White Squall

Name: White Squall
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Released: February 2, 1996
Duration: 129 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Caroline Goodall, Jeff Bridges

1996

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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6.2

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6.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: February 2, 1996 | PG-13

Starring: Caroline Goodall, Jeff Bridges

Summary: A group of boys learn about life and death during their senior year as the crew on the ship Albatross.

Director: Ridley Scott

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 129 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington

Scott is able to make it fresh and lyrical, as well as give us rousingly exciting scenes of nature in eruption. [02 Feb 1996]

James Berardinelli

White Squall is a success because the good elements are so well-orchestrated that they dwarf the few obvious flaws. This film offers just about everything, including a twenty-minute white-knuckle sequence and a chance to shed a few tears. In short, it's first-rate entertainment. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

The story has its corny aspects, but thanks to Scott's skill as an image maker and as a storyteller--proceeding from the very blue and very abstract water seen behind the credits to the climactic, extended storm--this is superior to both "Dead Poets Society" (as a tale about a boys' school and its charismatic teacher) and "Apollo 13" (as a true-life action adventure). Read full review

Shawn Levy

Stunningly photographed, acted with occasional bravura and structured with exacting precision, it fails to sing more than once or twice, and then only briefly. [2 Feb 1996]

Jack Mathews

The 20 or so minutes we spend with the Albatross in the squall is high adventure, to be sure. Everything else is ballast. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Despite great scenery, the distinctive visual ideas of Mr. Scott ("Alien," "Blade Runner") and the strong dramatic presence of Mr. Bridges, most of White Squall remains listless and tame. Read full review

Barbara Shulgasser

It just doesn't work. Read full review

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User Reviews

ThatemW.

Mar 24, 2008

Great family movie and not a bad little sailing movie too. Recomend it to most. Of course not an action movie either.

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JosephB.

Dec 13, 2007

I thought this movie worked pretty well as a combination of coming-of-age and action-adventure treatments. In the end though, this film is about a tragedy and makes us sad. This proves though that it is successful and well structured, in that we come to care about the characters and mourn I thought this movie worked pretty well as a combination of coming-of-age and action-adventure treatments. In the end though, this film is about a tragedy and makes us sad. This proves though that it is successful and well structured, in that we come to care about the characters and mourn their fates. Very watchable and keeps your interest up.… Expand

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FilmClub

Mar 26, 2016

Call it “Floating Poets Society,” or perhaps “Dead Sailors Society,” but this coming-of-age story, circa 1960, has much the same feel as that earlier release, with a group of teenage boys undergoing a rite of passage — under the tutelage of a stern mentor — by sailing around the CaribbeanCall it “Floating Poets Society,” or perhaps “Dead Sailors Society,” but this coming-of-age story, circa 1960, has much the same feel as that earlier release, with a group of teenage boys undergoing a rite of passage — under the tutelage of a stern mentor — by sailing around the Caribbean for a year. Director Ridley Scott’s lavish production isn’t totally satisfying, coasting aimlessly at times before suddenly leaping to a more intense dramatic plane.

Much of that may have to do with the appeal of “Party of Five” star Scott Wolf, who provides the movie’s centerpiece and narrator as Chuck Gieg, a high school senior through whose eyes the audience sees the boat’s stern Skipper (Jeff Bridges) and his other, sometimes troubled classmates aboard the Albatross.

To that extent, in fact, as much as anything else, “White Squall” may be remembered as Wolf’s coming-out party, given his teen heart-throb status on the marginally rated Fox series and seeming potential as a box office draw.

The movie’s foremost problem has to do with its structure. Pic takes plenty of time introducing its attractive young cast as they bond while sailing around the Caribbean, before abruptly erupting into the storm sequence that claims several lives.

That, in turn, is followed by a brief, anticlimactic courtroom tribunal — a sort of poor man’s “The Caine Mutiny” that, true story or not, feels a bit forced and contrived. Each of the young men is plagued by his own demons, including Frank (Jeremy Sisto), who struggles against a domineering father; Gil (Ryan Phillippe), whose fear of heights stems from an earlier tragedy; and Dean (Eric Michael Cole), whose bullying ways hide insecurity about his academic skills.

Their interaction and inauguration aboard the ship provide plenty of amusing and moving moments but also long languid stretches, making one yearn for the storm to arrive.

When it finally does, it’s worth the wait — a staggering, if at times confusing, sequence in which the boat is sunk and various members of the crew are lost.

Yet Scott and writer Todd Robinson take such a long time getting there that they don’t really have time to do justice to the af-termath of those events. One example: Those without an academic interest in sailing might appreciate a brief explanation of what exactly a “white squall” is and why no one seems to believe in them.

In the same vein, the filmmakers take a rather facile, anachronistic “Oprah”-esque approach toward the boys’ feelings about their families and the Skipper’s role as a “tough love”-minded surrogate father.

Bridges is appropriately stern in the role, though what drives him is never really explored, even through his relationship with his wife (Caroline Goodall), the ship’s doctor. Wolf proves the perfect Everykid, brimming with fresh-faced likability, while the rest of the cast is solid, with Cole the most notable standout.

Scott remains a gifted visual stylist, and cinematographer Hugh Johnson beautifully captures the open seas as well as the ship’s confined spaces. Indeed , early shots, in which the crew has its first experience with rough waters, are gut-churning enough that some audience members may feel queasy.… Expand

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NickTheCritick

Nov 3, 2021

If Ridley Scott had shot 10 movies less than he actually did it would be the same. When you don't Wright your own screenplays you have to be good in chosing the ones that fit your visual style and, in general, the ones that worth to be transformed in movies. This is one of the worst movie ever made.

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97	#97 Best Movie of 1996
70	#70 Most Discussed Movie of 1996
89	#89 Most Shared Movie of 1996