Cheap Dead Calm (DVD) (Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane) (Phillip Noyce) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Dead Calm

The Original Survivor
Released in 1989, this low-budget film is remarkable for several reasons. Most obviously, it was Nicole Kidman's first leading role, which she handles brilliantly. At 20, we can already see the star quality and intensity of concentration that distinguishes much of her later work. As Rae Ingram, she hits so many levels from adoring wife to loving and then grieving mother, seductress, warrior, and survivor. The special effects at the beginning of the movie where the child is flung through the windshield, while emotionally unpleasant, are well executed. As the plot mechanism which leads John & Rae into the dead calm cruise, what follows with the struggle with Hughie Warriner effectively puts the grieving out of mind. Sam Neill as John Ingram does a great job of playing the loving husband, grieving father, and skilled naval officer who winds up stranded on a sinking boat and must use hits wits & skill to survive. Billy Zane as Hughie seems to enjoy letting loose as the crazed killer on the high seas. Australian director Phillip Noyce would later go on to make several big-budget features with Harrison Ford, "Clear & Present Danger" & "Patriot Games." "Dead Calm" was the feature that first got Hollywood's attention for him. He does an amazingly masterful job of crafting an intense, sometimes too intense, experience on the boat that not only holds our attention but rivets us to the outcome. As I see the ads for the "Survivor" series on television, this film is kind of like the original "survivor" with Kidman being the million-dollar winner. Last but not least, the dog is a real character in the piece and one of the cutest of canines. "Dead Calm" is amazing because they accomplished so much with so little. When Zane's head finally lights up at the end, we breathe the final sigh of relief. U snooze, U lose with this diamond in the rough. Enjoy!

---

a very memorable suspense thriller
I watched this movie on cable on one of the less popular movie channels, and was pleasantly surprised to find it such a good one. Nicole Kidman was obviously somewhere at the beginning of her Hollywood career when she acted in this. She is refreshingly simple in her appearance, and her acting is superb - she is so expressive and she looked every bit the part for each scene she's playing. I can see why Hollywood decided to make her a megastar after performances like this.

All 3 of them - Nicole Kidman, Billy Zane and Sam Neill were all fantastic actors in this film, which is also why this movie succeeds in being such a good suspense thriller. Its not too long a movie, and you can be sure you'll be holding on to your seat throughout the whole thing!

Billy Zane isn't always at his best in all the movies he acts in - those of you who've seen him in other movies would know this by now - but in this gem of a movie, he really shines as an ultra-convincing psycho. He didn't overact or overplay his role and that's what made him so believable as the charismatic, charming but unpredictably mentally-twisted person his character is. Strange that I've always liked Billy Zane as an actor even though its so difficult to find him in a good movie nowadays... this is one movie I will never forget because of its great storyline, great acting, and its unique setting where almost everything takes place on a yacht drifting and drifting along in the sea... its all very nice.

---

GOOD PREMISE, POOR PACING
A COUPLE [NICOLE KIDMAN AND SAM NEILL] ARE TERRORIZED BY A PSYCHO [BILLY ZANE] AT SEA. THIS MOVIE HAS A CLEVER PLOT, BUT IT'S JUST PACED POORLY AND AFTER A WHILE, THE LACK OF ACTION SEEMS TO REALLY GET ME BORED. THERE IS A REAL STEAMY SEX SCENE BETWEEN NICOLE KIDMAN AND BILLY ZANE THAT IS WORTH WATCHING. I WILL GIVE IT THAT. IF YOU LIKE MOVIES SET AT SEA, YOU'LL DEFINITELY LIKE THIS.