any responsibility in the matter. If they were going to fake their deaths in that matter they would have had to wait until the dive boat left them behind and then have had someone else lying in wait to pick them up. Now dive boats are supposed to do head counts, in this case, they didn't. Doesn't that seem like a remarkable stroke of luck for the two that they just happened to do a faulty head count on the same day that they happened to pull this little stunt? And then they didn't notice their equipment sitting on the boat unattended for several days afterwords? Talk about some amazing coincidences!

[liberalhistorian]

28. Exactly!

Far too many "amazing coincidences" to make any sense. I do know that the boat crew and the diving company were desperate to avoid any responsibility, especially in the civil suit where they'd be liable for a helluva lot of money. They did their best to smear the couples and come up with dirt on them to avoid taking responsiblity for their own horrible, inexcusable negligence.

[Bitter Betty]

21. I don't agree

The insurance company for the dive boat tried to claim that the couple faked their death in order to collect insurance. Can you imagine what that felt like for the families of the couple? Divers get left behind by dive boats (usually day trips) every year due to sloppy head counts. I liked the movie, but it was very disturbing from my viewpoint (as a diver).

[northzax]

22. I haven't looked further into it

but when I was diving in OZ, they told me that one of their inflatable vests was found, buckled and unharmed. Also there were diaries recording significant spousal abuse. but that may just have been the instructor trying to calm a client down.

[ET Awful]

10. Yup, I agree.

It's a film that doesn't have much middle ground though. People that liked it really liked it, and people that didn't really hated it. There weren't many that were in the middle.

Personally I thought it was great.

[AllegroRondo]

25. I actually liked it

I thought the characters were rather realistic. This wasn't a couple of canned hollywood characters throwing around the same canned dialogue with million dollar special effects. This showed how ordinary people would act in this situation. First, they rationalize - "we're OK, the boat will be back soon". Then when the fear starts to hit, they blame each other, argue, panic, try to survive, and ultimately die.

[Downtown Hound]

6. Actually, the ending made me really like the movie

Not because I wanted to see them (SPOILER) die, I didn't hate them, but it was done it a very powerful way and got me to thinking what would I do if I were in that situation. i don't know if the Blockbuster clerk went into details about it, but it basically ends with the woman's husband long dead from a shark bite and herself surrounded by sharks. She decides to submerge and drown herself instead of being eaten alive. I found myself wondering, would I do that? Which method actually shows more willpower, to drown yourself or to basically go down fighting right up until the very end? It got me thinking.

[liberalhistorian]

17. Well, I know what

I'd do. I'd drown myself, no question. There would be no point in fighting because there were too many sharks and no weapons to fight them with, and being eaten alive was inevitable. FUCK THAT! I'd rather die any other way than that, and I do mean any other way.

[Misunderestimator]

7. Hated it.... not worth watching... don't do it.

[rockymountaindem]

9. I commented on this move once before around here...

and the reaction caused me to think that I shouldn't post in the lounge anymore. So, I'll just keep it to myself.

[hickman1937]

13. Come on, share.

Its a slow night.

[rockymountaindem]

14. The movie totally sucked.

It was boring and I think one of the worst I've ever seen. This remark got me called unsophisticated and compared to a fourth grader or something. I guess it's ok to call someone stupid over their taste in movies.

[Biased Liberal Media]

18. Well those who disagree with you should just say it nicely

don't leave the lounge over someone's immaturity.

Hello, it's called OPINIONS.

and for what its worth, I agree with you.

[Guaranteed]

26. Me too. Horrible movie.

Bullshit characters. The end was a godsend.

[Uzybone]

12. Snooze fest

put me to sleep. Ending was nothing special either.

[Biased Liberal Media]

15. Same here. Some love it, some didn't like it