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Nicole... You've got to be Kidding

***SPOILERS*** Picking up a stranger on a row boat, from what looks like a deserted black schooner, off the Australian coast a couple of vacationers Rae & John Ingrem, Niclole Kidder & Sam Neill, give him water and a place to stay until they can sail to shore on their yacht. The stranger Hughie Warriner, Billy Zane, tells the Ingrem's this story about him being the only survivor of the "Orpheus" with the other four people on the ship with him dying from food poisoning. Later when Hughie is asleep below deck in a bunk-room John decides to row out to the "Orpheus" by himself and see if there's anyone else on the ship and if Hughie's story checks out. On the ship John finds that the four people on the boat where women who were murdered during the making of some porno flick with Hughie being the cameraman.John from first finding the bodies locked up in some storage room and seeing some footage from a video tape that Hughie took during the trip that the woman were on has John convinced that Hughie murdered them. John now terrified that he left Rae alone on the yacht with only their little dog Benji to protect her from a dangerous mass murderer begins to feel panic setting in. Rowing back as fast as he could and with Hughie getting on deck and attacking Rae John tries to jump onto the Yacht but misses and ends up injuring his shoulder on the yachts propellers. With John getting back to the row boat the yacht then takes off into the open sea with Rae alone and at the mercy of "Crazy Hughie". John rows back to the "Orpheus" and tries to fix the radio so he could get help while on the yacht there's a deadly cat and mouse game being played between Rae and Hughie in the middle of nowhere in the vast Pacific Ocean. The film started with John, an officer in the Australian Navy, coming home for the Christmas holidays only to find out that both Rae and his 4 year-old son Danny were in a car accident, the the boy died on impact and Rae ended up in a coma. Rae needing a lot of medical treatment and rest later decided, together with John, to take a sea cruise on their yacht the "Saracen" that in the end almost coast them both their lives. Some of the scenes in the movie were very hard to believe with Rae always seeming to get away and having the upper hand when it came to fighting off the dangerous Hughie. Yet she never manages, or wants, to kill him even though Hughie is a mass murderer who would think nothing of killing her. "Dead Clam" has more then it's share of suspense and the brilliant photography in the way that director, Philip Noyce, uses colors in the movie is so striking that at some point in the film you stop caring what the story is all about and just sit back and watch the scenery. Billy Zane was very hard to gage as the psycho killer Hughie Warriner because he came across more clownish then anything else, even the Ingrem's pet dog Benji liked him. "Dead Clam" has more then it's share of heavy breathing too with both the actions of Rae and Hughie on the yacht and with John on the "Orpheus" when he was trying to keep from drowning in a below deck compartment. To keep from going under John sucks on an underwater pipe to get air. Even the movie's theme song at the end had heavy breathing in it mixed with the music. The ending was a bit too much with the movie making Hughie into someone like Michael Myers of Halloween where no matter what you did to him you couldn't kill him! Hughie finally get his by exploding, from being shot by a flair gun, like he was a Roman Candle shot out of a rocket launcher on July 4th.

A small masterpiece of tension and terror

"Dead Calm" is a nice, tight, small-scale thriller. It's well paced and constructed (except for the tacked on ending), beautifully shot, and extremely lean and economical. There is a ton of tension and dread to be found in all the usual places, of course, but the director also does a great job of building atmosphere and adding telling details that give the film that extra wallop. To me, the mark of the director and screenwriter's real intelligence and plotting savvy can be found when Neill's character is playing the recorded events on the VCR of the sinking boat. It's a brilliant plot device - it lets us know, without exposition or wasted time exactly what happened previously, while simultaneously building a sense of dread, paranoia, claustrophobia, and madness that prefigures an awful fate for his wife in the present. That's really good film making, IMO. I've never been Kidman's biggest fan (though I admit she has done good work in many films); it's not that she isn't good, it's just that she's overrated (ie, at least a dozen other actresses could have done just as well in films like "Moulin Rouge" and "The Others") . But I liked her a lot in "Dead Calm"; she essentially carried the film - with able assists from Sam Neill and Billy Zane - quite an accomplishment for any young actress. The only real beef I have with the film is the weak ending, which was obviously tacked on to meet audience expectations of how a terror flick is supposed to end. But in spite of its technical excellence, "Dead Calm" is a very conventional, conservative suspense film - it plays with the rules extremely well, but it doesn't break or extend the boundaries of the genre, so my feeling is that I can live with the ending if that's what it took for the film to make some money.

I really like this movie, even though it had its downs,it still was good.

CONTAINS SPOILER I enjoyed the movie.I have to admit,i did drift off at certain times.I mean, there were times in the movie when it was boring. The times that were thrilling were the times with Billy Zane and Nicole Kidman.Oh yeah, and when her son flew out the window. *ahem*. I mean come on! It was like seeing Chucky fly out the window!But he had blonde hair instead, but that's not the point!Billy Zane did an amazing job in this film.He is probably the best actor that can perform psychotic characters. Nicole Kidman did pretty good.Though I think they should of used a different actress.I mean,not to be mean or unprofessional about it.But she just didn't fit.It was like,my god poor Billy Zane had to do a sex scene with her.Anyways, Billy Zane really took the spot light, along with Nicole Kidman.The husband well......i mean, his acting wasn't bad at all, its just he had a well, not a "thrilling" part.I thought the movie could of been a lot better.But still, even though it could of been a lot better, it didn't make it a bad movie.The part I really didn't like is when the bad guy dies at the end.It always happens. At one point I thought Billy Zane was going to finally kill Nicole Kidman but then the boring-husband-part had to come in and kill him.Oops, did I say too much?

Awesome thriller, that's really quite chilling, and suspenseful, with a very good story and amazing performances!

This is an awesome thriller, that's really quite chilling, and suspenseful, with a very good story, and amazing performances!. All the characters are excellent, and the finale is extremely well done, plus Billy Zane is simply incredible in this, and Nicole Kidman, and Sam Neill are amazing!. The ending while a little predictable was still quite suspenseful, and Billy Zane played one of the creepiest Psycho's I have ever seen!, plus it's extremely well made and very well written as well. You are able to care and root for Kidman's character and hope she kills Zane, and Neill and Kidman had pretty good chemistry together as well, plus I simply loved the setting!. Only problem I had was it stared it off just a bit too slowly but that's a minor thing, and it's surprisingly rather violent as well, plus it manages to make you squirm in your seat a little at times too. It's pretty unpredictable for the most part, and the scene where Sam Neill is trapped underwater and tries to escape was my favorite scene, plus the opening was quite disturbing and unsettling. This is an awesome thriller, that's really quite chilling and suspenseful, with a very good story, and amazing performances, and I say it's a must see!. The Direction is awesome!. Phillip Noyce does an awesome! job here with excellent camera work, wonderful angles, adding some great atmosphere, and just keeping the film at an engrossing pace!. The Acting is amazing!. Nicole Kidman is amazing as always and is amazing here, she is incredibly gorgeous, extremely likable, tough as nails but also vulnerable, and also played a character I was able to root and care for, this was the role that really got her noticed and I can see why she played the perfect heroine! (Kidman Rules!!!!!!!). Sam Neill is amazing as the husband, he didn't have as much screen time as I would have liked, but boy was he intense, and just did an amazing job overall!. Billy Zane is incredible here as the psycho, he played one of the creepiest Psycho's ever in my opinion,just that smile and look he had throughout, it gave me the creeps, his laugh was also very chilling, just a chilling,chilling performance. Rest of the cast do fine. Overall a must see!. **** out of 5

review of deal calm

Ok this movie is for the all time Billy Zane fan. Not only is have a good plot you get to see Billy's hiney. Tis a must see

Terrific movie

Love Nicole Kidman. This is a terrific thriller. One of her "early roles" - before she started using so much botox....

Why is nicole kidman wearing a fright wig??

This is one of my pet peeves with movies. They take a beauty like kidman and give her a grotesque hairstyle!!!! What is the point in that? Other than that, the show is OK. A psycho, played very well by billy zane, gets on board a yacht with kidman and her hubby (played by sam neill) on board. The hub ends up on another ship and then it's just kidman and zane battling it out. There's also a dog who has a great scene when kidman steals the keys to the engine. I won't tell you what happened, but just when you're sure that kidman finally has the upper hand, the dog fouls everything up and we're back to square one.Sam Neill is appropriately cast as the boring husband. How he got to be a star is beyond me, though i must admit i love his voice. Anyone that sounds exactly like the great james mason can't be all bad.

"Dead Clam" A Thriller of Desperate Loneliness

After jokingly calling this move "Dead Clam" for years and years, my wife and I finally saw the darn thing. It's a good movie. The bad points are that it has two big '80s movie formulas: the psychotic, inscrutable bad guy with absolutely no back story telling us why he's doing the things hes doing and a "shock" ending where said bad guy comes "back from the dead" only to be finally dispatched in some ludicrously flashy way. (Flare to the head, anyone?)But the good part was when Sam Neill was lost at sea with night falling quickly and Nicole Kidman piloting her ship in the middle of the Pacific to find him. The desperate loneliness was only heightened by the feeling that, with a movie like this, she just might not find him in time. The music during this part was absolutely wonderful. It made up for Billy Zane's nonsense character. Though he did do a really good job with his character, I must say.

For a thriller, it's more dense than tense

This is one of those films that I had never heard about, despite the fact that I know all three leads from other films. One of those films that no one really knows about, probably because the actors have tried their best to keep it hidden from the public. Anyway, this aired during the night on TV, so I decided to tape it and see if it was any good. Let me beat around the bush no longer. It isn't. Not at all. The only interesting thing about the film is that it tries to pull off the same thing Alien did; a secluded and limited space, with only a few characters and no interaction from the outside. Unfortunately, it fails this attempt miserably. The plot is basically a lift of Alien, with some minor changes to remove the science fiction and bring it down to earth. Even worse, at the end, the film throws away any remaining bit of sense it had left from the rest of the film. The pacing is horrid; I was falling asleep most of the time. Nothing ever seemed to happen. Now, don't think this is the opinion of some teenager with a short attention span; I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed a fair bit of Alfred Hitchcock's films. That man knew how to create tension and suspense, a sense of ever-present danger; Philip Noyce, the director of this mess doesn't. The danger, the fear never seems to be there. It was predictable as well, but that wasn't the problem. The thing is, we never get the perspective. Allow me to draw a comparison to recent thriller, Panic Room. We get to see the house the rest of the film takes place in as the very first thing; we get a guided tour, literally. That makes every following scene that much more tense, because we know exactly where the characters are, how far away from each other they are. Heck, we could probably even count the steps on the staircase between them, if we wanted to. No such luck here. I never got a good idea of how big the boat was, how many rooms, how far there was from any one place on the boat to another. The acting is fair, but nothing impressive. The characters are poorly developed, particularly the villain. Who is this guy? What is his past? And what in the world happened on the other boat? These questions are just some of the ones the viewer presents the film fairly early on, and they are never answered. The only positive thing in this film, the one thing that made me sit up and take notice was around the middle-to-near-end where Nicole gets naked on top of Billy Zane(lucky bastard!). Apart from that, there's nothing in this film that would make me even consider sparing it a glance, now that I've seen it. I urge anyone who thinks the plot outline sounds intriguing, go find the novel instead. It can't possibly be any worse than this. I recommend this only to huge fans of the three leads, and guys who are willing to sit through about an hour of pointless film to see Kidman shed her clothes and bare her beautiful body for the camera. Everyone else, avoid this like the plague. 5/10

Originality makes this a special thriller.

It's very hard to still be able to come up with something original for the thriller-genre. "Dead Calm" however is a movie that stands out in originality, due to having a simple yet original and effective concept.Greatest strength of this movie is the fact that it's set almost entirely on the open sea. For most part, the movie has just 3 characters in it (not counting in the dog). It gives the movie a certain sense of claustrophobia, paranoia and tension, without having feature too many thriller moments. The atmosphere and settings are enough for this movie to become a tense thriller.Of course it's not a movie without its flaws. The movie perhaps could held on to its mystery a bit longer for instance. The movie now reveals things pretty early on already, while it perhaps could had been better and more effective if things got build up a bit more steady. Despite its originality it's still foremost pretty much a predictable movie, due to the way it's progressing. Still it remains the best Phillip Noyce movie till date and I'm far from a fan of his thriller-work normally. Still it's disappointing that the movie ends so poorly. The movie deserved a much better ending really.A movie with mainly just 3 characters in it of course also needs to mostly rely on its actors. This movie is fortunate enough to feature 3 more than great actors, who were still fairly much unknown at the time of this movie. It stars Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane before the world knew them as stars. All give away fine performance but I think it's fair to say that Zane gives away the best performance out of the movie. It's possibly the best role he ever played and it's what makes the movie work out as a tense thriller. He's a memorable psychopath and most of the the movie its tension comes from his character.It's nice to see that such a simple movie, with such a simple concept and limited resources and settings can be such an effective one. It still remains one of the more original and effective thrillers in my book.8/10

A suspenseful flick, though the movie makes you hate the characters.

I'm a big fan of thrillers (as my user name suggests). However I'm both entertained and disappointed by how "Dead Calm" turned out.The characters all have their flaws, and some are bigger than most.From what I understand, the book was butchered when they adapted this to film and added different plot elements to the main character's story.One such is the sex scene between the wife and her kidnapper. In a situation like this I can't imagine how this makes her the protagonist of the movie since she's so seductive and actually shows carnal enjoyment from having sex with the psycho. And despite doing this, most of the audience will be mislead into thinking it was a sacrifice for her to save her husband and gain the psycho's trust. Yet with enough thinking you can find many other logical solutions the character should have done other than jumping into bed with him, like grab the spear gun. At this moment I wondered if she wanted the sex more than the psycho did.As far as the psycho goes, he's not a very bright character. He seems to have a soft spot for red heads I guess cause he takes control of the ship and let's the wife wander around thinking of ways to stop him. And when she gets caught in the act, all it takes is the wife leading him into an unfaithful love relationship and he forgets the times she tried to stop him.All in all, the Husand is the only person that came out okay. He wasn't bright in leaving his wife alone on his boat with the psycho, but he at least told her to prepare the gun which she never did. In terms of realism, he was the most realistic of the three and you can feel the terror as he's stranded on a sinking ship fighting to stay alive and rescue his wife.But don't let my view of the ridiculous characters and plot throw you off completely. The tension is still intact. You hate the characters for making stupid mistakes, but that's all part of continuing the story. If logic was thrown in all the time then there would be no conflict. While I wished there was more logic in the wife's decisions, I can still accept the story for what it is. And there are moments that make keep you on the edge guessing how the film will end based on all the choices the characters make. Can the couple reunite? What consequences follow the wife for cheating on her husband? I can't spoil the ending but I will say that by the end of it all it makes you think about how you would handle the situation if you were in it. Great cinematography as well. The Pacific Ocean looks beautiful and deadly. It's an open view of amazing scenery (even inside the boats) but you still get that stranded feeling knowing the movie is being carried by three actors.

Better than the imitations.

I could go on and on about this one. One could theorize that the whole movie is actually a product of Kidman's mind. One could bring up the fact that the couple has sailed out to the metaphorical calm waters to get away from the insanity of the things that have happened in their life only to have insanity come rowing a boat out to meet them and now they (specifically her) must learn to deal with that insanity. That's getting a little deep, so I'll stick to what I know.

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.

a very memorable suspense thriller

I watched this movie on cable on one of the less popular movie channels, and was pleasantly surprised to find it such a good one. Nicole Kidman was obviously somewhere at the beginning of her Hollywood career when she acted in this. She is refreshingly simple in her appearance, and her acting is superb - she is so expressive and she looked every bit the part for each scene she's playing. I can see why Hollywood decided to make her a megastar after performances like this.

All 3 of them - Nicole Kidman, Billy Zane and Sam Neill were all fantastic actors in this film, which is also why this movie succeeds in being such a good suspense thriller. Its not too long a movie, and you can be sure you'll be holding on to your seat throughout the whole thing!

Billy Zane isn't always at his best in all the movies he acts in - those of you who've seen him in other movies would know this by now - but in this gem of a movie, he really shines as an ultra-convincing psycho. He didn't overact or overplay his role and that's what made him so believable as the charismatic, charming but unpredictably mentally-twisted person his character is. Strange that I've always liked Billy Zane as an actor even though its so difficult to find him in a good movie nowadays... this is one movie I will never forget because of its great storyline, great acting, and its unique setting where almost everything takes place on a yacht drifting and drifting along in the sea... its all very nice.

Intense!!!!

This is one film that is indelibly etched in my mind forever! It gives me the creeps! I can't watch it just any ol' time, because it's so freaky. I find it exhausting, because throughout the movie, my heart runs the Kentucky Derby, and my mind reels from the sheer and realistic terror! I LOVE it! Solidly acted, great plot twists, and just complete fun if you like to have your wits strung out on a line! Plus, seeing Sam Neill in uniform is a nice thing too!

An smart suspense thriller.

The Plot:Joe(Sam Neill) and Rae(Nicole Kidman) Ingram are trying to start a new life, after the lost of thier Two old son. Since they are sailing in the open sea. After they pick up an only survivor(Billy Zane) from an crippled schooner. Then the strange who survive become danger to the couple, and the couple gets separate by the Stranger. Now is a fight to survive to the horrific nightmare at the sea.

DVD`s has an flawed but fine widescreen(2.35:1) anamorphic format and Pan & Scan is alivable. Dolby Surround 2.0 Stereo has good surrounds and some good base. Good Trailer also. Strong Performance by Kidman, Neill and Zane. Strong Direction by Philip Noyce(Patroit Games, The Bone Collector). Fine music score by Graeme Revell(The Crow, Titan A.E., Bride of Chuchy). Co-Produced by George Miller(He directed-Mad Max Trilogy, The Witches of Eastwick and he also produced the children classic film-Babe and also underrated sequel). One of the strong thriller from the Late Eighties, also if you like Dead Calm, then see the tense thriller-The Hitcher(1986). It has a silmilar strong tense moments in these two fine good thrillers. Grade:A-.
Panavision.

Shades of Hitchcock all the way through!

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.

Not Really Too Scary

I expected a lot more terrifying film than this turned out. Yeah, there were some good scenes but not enough of them, certainly not scary enough to make this a memorable film. This sort of story has been done more than a few times and done a lot better.


It isn't that this is a bad movie, it's just one of those you keep saying to yourself, "This should have been better because there are just many things in here that make so sense!"

Nicole Kidman was about 21 when she made this and 20 years later, she's as beautiful as ever. This was her first big film that put her "on the map."
Just looking at her is probably the only reason I ever watch this again. Billy Zane was good, however, as the crazed villain.

Disappointing, unrealistic........ Enjoyable

Having had people tell me that this movie was brilliant and perfect. I started watching it with extremely expectations. After the first half an hour I'd become disappointed, but it was after I was disappointed, that the movie started to grow on me, I started to enjoy it more. I found a lot of it to be annoying and unrealistic, but yet, still enjoyable and suspenseful. I think Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane were great, hardly anything to be faulted. Sam Neill, being one of my favourite actors, I thought was excellent; and the way the characters were introduced, I thought, was done well. Charles Williams should be happy with director Phillip Noyce.

Dead Calm indeed, by thriller standards

Like many thrillers released in the late eighties and nineties, Dead Calm doesn't bring anything new to the genre and seems more than happy to simply wallow in a pit of tried and tested film elements. While this doesn't give the film much credibility, it does at least ensure that it is entertaining for its duration. Claustrophobic thrillers set about a ship have been great in the past; Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water being the benchmark. I don't know if director Phillip Noyce used the sixties film as an inspiration, but I actually hope he didn't; as characters were the most important element in Polanski's film, whereas they're nonexistent here. The plot follows a couple - Rae and John Ingram - who are recovering from an automobile accident that claimed the life of their young son. They've taken to the seas to take in the relaxed atmosphere, but they don't get what they came for when they pick up Hughie Warriner; the only survivor from another ship. When Warriner's story doesn't check out, John boards the boat; and finds his own ship and his wife sailing off into the sunset without him.My main reason for seeing this film was the fact that it stars Nicole Kidman. I'm actually a big fan of Kidman's, but here she isn't given much to do and her complete lack of chemistry with the two male leads is a huge disappointment. Sam Neill has impressed me in the likes of Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, but here he's given even less to do than Kidman and doesn't even have that much screen time. Billy Zane would be the pick of the cast if he could do anything at all with maniac psycho role. He merely looks like some guy acting mental for the duration, and to be honest I'm not sure how he ended up being typecast in this sort of role. Unfortunately, all this stuff actually makes Kidman the pick of the cast, despite the fact that she's sub-par. The plot does play out rather well, however, and while it's clear that nothing completely out of the ordinary (for this sort of film) is going to happen, and several 'twists' such as the ending are far too easy to see coming; I will say that this film just about does it's job in the entertainment stakes, and comes recommended to anyone that simply wants something to watch.

Lackluster yarn-why doesn't she just kill him?

Tedious "thriller"-it has some worthwhile moments when you wonder if Nicole Kidman's husband's character will die,but,when presented with all the opportunities to kill off her psycho adversary,you just keep scratching your head and say-"just kill him!!!." The ending is pretty lame as well.The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 guys would have a field day with this yawner...