X
- 1989
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 36 m
- 1989
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 36 m
Summary After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae spend some time isolated at sea when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.
Directed By: Phillip Noyce
Written By: Terry Hayes, Charles Williams
- 1989
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 36 m
- 1989
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 36 m
Dead Calm
70
7.7
Where to Watch
Summary After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae spend some time isolated at sea when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.
Directed By: Phillip Noyce
Written By: Terry Hayes, Charles Williams
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
70
69% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
31% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 Critic Reviews
70
69% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
31% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Rippling with resonance, Dead Calm is Jaws in a human form, a shape profoundly complete and completely disturbing. [07 Apr 1989]
Director Noyce's bravura camerawork conspires with Terry Hayes' spare script (adapted from the novel by Charles Williams) and some edgy cutting to exploit every ounce of tension, right down to a killer ending.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
7.7
74% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
22% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
7.7
74% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
22% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Dead Calm is a great chamber thriller. 3 heroes, 2 boats and one stupid dog. Dead Calm is a clear indicator that a good thriller is the right actors and the circumstances of the plot. 1.5 hours of tension, the suspense does not disappear until the final credits. Excellent acting by Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill. Even more amazing how well the antagonist William Zane played his role, after 15-20 years I did not see him in decent films. Dead Calm perfectly contrasts between the tranquility of the couple and the horror that the named guest brings to the yacht. The open final is a little surprising with its understatement, given that there was no sequel, and it is not needed as such.
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I was so ready for the thrill ride since I am ready to see Dead Calm which is filled with scares, terror and you guys are waiting to know what is happening and getting you on the edge of your seat like myself to be include. This movie stars Sam Neill, a very young Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. It had that very evocative plot and story it executes really well. It's really like you swimming in the middle of nowhere and then you thinking about how are you gonna get back. The thrills are great, the acting is unbelievable and I quite like the cinematography in this film. Dead Calm is a film that you have to stay calm while you watch it, I mean DEAD calm! I would recommend it if you are a fan of psychological thrillers. If you haven't seen Dead Calm, go watch it! It's just great!
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Cinematogapher Dean Semler gets amazing colours as the sun sets, and there’s a bravely avant-garde debut score from Kiwi composer Graeme Revell, pumping up the pulse with sinister breathing sounds. The plot even thrives on a tacit cultural tension between the Australian stars and the arrogant interloper.
Dead Calm generates genuine tension, because the story is so simple and the performances are so straightforward. This is not a gimmick film (unless you count the husband's method of escaping from the sinking ship), and Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together.
The best that can be said about Dead Calm is that director Phillip Noyce maintains nearly constant tension and finds a surprising number of ways to evoke menace in confined spaces. [07 Apr 1989, p.7]
Initially, the film works well as a tense, teasing suspense vehicle. But one of Dead Calm’s major problems is that it brings to mind ideas and plot similarities from so many other films that you are constantly being reminded of its own rather humble status.
Disturbing for all the wrong reasons.
This is a somewhat typical, reasonable thriller from the late 1980s starring a fresh faced Nicole Kidman. There are some tense moments but I wouldn't say it was particularly scary as such. Billy Zane does well portraying the villain. I'd recommend this film, yes.
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Dead Calm is a 1989 thriller, supposedly meant to be a horror too but the only horror is it ever being made.. Let's face it, it's not scary and the story is pretty weak. A couple out at sea on a boat and they encounter some stranger who's deserted some ship and the husband whilst the strangers asleep checks out the boat he's deserted and nearly ends up drowning, with the stranger on board Nicole Kidman tries drugging him, tying him up, shooting him, pretty much anything really and to turn the boat around to go back for her husband.... In the end she finds her husband and the stranger who came aboard meets his death.... Sam Neil was great but Billy Zane was very annoying and Nicole Kidman was silly, can't believe they took this long to film this garbage and it's all out at sea. The storyline isn't great and the audience doesn't get much fun viewing or anything to write home about. Not much violence, not much of anything really and it's certainly not a horror because it's not scary. Silly film and boring.
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Awards
Australian Film Institute
• 4 Wins & 8 Nominations
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination
