Favorite Nautical Movies

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Untold: The Race of the Century.
A 2022 documentary on Netflix.

About the 1983 America's Cup.
 
Poseidon Adventure. I was enthralled with the suspense when it first came out. Watched it decades later and thought it was pure schlock. Anyway, it was great in its day...and there were a lot of famous actors/actresses in it.
Begged my parents to take me to see it. That and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were my favorites.

Maybe that's why I was a cadet in the Merchant Marines and a submariner in my distant past.
 
Riddle of the Sands.
 
Has anyone mentioned one of my favorite Shock Theater ones...Creature from the Black Lagoon. Shot in Silver Springs Fl...


 

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Poseidon Adventure. I was enthralled with the suspense when it first came out. Watched it decades later and thought it was pure schlock. Anyway, it was great in its day...and there were a lot of famous actors/actresses in it.



That was my experience too. But, according to Wikipedia, it:
- had 5 Oscar-winning actors
- was itself nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 2
- was the highest grossing film in 1973

Who would have thought it!

The five Oscar winners were Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons.

Others in the ensemble cast included Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O'Connell, and, can you believe it, Leslie Nielsen as the Captain.
 
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The Perfect Storm- fishing boat gets caught in a storm---Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney

In the Heart of the Sea- retelling of the story that inspired Moby Dick.

Moby Dick

White Squall- Jeff Bridges is a training captain in charge of a sailing ship and a class of trainees. Based on a true story.

The Hunt For Red October-cold war submarine drama with Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. I really like the movie but I was so bummed to learn that a quote attributed to Christopher Columbus at the end of the movie is fictional.

No, not Harrison Ford. A man in the news lately for his role in the death of the cinematographer on the film "Rust", Alec Baldwin.
 
As a sailor

Matthew Modine and Jennifer Gray in "Wind", co-written by an old friend, Roger Vaughan.
 
This one!

Can't believe no one mentioned "Mister Roberts"! (1955)

Great acting and great cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon. :thumb:
 
This is a fun thread. More votes here for Master and Commander -- careful attention to historical accuracy. Das Boot-- anyone who's been in a submarine of that vintage knows that the claustrophobia creates a knot in your guts as soon as you go down the hatch.

A couple others:

The Cruel Sea -- film budgets were slim in the post-WWII era, so special effects were basically done in the bathtub. But Jack Hawkins carries the film's air of dread and heroism. Tom Hanks in Greyhound dealt with the same arena of war pretty well. The Brits in the 50's had just lived through it; the Americans in 2 thousand whatever were looking back through many mirrors of history. A difference.

Did nobody mention Jacques Cousteau? I was bug-eyed as a little kid watching The Silent World. I still have a problem, though, with those French Speedos.
 
White Squall, Master and Commander
 
Can't believe no one mentioned "Mister Roberts"! (1955)

Great acting and great cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon. :thumb:

We just watched it a couple of nights ago. Great movie.
 
I tend to look for movies, series etc with Nautical themes. Sometime last year I saw a movie named The Lighthouse. Dark and brooding, with some of the best acting from William Dafoe. The curse scene was done in one take; I read he did not blink for over two minutes. This scene is kinda how I feel about my current state of varnish that is in for renewal.

Anyone care to add your favorite movies and/or scenes?



The Cruel Sea
 
My favorite bad nautical movie?

"All is Lost" in which Robert Redford sleep walks through a sinking and, we think, an eventual drowning.

Boy do I second that! What a total fiasco of a movie, and definitely don’t want him as a shipmate, even if he is Robert Redford. ?
 
Another vote for Das Boot - very powerful.

Based on an actual voyage of a journalist/photographer with a Leica camera. I have a copy of the book he wrote with the actual photos he took.
 
Another vote for Das Boot - very powerful.



Based on an actual voyage of a journalist/photographer with a Leica camera. I have a copy of the book he wrote with the actual photos he took.
It's a perennial favorite in the Bubblehead crowd.
 
Don’t remember the name of it but we just recently saw the movie about that 16 year old Australian girl who became the youngest ever to circumnavigate the world. Very good movie.

True Spirit - Yes, a great story.
 
Since we're just posting our own opinions... if we're going to include The Perfect Storm in this list then we might as well add The Meg or Piranha.

On a positive note, I'd lean towards Lifeboat and The Old Man and the Sea.
 
... if we're going to include The Perfect Storm in this list]

I am really surprised The Perfect Storm is not getting more love. We have a bunch of guys from Massachusetts here, it had some big name actors, the book was very widely acclaimed.....

Maybe I am biased for personal reasons......but the movie ( and the book ) was very impactful for me.

I've had many a beer in The Crow's Nest, and when George Clooney gives his soliloquy about the joys of being a swordfisherman as he sails by the Eastern Point Lighthouse, it is one of my favorite scenes in all of Hollywood. I do not know the right words for it, but that harbor has machismo, a presence. Gloucester, Massachusetts is a very proud port and a lot of very good men have sailed from there. It has a very rich maritime history.
 

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Since we're just posting our own opinions... if we're going to include The Perfect Storm in this list then we might as well add The Meg or Piranha.

Don't forget Sharknado!
 
Maybe it was already mentioned, but Dunkirk was a good film.
 
How about Midway guys?

James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, to name just a few.

Even Tom Selleck is in there somewhere.
 
How about Midway guys?

James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, to name just a few.

Even Tom Selleck is in there somewhere.

Sheesh, I forgot Charlton Heston!
 
How about Midway guys?

James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, to name just a few.

Even Tom Selleck is in there somewhere.


Cheesy attempt to use up all the ToraTora Tora outtakes.:lol:
 
Cheesy attempt to use up all the ToraTora Tora outtakes.:lol:

The old one didn't...and was one of my favorites of all time...more for the history of the event than the actual movie.
 
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