Dead Calm (1989)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Melvin W

  
  Rae Ingram: You know what I'd love for lunch? Fresh asparagus, then, um, pasta - angel hair pasta with heaps of basil, garlic, olive oil and, um, apple pie. Yeah. Uh, John, have you got a towel?  "In the middle of nowhere there is nowhere to hide." Wow, I've seen… More
  Rae Ingram: You know what I'd love for lunch? Fresh asparagus, then, um, pasta - angel hair pasta with heaps of basil, garlic, olive oil and, um, apple pie. Yeah. Uh, John, have you got a towel?  "In the middle of nowhere there is nowhere to hide." Wow, I've seen people talk this movie up as not only a great film, but as one of the better thrillers of the 80's. In order to have a good thriller, it is imperative that the film be thrilling. Dead Calm is not. It fails in just about everything it tries to do. There's no tension, no suspense. It is all underplayed to the point of boredom. How Phillip Noyce could fail to make this scary or in any way suspenseful is beyond me. First off, I should probably get my biggest gripe out of the way early, just as the movie does. It starts out with a stupid and pointless scene where we see that a married couple lost there son in a car accident. We see the accident, we go to the hospital, and we think that this is probably going to have something to do with the rest of the movie. Some how this is going to fit in. No, it really doesn't. I'll admit, I probably wouldn't have liked the movie anymore, had this beginning been taken out, but I would have respected it more. So after the death of their son, John and Rae go for a relaxing sail by themselves in their beautiful yacht. They've been out at sea for three weeks and haven't encountered another boat, until they see one of in the distance one morning. A man rows from that boat over to theirs and tells them that the rest of the crew was killed by canned salmon and that the ship is sinking. He lied, and when John finds out, the stranger flees with his wife. It sounds scary, it sounds entertaining, but it is not. I love Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman both, and a young Kidman is certainly nice to look at, but both aren't used to their capabilities. Then there's Billy Zane as the stranger. That is where everything goes extremely wrong. Zane overplays this role at times where he shouldn't and when his character should be going nuts, he's low key. I was never afraid of him once. It didn't matter that I knew what he did and what he was capable of. Zane just never created the tension his character needed to exhibit. A good setting and a worthy story are wasted in Dead Calm. I still can't comprehend how this went wrong, but it did. A complete disappointment from start to finish.

• Jeff "

  
  Dead Calm is an intense horror thriller that never lets you take a breath. The film makes you stay on the edge of your seat throughout. Whats really interesting about Dead Calm is it's story. The film is set on a sailboat and it manages to be a very good film despite the fact… More
  Dead Calm is an intense horror thriller that never lets you take a breath. The film makes you stay on the edge of your seat throughout. Whats really interesting about Dead Calm is it's story. The film is set on a sailboat and it manages to be a very good film despite the fact that the plot is centered on a boat. The film is brilliantly executed by director Philip Noyce who crafts a tense and scary film about a sociopath who is rescued from an abandoned yacht. Dead Calm has a terrific Hitchcock vibe to it. Billy Zane delivers his greatest performance here and he is demented on screen. Dead Calm is a surprising film because the film is so tense, creepy and entertaining and the main setting is the ocean on a sailboat. The fact that the film works well in telling an effective, horrifying story proves that you don't need a big elaborate story to tell an interesting story on film. The acting here is excellent and the thrills and scares are top notch. The film is one of the finest Horror Thrillers and what I appreciate about Dead Calm its its simplicity to the story. The film is a ride through hell that is carefully plotted to keep you on the edge of your seat til the very end. Dead Calm is well crafted film that is very thrilling and equally creepy. It's too bad they don't make films like this anymore. This is a well acted film that will please horror and thriller fans alike.

• Drew S

  
  Dead Calm exemplifies economy. It spends very little time outside of its menacing setting, allowing its characters to develop within the framework of the threat they become involved in - their actions are what color them, not heavy-handed exposition lumped in at the beginning of the… More
  Dead Calm exemplifies economy. It spends very little time outside of its menacing setting, allowing its characters to develop within the framework of the threat they become involved in - their actions are what color them, not heavy-handed exposition lumped in at the beginning of the film. Sam Neill demonstrates an incredible tenacity and devotion in attempting to return to his wife, and Nicole Kidman's bravery and stoic determination. Billy Zane may be overdoing it a little, but it doesn't diminish his menace, the threatening sexuality and incredible physical danger that he oozes. Dead Calm is spare, but by no means unexciting or uneventful; every action all three of these characters take changes the game, sometimes imperceptibly and sometimes radically. It's a very delicate balance. On that note, the ending is a little hokey, but I guess studio demands necessitated that last little stinger. There's also a really exciting dash of ambiguity running throughout the film. What really happened on Billy Zane's previous ship, the ill-fated Orpheus? Eerie videos only hint at the fate that befell his crewmates. Why does Rae make a certain very queasy choice in the middle of the film? These points are scarcely dwelt upon, but given just enough berth from the plot to invite speculation. This is the sort of quality that really rewards attentive viewing. Dead Calm is simple, but by no means straightforward, a thriller of deceptive depth and tight pacing. Give it a shot.

• Aaron N

  
  Rae: Is that boat sinking. Hughie: Well, past tense would be more appropriate. A well made thriller, isolating the characters on the ocean to create genuine tension, complete with quality performances from all three leads, outweighing the standard thriller elements that make… More
  Rae: Is that boat sinking. Hughie: Well, past tense would be more appropriate. A well made thriller, isolating the characters on the ocean to create genuine tension, complete with quality performances from all three leads, outweighing the standard thriller elements that make others fall apart. Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill star as Rae and John Ingram. John has arrived home from duty at sea, only to find that his wife has gone through a horrific traffic collision, causing the death of their son. Weeks later, the couple are now at sea, on their yacht, trying to move past their loss. During this time, the couple comes across another vessel, with a lone man soon rowing towards them on a dingy. The man is Hughie, played by Billy Zane, who informs them that the rest of his crew died of food poisoning. Hughie is given shelter; however, while he is sleeping, John takes the dingy and heads to the abandoned schooner. Upon discovering this, while John is still on the other ship, Hughie begins to worry. John of course discovers that Hughie wasn't quite on the level with his story, but its too late. Hughie knocks out Rae and sales off with the yacht. Now it is up to Rae to find a way out of her situation of being trapped with a sociopath, all while John attempts to chase after the two of them in the sinking schooner that he is now stuck with. As a thriller, everything is done the way it should be for its premise. The setting provides a claustrophobic amount of tension and the way the plot moves forward is handled quite well. Billy Zane is an actor I've always enjoyed and wished got to become a bigger star. His villainous character encompasses elements of a crazy person, a charismatic person, and boiling rage all for the better. The chemistry that develops between him and Kidman is wonderful. And speaking of Kidman, she is great here as well. Then you have Sam Neill, playing a character stuck on another boat and just can't catch a break, as his seamanship is put to the test. I found the scoring for the film quite interesting as well. It is a mix of genre film suspense building tension combined with another element that I found quite unique. The only problems I see come from a couple standard thriller elements, that if changed, would end the film about twenty minutes early. The ending also has a couple of false beats before finally closing. Still, I was entertained throughout this film and found it to be well acted and handled for the most part. Hughie: They thought they were better than me.

• Anthony L

  
  Dead Calm is one of the last great thrillers. Hitchcock could have directed this!

• Film C

  
  i quiet liked this movie its watchable

• E.J. B

  
  Has one of the coolest deaths I've seen in any movie. Fairly conventional thriller that suffers from some ridiculous plotting and doesn't feel as suspenseful as it probably should. But I love looking at Nicole Kidman.

• Candy R

  
  Creepy thriller out at sea. Billy's character is really bad.

• Dean !

  
  One of the best tense thrillers around. A strong cast all giving great performances mean this is a thriller you will remember.

• Daniel P

  
  One of the tightest movies you'll ever see - spooky not in how much it does, but how little, which is important when the plot unfolds in the middle of the ocean. Little to no music, and even less dialogue is used to achieve the effect, and it's flat-out chilling.

• xGary X

  
  In the right hands, this could've been a classic, but unfortunately the casting director cared more about prettiness than acting ability. Zane acts like an actor acting and Kidman doesn't act at all. Because she can't. Could've been worse though.

• Dean M

  
  Great Aussie thriller as I like the way Nicole Kidman beats the psycho Billy Zane.

• Hal M

  
  A simple tale of suspense, told exceedingly well--and like Jaws in that respect. It's angering that RT's capsule review gives away the ending! From a first-time filmgoer's perspective, we don't know any killing has occurred. Just that a couple out for a cruise… More
  A simple tale of suspense, told exceedingly well--and like Jaws in that respect. It's angering that RT's capsule review gives away the ending! From a first-time filmgoer's perspective, we don't know any killing has occurred. Just that a couple out for a cruise have picked up the seemingly-unfortunate survivor of a mishap at sea. In some ways their hitchhiker seems charming, attractive, capable. But increasingly his behavior is shown to be cunningly manipulative, self-contradictory, bizarre. Only well into the movie is it revealed he's a killer. Imagine for a minute that nerve-wracking discovery: It's a small boat, on a big sea, and the new guy on board is a psychopathic killer! The acting is superb throughout, and the film depends on that heavily. In reaction to one of the other reviewers, I'm certainly a cinemaphile and consider this one of the best suspense films of the past thirty years.

• Deb S

  
  Sam Neill takes his wife Nicole Kidman on a yachting cruise to forget the traumatic experience she's had that claimed the life of their only son. They come across a ship in the middle of the ocean that just happens to be sinking and it's only survivor of a "food… More
  Sam Neill takes his wife Nicole Kidman on a yachting cruise to forget the traumatic experience she's had that claimed the life of their only son. They come across a ship in the middle of the ocean that just happens to be sinking and it's only survivor of a "food poisoning" epidemic rowing in a small dinghy toward them. The man turns out to be Billy Zane, shaken up and unable to talk much about what happened aboard the other ship. Neill distrusts the man from the start, and while Zane is sleeping, he rows to the schooner where he discovers that the five passengers have been slaughtered. Another side of Zane is revealed once Neill leaves and he kidnaps Kidman and boat-jacks them, leaving poor hubbie on the other ship to fend for himself. Alone with the deranged psychotic killer, Kidman is willing to do anything to stay alive to the extent of sacrificing her female honor to this man, all with the intention of keeping herself alive to return to rescue her beloved husband who is stranded on another boat about to sink. Sam Neill is excellent as the husband trying to get back to his wife, Billy Zane was convincing as a cruel psychotic killer and Nicole Kidman played her role skillfully as a vulnerable woman. One reason why I found this movie so exciting and thrilling is because it is taking place on a boat in the middle of the ocean and there's a crazed killer on the loose. The claustrophobic setting also adds a terrifying element to the film; it's the feeling that you cannot escape the situation you are in.

• Danny R

  
  A first-rate suspense thriller, about a married couple at sea on their yacht who pick-up a young stranger from a disable boat who turns out to be a homicidal manic and proceeds to terrorize them. outstanding performances from Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane with superb… More
  A first-rate suspense thriller, about a married couple at sea on their yacht who pick-up a young stranger from a disable boat who turns out to be a homicidal manic and proceeds to terrorize them. outstanding performances from Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane with superb direction by Phillip Noyce. Highly Recommended.

• Ivan D

  
  Underrated, but never neglected, watching "Dead Calm" is like seeing a piece of gold coin in a sea of rubble. Conventional films of the genre has really one goal: And it is mainly for the box-office returns, and never minds the technical aspects. But this film is oozing with… More
  Underrated, but never neglected, watching "Dead Calm" is like seeing a piece of gold coin in a sea of rubble. Conventional films of the genre has really one goal: And it is mainly for the box-office returns, and never minds the technical aspects. But this film is oozing with the mastery of it, having the primary concern for the income, but still observing the artistic input incorporated into the film. What impressed me most about "Dead Calm" is its build-up of ideas to such limited surroundings. two boats, three characters, and the sprawling ocean, it's a disaster when done wrong, but quite impressive when executed otherwise. Though there were three characters in the film, Nicole Kidman's Rae is the psychological center of the dynamics, stirring up her actions when confronted with "what if" scenarios, with a sex sequence worthy to be compared with the one in Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" in terms of conflict of the mind and the carnal pleasures of the flesh. "Dead Calm" is in no way an art film, or pretending to inject some to such an incompatible genre. What it wants to send, apart from the occasional suspense, is how a thriller film would certainly look when done right, especially after the advent of Hitchcock pictures.

• Lee K

  
  A good thriller if you ever catch it. It usually airs on scream all the time. Billy Zane does a good psycho.

• Chad R

  
  Nicole Kidman naked...worth a 3

Read all 18 featured audience ratings