So could this really happen?

[Scuba Brad]

Hey if you don't tip the crew "stuff" happens......................ok Kate I'm just teasing.

Scuba Brad

 

[Daxter]

Kate, I'm impressed you could make it to the end of that movie, although I must admit I wacthed it all as well. Kept thinking this cant be the whole movie, two people floating in water then realized all the writer had as fact was that there were two people left behind. To this day still think I could have dreamed up more excitement with no facts then that writer.

 

[adza]

Don't forget those super box jellyfish - who don't stick near land, and have tenticles that can sting through wetsuits.

Question - how do you make a movie about 2 people being left behind off a dive boat entertaining enough to go for 80+ mins?

Answer - by being totally unrealistic.

(Although - I still would debate that the movie was entertaining to last for that time frame. Me myself did quite a bit of FF'ing).

 

[krazykate]

Thanks for your responses, I agree with a lot of what's been said and don't even know that much about diving!

 

[boulderjohn]

I have to concur about Open Water being unrealistic.

As it being based on a true story I've heard a number of versions where the couple made sure they were left behind so they could disappear. Furthermore there were supposedly reports of a couple being picked up by another dive boat. Who knows what really happened?

This version rears its head every time thre is a thread about this. The couple who disappeared were the Lonergan's, an American couple on a trip in Australia. The boat that left them was grossly negligent. Not only did they leave them, they knew something was wrong the first day because their gear was still on the boat at the end of the day. They still waited three days before reporting them missing and beginning the search.

In the aftermath, with loads of prosecution going on, the dive operator concocted a suicide pact story (and other possible scenarios) in a desperate attempt to shed responsibility. There was no evidence of this, and those tales were totally rejected in the legal process.

Those concocted stories still persist, though, because once people hear the story, they will in total innocence repeat it whenever the topic comes up again.

 

[boulderjohn]

Kate, I'm impressed you could make it to the end of that movie, although I must admit I wacthed it all as well. Kept thinking this cant be the whole movie, two people floating in water then realized all the writer had as fact was that there were two people left behind. To this day still think I could have dreamed up more excitement with no facts then that writer.

They could have made it a really good movie if they had stuck closer to the real story on which it was based. They could have cut back and forth between the couple in the water and the dive operator back on land realizing something was wrong and then seeing what it could do to cover its *ss rather than start a rescue operation.

 

[adza]

Boulderjohn - now that's a great idea - bring in an actual plot to the whole story. I like the idea. (Too bad it's too late now).

 

[vondo]

I think you are all missing the point. This was not a movie about diving or about sharks. It was an exploration of two people in danger who are completely cut off from society and basically completely helpless to change their situation. If you watch it that way, it's actually pretty good. It's a psychological thriller.

We can't watch it that way, though, because we know too much. I agree that as a diving movie, it sucked.

 

[Divingdon]

I watched with a group of people during a liveaboard. It was great the next morning, nervous on the back deck....

 

[boulderjohn]

Boulderjohn - now that's a great idea - bring in an actual plot to the whole story. I like the idea. (Too bad it's too late now).

Many bad movies would have been improved tremendously if the producers had only had the good sense to consult with me on the plot from the beginning.