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Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Deepwater Horizon (2016)  

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Deepwater Horizon will go down as containing arguably one of the most spectacular set pieces in any film from 2016 in the destruction of the rig, which makes almost the entire second half of the movie. One can definitely see where that crazy huge budget went. Aside from that, this is mostly a solid dramatization of the BP oil spill from April 2010 that plays out like a full-on disaster movie, although Peter Berg keeps the human element front and center. It lacks something that could've made it great, though. The most notable player is Mark Wahlberg, who adds another solid performance to his gallery of likable everyman heroes. B

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Beyond being technically brilliant (I could easily see this getting a few oscar noms, especially for visual effects) something in this movie really connected with me. The way the narrative is laid out really gives you time to connect with the characters and invest in them and their situation. In this way (and a few others) it reminded me greatly of Captain Phillips, especially with the emotional pay off at the end.

 

Mark Wahlberg does a very good job as the likeable everyman, and Kurt Russell, being Kurt Russell, gives an effortlessly powerhouse performance. As was mentioned above, it cannot be overstated how stunning the set piece second half of this movie was. I became completely lost in the situation and plight of these people on that hellish platform.

 

Although I had seen the good reviews this still took me by surprise and I wouldn't be shocked if it even ends up in my top ten of the year.

 

8.5/10

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The first half of Deepwater Horizon is stellar. I'm a sucker for that procedural play-by-play slow-build of tension and I think the film does a really great job of it. The second half goes by pretty quickly and the film ends way too abruptly (with an overly sentimental coda), but the film is still very good.
 
Shame it's gonna bomb with the budget and all.

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Deepwater Horizon is an engaging disaster film. The spectacle on display is really enjoyable to watch, especially the obvious use of real sets to display the oil crisis. Everything else in it is painfully average. Mark Wahlberg does a typical boring performance and the only memorable actor in it is John Malkovich hamming it up to ridiculous extents. It's a shame because the cast is by far one of the best of the year in talent, but none of them are given anything to do. It seems weird to focus one of the biggest ecological disasters on humans alone and then give none of the humans anything resembling an arc or even character. The build-up to the disaster is well-done and the disaster itself is really fantastic. The minutes afterwards are good, but lessened by Marky Mark being a generic good guy who wants to help everyone out; it just becomes a really typical disaster movie. Then, the postscript actively ruins the film proper by revealing the Hollywood concessions done to get the film made. Deepwater Horizon is a well-shot and entertaining disaster flick that only works when viewed as popcorn cinema, which is a true shame considering its source material. C+

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Not as good as Lone Survivor, but still pretty good and very intense. The film was a bit hard to understand at the beginning due to the accents though. Anyway the acting wasn't that bad either and I did think it was a rather interesting film.

A-

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Was pleasantly surprised by this. Sure, it does get a bit too bombastic at times but I was entertained from beginning to end and the performances by Wahlberg and Russell were both excellent, especially the latter since he had little character development. The effects were stellar and sound design incredible; I can see this getting some technical love from the Academy.

 

***¾/*****, (B+, 7.8/10, 3/4)

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Movie can be divided in two parts: first half is composed of unintelligible oil drilling jargon, pathetic attempt to make us care about Everyman Mike and his perfect marriage and perfect daughter, and many shots at the sound of droning music. Last half is composed of chaotic explosions and paint-by-numbers Disaster film situations "oh look the guy's trapped under something".

 

I was just bored as hell the whole way.

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Although the film was a big box office failure this fall, Deepwater Horizon is a very good and right on the spot depiction of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred in 2010. The film has great actors especially Mark Wahlberg, and Kurt Russell. Also the film looks great, and isn't CGI slaughtered like a Syfy movie. Deepwater Horizon has great characters, and doesn't hollywodize this tragic event that claimed the lives of 11 people, and affected the reputation of BP which they definitely look bad in the film with John Malkovich. Grade:B+

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Thought it was awesome. And Damn, I really felt the impact when that thing blew. Some of the accents were hard to hear in the first half but once things started to go downhill, the movie was a ride. It's hard to realize the scope of what actually happened to that rig just seeing the helicopter footage from CNN. Berg did an amazing job transporting you there. Excellent CGI and good performances. Really enjoyed it. - B+

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