Movies set at sea that made a big splash

Director James Cameron's fascination with the deep began with 'The Abyss,' which stars Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who are drafted in to assist with the recovery of a sunken American nuclear submarine. However, once submerged, they and everyone else encounter something completely unexpected.

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'Finding Nemo' (2003) -

Marlin the clownfish and a regal blue tang named Dory face all sorts of dangers as they search the depths for Marlin's missing son, Nemo. A computer-animated classic.

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'The Hunt For Red October' (1990) -

Adapted from Tom Clancy's novel of the same name, 'The Hunt for Red October' stars Sean Connery as renegade Soviet submarine captain captain Marko Ramius, who wishes to defect to the United States with his officers and his country's newest and most technically advanced nuclear armed submarine.

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'Cast Away' (2000) -

Tom Hanks is Chuck Nolan, a FedEx employee who ends up stranded on an uninhabited island somewhere in the South Pacific after surviving a plane crash.

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'Men of Honor' (2000) -

Inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear (portrayed in the film by Cuba Gooding Jr.), the second African-American master diver in the United States Navy, 'Men of Honor' also stars Robert De Niro.

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'Deep Blue Sea' (1999) -

Huge, ferocious, and intelligent genetically engineered sharks seek revenge on the scientists that bred and experimented upon them in the hope of finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

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'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972) -

When the SS Poseidon turns turtle at sea after being struck by an enormous tsunami during a New Year's Eve voyage, the surviving passengers must find a way out of the upturned vessel before it's claimed by the ocean. Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine head the cast.

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'All Is Lost' (2013) -

Robert Redford is the man lost at sea after his damaged yacht sinks and leaves him stranded in an inflatable life raft.

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'Adrift' (2018) -

In 1983, Hurricane Raymond swept across the Pacific Ocean engulfing the yacht Richard Sharp and Tami Oldman were sailing in. 'Adrift' is based on their terrifying ordeal, and stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin as the hapless couple.

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'In the Heart of the Sea' (2015) -

'In the Heart of the Sea' follows the survivors of the American whaling ship Essex, which sank in 1820 after being attacked and sunk by a whale. With little food and water, the 20-man crew was forced to make for land in the ship's surviving whaleboats.

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'Dead Calm' (1989) -

Nicole Kidman stars as Rae Ingram in this Australian psychological thriller, who along with husband John (Sam Neill) takes to their yacht for a vacation at sea after the death of their son. Then one day they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.

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'Waterworld' (1995) -

Set in a future where the polar ice caps have melted and Earth is almost entirely submerged, 'Waterworld' stars Kevin Costner as the Mariner, a lone drifter and mutant who reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl try to find dry land while fighting off outlaw "smokers."

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'The Mercy' (2017) -

This British biographical drama film tells the story of amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, who died while competing in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, but did so after abandoning the challenge while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually doing so. Colin Firth portrays the inadequate weekend sailor.

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'White Squall' (1996) -

Jeff Bridges is the skipper in charge of a group of high school and college-aged teenagers whose sail training ship is hit by a severe storm. But out of misfortune, the students discover discipline and camaraderie. Caroline Goodall costars.

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'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' (2004) -

A box-office flop when it was released, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' has since garnered a cult following. The off-beat comedy drama stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, and Willem Dafoe.

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'Lifeboat' (1944) -

Alfred Hitchcock directs this taught survival film where the drama is played out entirely on a lifeboat launched from a passenger vessel torpedoed and sunk by a Nazi U-boat.

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'The Dove' (1974) -

'The Dove' is the true story of a 16- year-old (Robin Lee Graham, played by Joseph Bottoms) who in 1965 sailed alone around the world in a 7-m (23 ft) sloop named The Dove. Deborah Raffin costars.

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'The Big Blue' (1988) -

Luc Besson's 'The Big Blue' (released in some countries under the French title 'Le Grand Bleu') is especially remembered for Jacques Mayol (played by Jean-Marc Barr), a free diving champion whose remarkable life story was the inspiration behind the movie. Tragically, suffering depression, Mayol took his own life in 2001.

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'Das Boot' (1981) -

Regarded internationally by historians and serving members of the US Navy as the most authentic and compelling of all submarine pictures, the West German war film 'Das Boot,' written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, follows the German submarine U-96 during its hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War.

Sources: (American Cinematographer) (The Guardian) (History) (The Mirror) (Smithsonian Magazine) (U.S. Naval Institute) (History vs. Hollywood) (CNN)

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Movies set at sea that made a big splash

Films made out on the ocean

20/03/22 | StarsInsider

MOVIES Cinema

The wide open sea has provided a magnificent and sometimes terrifying movie backdrop since the early days of cinema. In fact, some of the best films to come out of Hollywood are set off dry land, where the action on the ocean is guaranteed to make a big splash.

Intrigued? Then jump aboard, click through, and take a look at this log of movies made at sea.