The Perfect Storm (film)
Encyclopedia
The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic
disaster
film directed by Wolfgang Petersen
. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction
book of the same title by Sebastian Junger
about the crew of the Andrea Gail
that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney
, Mark Wahlberg
, William Fichtner
, John C. Reilly
, Allen Payne, John Hawkes
, Diane Lane
, Michael Ironside
, Karen Allen
and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
. The film was released on June 30, 2000 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
ing boat Andrea Gail returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts
with a poor catch. Desperate for money, Captain Billy Tyne (Clooney), convinces the Andrea Gail crew to join him for one more late season fishing expedition. They head out past their usual fishing grounds, leaving a developing thunderstorm
behind them. Initially unsuccessful, they head to the Flemish Cap
, where their luck improves. At the height of their fishing the ice machine breaks; the only way to sell their catch before it spoils is to hurry back to shore. After debating whether to sail through the building storm or to wait it out, the crew decide to risk the storm. However, between the Andrea Gail and Gloucester is a confluence of two powerful weather fronts and a hurricane, which the Andrea Gail crew underestimate.
After repeated warnings from other ships, the Andrea Gail loses her antenna, forcing a fellow ship to call in a Mayday
. An Air National Guard
rescue helicopter responds, but after failing to perform a midair refuel, the helicopter crew ditch the aircraft before it crashes, and all but one of the crew members are rescued by a Coast Guard vessel, the Tamaroa
. The Andrea Gail endures various problems: with 40 feet (12.2 m) waves crashing onto the deck, a broken stabilizer
ramming the side of the ship, and two men thrown overboard. The crew decide to turn around to avoid further damage by the storm. After doing so, the vessel encounters an enormous rogue wave. Billy tells Bobby to apply full power to ride over the wave; it seems that they may make it over, but the wave starts to plunder and the boat flips over. Billy elects to go down with his ship and only Bobby manages to surface. There are no survivors, however, and the film ends with Captain Greenlaw reading the eulogy at the memorial service, followed by Christina and Bobby's mother, Ethel, consoling each other on the dock and Billy's voice pontificating about what it means to be a swordboat captain.
(resistance to capsizing) of the Andrea Gail.
The film only claims to be "based on a true story." It differs in many ways from the book, starting with the fictionalization of the material into a "story." The film also continues to narrate the story of the Andrea Gail after its last radio contact. As the boat and the bodies of the crew were never found, these final events (e.g., the decision to change course, the 180° knockover, etc.) are obviously entirely speculation.
Most names were not changed for the fictional film. The families of certain crew members of the Andrea Gail sued the producers in federal district court
in Florida
, claiming that their names were used without their permission, and that facts were changed. The district court held that the defendants' First Amendment
right to freedom of speech
barred the suit. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
, which could not decide how to interpret the Florida law at issue and certified the question to the Florida Supreme Court
. On April 21, 2005, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the district court's interpretation of Florida law and remanded the case to the 11th Circuit, which then affirmed the district court's original decision to dismiss the case.
An exception is the portrayal of the yacht whose crew was taken off-board by the US Coast Guard. Its story is clearly based on the events surrounding the Satori, which are also dealt with in Junger's book; Junger's version of the event, however, is contested by the owner and skipper of the yacht, who was not interviewed for Junger's book. The film highly fictionalizes the story of the Satori; it renames the boat Mistral, and leaves its crew anonymous, making no explicit claim about the "true" identity of the boat.
According to the son of the owner, the Satori never made a 360° turn (which would likely result in severe damage to the boat's rigging
), although it had two knockdowns, during which it lay on its side for about 30 seconds (capsizing). The Satori owner indeed wanted to continue to sail whereas his two female crewmembers panicked and sent off a Mayday
call over radio. Still according to the son of the owner, the Coast Guard ordered everyone off-board—including the unwilling owner—and first tried to take them on board via an inflatable boat. Only after the inflatable boat was damaged when trying to approach the Satori did the Coast Guard send a helicopter. The helicopter did not try to lower rescue gear onto the yacht (as shown in the film, where it gets entangled with the mast), but rather asked the Satori crew to jump overboard to meet a pararescuer in the water; after the Satori crew was on board the helicopter, the crew of the damaged inflatable boat were rescued. Different from the film's narrative, this helicopter was not identical to the helicopter, which later had an emergency landing on water and lost a crew member. Still according to the son of the owner, the Satori was later found unharmed at a Maryland beach, having sustained no damage after the crew left her.
, Gregg Rudloff
, David E. Campbell
and Keith A. Wester
).
The film received generally mixed reviews for critics, holding a 47% approval rating on critic site Rotten Tomatoes
with a consensus of, "While the special effects are well done and quite impressive, this film suffers from any actual drama or characterization. The end result is a film that offers nifty eye-candy and nothing else."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
disaster
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
film directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen is a German film director and screenwriter. His films include The NeverEnding Story, Enemy Mine, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, Troy, and Poseidon...
. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book of the same title by Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...
about the crew of the Andrea Gail
Andrea Gail
The F/V Andrea Gail was a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all hands during the "Perfect Storm" of 1991. The vessel and her six-man crew had been fishing the North Atlantic Ocean out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her last reported position was northeast of Sable Island on...
that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
, William Fichtner
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
, John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
, Allen Payne, John Hawkes
John Hawkes (actor)
John Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...
, Diane Lane
Diane Lane
Diane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
, Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...
, Karen Allen
Karen Allen
Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an American actress and singer known for her role as Carmen in The Color of Money, as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Gina Montana in Scarface, and Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.-Personal life:Mastrantonio was born in Lombard,...
. The film was released on June 30, 2000 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Plot
In October 1991, the swordfishSwordfish
Swordfish , also known as broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood...
ing boat Andrea Gail returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
with a poor catch. Desperate for money, Captain Billy Tyne (Clooney), convinces the Andrea Gail crew to join him for one more late season fishing expedition. They head out past their usual fishing grounds, leaving a developing thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
behind them. Initially unsuccessful, they head to the Flemish Cap
Flemish Cap
The Flemish Cap is an area of shallow waters in the north Atlantic Ocean centered roughly at 47° north, 45° west or about 350 miles east of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador....
, where their luck improves. At the height of their fishing the ice machine breaks; the only way to sell their catch before it spoils is to hurry back to shore. After debating whether to sail through the building storm or to wait it out, the crew decide to risk the storm. However, between the Andrea Gail and Gloucester is a confluence of two powerful weather fronts and a hurricane, which the Andrea Gail crew underestimate.
After repeated warnings from other ships, the Andrea Gail loses her antenna, forcing a fellow ship to call in a Mayday
Mayday (distress signal)
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....
. An Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
rescue helicopter responds, but after failing to perform a midair refuel, the helicopter crew ditch the aircraft before it crashes, and all but one of the crew members are rescued by a Coast Guard vessel, the Tamaroa
USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166)
USCGC Tamaroa was a United States Coast Guard cutter, originally the United States Navy salvage tug USS Zuni . Following the USCG custom of naming cutters after Native American tribes, she is named after the Tamaroa tribe of the Illiniwek tribal group.She was one of 70 built in her class for the...
. The Andrea Gail endures various problems: with 40 feet (12.2 m) waves crashing onto the deck, a broken stabilizer
Stabilizer (ship)
Ship stabilizers are fins mounted beneath the waterline and emerging laterally. In contemporary vessels, they may be gyroscopically controlled active fins, which have the capacity to change their angle of attack to counteract roll caused by wind or waves acting on the ship.The bilge keel is an...
ramming the side of the ship, and two men thrown overboard. The crew decide to turn around to avoid further damage by the storm. After doing so, the vessel encounters an enormous rogue wave. Billy tells Bobby to apply full power to ride over the wave; it seems that they may make it over, but the wave starts to plunder and the boat flips over. Billy elects to go down with his ship and only Bobby manages to surface. There are no survivors, however, and the film ends with Captain Greenlaw reading the eulogy at the memorial service, followed by Christina and Bobby's mother, Ethel, consoling each other on the dock and Billy's voice pontificating about what it means to be a swordboat captain.
Cast
- George ClooneyGeorge ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
as William "Billy" Tyne, captain of the Andrea GailAndrea GailThe F/V Andrea Gail was a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all hands during the "Perfect Storm" of 1991. The vessel and her six-man crew had been fishing the North Atlantic Ocean out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her last reported position was northeast of Sable Island on...
, a sword-fishing boat. Billy is a divorced father of two daughters who is determined to undertake one last fishing trip before the end of the season to make up for a recent string of poor catches. - Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as Robert "Bobby" Shatford, the least experienced of the crew of the Andrea Gail. Bobby is the son of Ethel Shatford, the owner of the Crow's Nest, and boyfriend to Chris Cotter. He enjoys commercial fishing, but his deepening relationship with Chris (coupled with her reluctance to let him sail again) creates conflict within himself and between the couple. Yet he decides that the potential to earn more money at sea than he could make with a job on shore compels him to sign on for one last trip. - Mary Elizabeth MastrantonioMary Elizabeth MastrantonioMary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an American actress and singer known for her role as Carmen in The Color of Money, as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Gina Montana in Scarface, and Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.-Personal life:Mastrantonio was born in Lombard,...
as Linda GreenlawLinda GreenlawLinda Greenlaw, is a best-selling author of books with maritime themes and the only female swordfishing boat captain on the East Coast of the United States. She was featured in the 1997 book The Perfect Storm and the 2000 film adaptation...
, the captain of the Hannah Boden. Linda and Billy both captain ships for the same owner and maintain a friendly rivalry, with a hint at romantic overtones. She is concerned about Billy and his crew going out in what she considers dangerous weather. Linda is the last to speak to the Andrea Gail. - Diane LaneDiane LaneDiane Lane is an American film actress.Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at the age of 13 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. Soon after, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine...
as Christina 'Chris' Cotter, girlfriend of Bobby Shatford. She spends her time during the last fishing trip decorating an apartment she has rented as a surprise for Bobby to symbolize her commitment to him. She did not want Bobby to go because of a bad feeling she had about the trip. - John C. ReillyJohn C. ReillyJohn Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
as Dale "Murph" Murphy, crewmember on the Andrea Gail. Murph is a veteran fisherman who is divorced with a son with whom he's very involved. Murph has a rocky relationship with crewmember David "Sully" Sullivan that is eventually resolved during the trip. - William FichtnerWilliam FichtnerWilliam Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
as David "Sully" Sullivan, crewmember on the Andrea Gail. He signed on for the trip at the last minute when another fisherman suddenly backed out. Sully and Murph initially have an antagonistic relationship that is fueled in part by Sully's past involvement with Murph's ex-wife, although the details are not made clear in the film. - Michael IronsideMichael IronsideMichael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...
as Bob Brown, owner of the Andrea Gail. Although Brown seems to harbor a deep-seated recognition of Tyne's skills at catching fish, he nevertheless pressures Tyne over the latter's recent inability to bring in larger hauls, resulting in an uneasy relationship between the two. - Bob GuntonBob GuntonRobert Patrick "Bob" Gunton, Jr. is an American actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters, with his best known roles as Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison film The Shawshank Redemption, Chief George Earle in 1993's Demolition Man, and President Juan Peron in the original...
as Alexander McAnally III, owner of the Mistral, a yacht caught in the storm. - Karen AllenKaren AllenKaren Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
as Melissa Brown, crewmember on the Mistral. - Cherry JonesCherry JonesCherry Jones is an American actress and recipient of the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.-Career:...
as Edie Bailey, crewmember on the Mistral. - Allen Payne as Alfred Pierre, one of the crew of the Andrea Gail.
- John HawkesJohn Hawkes (actor)John Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...
as Michael "Bugsy" Moran, a member of the Andrea Gail crew. Bugsy's somewhat comic inability to connect with women appears to change on the eve of the trip, when he meets a divorced mother at the Crow's Nest, who later comes to the dock to see him off. They hint at the prospect of a budding relationship that fatefully never materializes. - Janet WrightJanet WrightJanet Wright is a Canadian actress and theatre director. She is best known for her role as Emma Leroy on the hit Canadian sitcom Corner Gas. She won a 2003 Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for her role in Betrayed...
as Ethel Shatford, Bobby's mother.
Authenticity
The film is based on Junger's non-fiction book of the same title. The book itself has sometimes been accused of factual errors (e.g., misspelling of a person's name), one-sided research (e.g., initially not interviewing the skipper and owner of the yacht Satori) and bias against the fishing industry (e.g., role of drinking among fishermen); the author and, according to him, also fishermen have defended the book. The film omits many of the book's technical details, like the prominent role of the Canadian Coast Guard, as well as contested parts about the stabilityShip stability
Ship stability is an area of naval architecture and ship design that deals with how a ship behaves at sea, both in still water and in waves. Stability calculations focus on the center of gravity and center of buoyancy of vessels and on how these interact....
(resistance to capsizing) of the Andrea Gail.
The film only claims to be "based on a true story." It differs in many ways from the book, starting with the fictionalization of the material into a "story." The film also continues to narrate the story of the Andrea Gail after its last radio contact. As the boat and the bodies of the crew were never found, these final events (e.g., the decision to change course, the 180° knockover, etc.) are obviously entirely speculation.
Most names were not changed for the fictional film. The families of certain crew members of the Andrea Gail sued the producers in federal district court
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida serves the residents of thirty-five counties from eight courthouses....
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, claiming that their names were used without their permission, and that facts were changed. The district court held that the defendants' First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
right to freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
barred the suit. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...
, which could not decide how to interpret the Florida law at issue and certified the question to the Florida Supreme Court
Florida Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. The Supreme Court consists of seven judges: the Chief Justice and six Justices who are appointed by the Governor to 6-year terms and remain in office if retained in a general election near the end of each...
. On April 21, 2005, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the district court's interpretation of Florida law and remanded the case to the 11th Circuit, which then affirmed the district court's original decision to dismiss the case.
An exception is the portrayal of the yacht whose crew was taken off-board by the US Coast Guard. Its story is clearly based on the events surrounding the Satori, which are also dealt with in Junger's book; Junger's version of the event, however, is contested by the owner and skipper of the yacht, who was not interviewed for Junger's book. The film highly fictionalizes the story of the Satori; it renames the boat Mistral, and leaves its crew anonymous, making no explicit claim about the "true" identity of the boat.
According to the son of the owner, the Satori never made a 360° turn (which would likely result in severe damage to the boat's rigging
Rigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
), although it had two knockdowns, during which it lay on its side for about 30 seconds (capsizing). The Satori owner indeed wanted to continue to sail whereas his two female crewmembers panicked and sent off a Mayday
Mayday (distress signal)
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....
call over radio. Still according to the son of the owner, the Coast Guard ordered everyone off-board—including the unwilling owner—and first tried to take them on board via an inflatable boat. Only after the inflatable boat was damaged when trying to approach the Satori did the Coast Guard send a helicopter. The helicopter did not try to lower rescue gear onto the yacht (as shown in the film, where it gets entangled with the mast), but rather asked the Satori crew to jump overboard to meet a pararescuer in the water; after the Satori crew was on board the helicopter, the crew of the damaged inflatable boat were rescued. Different from the film's narrative, this helicopter was not identical to the helicopter, which later had an emergency landing on water and lost a crew member. Still according to the son of the owner, the Satori was later found unharmed at a Maryland beach, having sustained no damage after the crew left her.
Reception
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound (John T. ReitzJohn T. Reitz
John T. Reitz is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for another three in the same category. He has worked on over 180 films since 1976.-Selected filmography:...
, Gregg Rudloff
Gregg Rudloff
Gregg Rudloff is an American sound engineer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and has been nominated for two more in the same category...
, David E. Campbell
David E. Campbell
David E. Campbell is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and has been nominated for five more in the same category...
and Keith A. Wester
Keith A. Wester
Keith A. Wester was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Best Sound...
).
The film received generally mixed reviews for critics, holding a 47% approval rating on critic site Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
with a consensus of, "While the special effects are well done and quite impressive, this film suffers from any actual drama or characterization. The end result is a film that offers nifty eye-candy and nothing else."
See also
- 106th Rescue Wing106th Rescue WingThe 106th Rescue Wing is an Air National Guard unit stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Airport, Westhampton Beach, New York. The mission of the wing is combat search and rescue. During peacetime, the unit also provides search and rescue services to the maritime community and NASA...
- 129th Rescue Wing129th Rescue WingThe 129th Rescue Wing is an Air National Guard combat search and rescue unit operationally gained by the Air Combat Command . The unit's history dates to April 1955, when it was activated as the 129th Air Resupply Group of the California Air National Guard...
- 1991 Perfect Storm
- Air Force PararescueAir Force PararescuePararescuemen are United States Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command operatives tasked with recovery and medical treatment of personnel in humanitarian and combat environments...
- The Perfect Storm (book)