A
movie by
Wolfgang Petersen, based on the
based-on-a-true-story book of the same name by
Sebastian Junger.
The Perfect Storm
The perfect storm was a confluence of three weather systems in October 1991 that resulted in superstorm conditions never seen in recorded history.
Review
The movie begins with some of the hokiest dialogue heard since
Celine Dion finished her gig for
Titanic. About of a third of the way in to the movie, the boat
Andrea Gail goes out again for a late October (1991) swordfish run. When the weather starts up,
Industrial Light and Magic goes to work. Wow. The boat is battered by
rogue waves (of between 75 and 100 feet) which is pretty awe inspiring to watch even if it is only CGI. The storm scenes are really quite amazing and totally make up for the cheesy dialogue. The real star of this movie is the storm, not the salty dog actors, e.g.
George Clooney.
Differences from the book
The book did not have the cheesy dialogue, for one. Also, it is clearer in the book what events are conjecture, since no-one knows what happened to the AG in the end. However, the book is extremely graphic, and this movie does justice to the unimaginably bad conditions at sea. Overall, the movie is quite faithful to the book.