Which Boat - All is Lost ?

There were many mistakes,He wouldn't have been able to get a fix with just the sextant and almanac unless he was doing noon sights which only give a latitude anyway..And were did he get those oilies?They look like they're from the sixties.
 
It is possibly the worst film I have ever watched, ever, not just the worst sailing film.

Films are supposed to inspire or induce emotions through identification with the subjects, but for any minimally experienced sailor it is rather impossible to identify with someone who does not do anything like we would nor he reacts in any way like we would. My daughter, 11, commented at one point: "does he even care of the boat? Why does he not close the companionway when he gets out in poring rain?".

Beside, one hour and 30 minutes of lost opportunities where they could have shown at list one sail filling a bit. Instead the screen-players preferred to wreck a boat in a windless storm whilst inside nothing was moving, capsize without any missile flying about and floorboards perfectly GLUED in place, climb a mast that was steadier than a lamp post.

Good or bad I am sure that you are going to watch it anyway just because sailing films are rare.
 
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and all in a boat with no engine, HH vhf, HH gps a coastal flare pack. no LSJ, no harness, nothing to make a patch out of. With an ocean sailor who instead of mooring onto the perfect platform to conduct the repair or heaving to on the stbd tack to raise the hole chose to tack hole side down to go back and pick up the sea anchor he chose to attach to the container rather than his own boat. He also chose to shave rather than preparing a proper survival pack for when he would inevitably get into his life raft but leave the life-buoy on his guardrail to float away when the yacht went down. Frankly the only thing surprising about his final action was that he bothered to put the paper in the open plastic container. By then I was expecting him to light the fire directly on the life raft floor or in the water!

The key to a good story is creating empathy for the characters. I was wishing him dead by the end.
 
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Apologies for being a bit late to the party on this one, missed the cinema rounds but now out on iTunes to rent.

Well what a waste of £2.99!

I started to lose faith in our man shortly after he decided to ram the container for a second time to retrieve his sea anchor and then proceed to sail about on port tack trying to fill the boat with water through the hole in the hull.

Loving the sextant plots too, very accurate considering he doesn't appear to consult the time or the tables!
 
I've watched it 3 times now (digital version) with different sailing friends and they've all enjoyed it, as did I, every time!

Different strokes, different folks?

I think he was seeing if he could sail on port tack before deciding that he couldn't and would therefore have to fix the hole quickly.

Didn't really understand why the VHF cable became detached at the mast head just because the boat hit a container but hey, it's supposed to be entertainment.

Richard
 
I found myself watching this on an 11 hour flight recently. It proved a good time killing game due to it taking about three hours to get through whilst my traveling companion and I watched in synch and played a very quickfire match of 'Spot, Pause and Discuss the Glaring Continuity Errors and Character's Dumbass Decision Making'.

As a film, 1 out of 5 Revels.
As an accidentally discovered in flight time-killer, 5 out of 5 bags of stale mini pretzels.
 
It seems to be that some viewers were looking for the errors in the sailors judgement as if these were problems with the film.

Surely the story is about how one guy deals with a series of worsening situations - he makes many mistakes, sure, but the film was not setting out to be a public-service film on what to do if alone in the middle of the ocean and your boat has a hole in it.

The film isn't trying to be a PBO article.

Sure, you might have done something completely different, but the film is about what this one character did and the consequence of his actions for him.

I thought it an astonishing performance from Redford.
 
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Vid said:
It seems to be that some viewers were looking for the errors in the sailors judgement as if these were problems with the film.

Surely the story is about how one guy deals with a series of worsening situations - he makes many mistakes, sure, but the film was not setting out to be a public-service film on what to do if alone in the middle of the ocean and your boat has a hole in it.

The film isn't trying to be a PBO article.

Sure, you might have done something completely different, but the film is about what this one character did and the consequence of them for him.

I thought it an astonishing performance from Redford.
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He lit a fire in a plastic container INSIDE his liferaft!
 
Buck Turgidson said:
He lit a fire in a plastic container INSIDE his liferaft!
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Yes he did - you or I may not have, but not having been through what he had I don't know. It was a reflection of the character's mental state and desparation at that moment in time - again, the film makers were not suggesting this was a good or right thing to do, but it is what this individual did.
 
Vid said:
Yes he did - you or I may not have, but not having been through what he had I don't know. It was a reflection of the character's mental state and desparation at that moment in time - again, the film makers were not suggesting this was a good or right thing to do, but it is what this individual did.
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He was supposed to be an ocean solo sailor! God only knows how he made it to the Indian ocean based on his actions when he got there!
 
Buck Turgidson said:
He was supposed to be an ocean solo sailor! God only knows how he made it to the Indian ocean based on his actions when he got there!
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Buck, stop it now! I just ordered the DVD from Amazon and I'm determined to enjoy it once it arrives but I have to say, if he lit a fire inside his liferaft as you claim, then I'm with you!
 
I keep going to add my tupp'nyworth to the discussion, but then have to keep reminding myself I'm typing from the comfort of an armchair and therefore completely incapable of making a bad decision. Whether I'd be quite so perfect in the middle of the ocean with all hell breaking loose around me, who knows?? ;)
 
Buck Turgidson said:
He was supposed to be an ocean solo sailor! God only knows how he made it to the Indian ocean based on his actions when he got there!
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Actually there was another screenplay for a sailor who crossed the Indian ocean and had a similar incident but he repaired the hole, carried on sailing and safely reached his destination.

They didn't make a film of it though.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
Let's hope we never end up in a liferaft together because if you tried a trick like that You would find yourself swimming with your suicide fire!
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I'm glad to know you'd have the stamina to go on to a slow death by thirst when there was a fishing boat nearby that could mean the difference between life and death.Had he done nothing he would have died a painful death.His desperate attempt to make himself seen even at the risk of sinking his own raft may be the only thing that I find reasonable in the whole film.
 
30boat said:
I'm glad to know you'd have the stamina to go on to a slow death by thirst when there was a fishing boat nearby that could mean the difference between life and death.Had he done nothing he would have died a painful death.His desperate attempt to make himself seen even at the risk of sinking his own raft may be the only thing that I find reasonable in the whole film.
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Franky if I ever made that many screw up in such a short time I would do the honourable thing!
 
It's a work of fiction. It's only obligation is to entertain, which it did for a very large audience the majority of which never set foot on a boat.

I enjoyed it but clearly a lot of sailors didn't, mistaking it perhaps for a documentary.
 
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