Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) Reviews

• better than these reviews - great suspense

  landalus2008-07-09

  alright, after reading the comments of all the macguyvers who know exactly what they would have done in this scenario, i have to chime in... 1) "why didn't they just throw one of the girls up the side?!" - wow. i can't believe someone (several people) actually wrote that. have you ever tried to "throw" someone or even lift them slightly while you're treading water? try it. no amount of strength would help. the strength of four or five people wouldn't help either without some ground to stand on! oh man, i'd love to see you try it. 2) "why did they only try once with the swimsuit-rope?!" - well, half of it stayed up there on the rail, out of reach, after it ripped, if i remember correctly. even if it hadn't, why should the filmmakers be required to show numerous attempts - why can't we just assume that time passed in the story where they did try a bunch of times?? if they show every little possible event, then it's a 20 hr movie instead of 90min. 3) "why didn't one of the girls try to climb the rope instead of the dude?!" - well, yes, that's a very valid point. huge mistake of judgment. but a possible one. this dude was a boat nazi chode, remember? and a rather dumb one. 4) "why did he throw the cell phone away?!" because he panicked and the guy was kind of a dumb ass to begin with. he thought the phone was fried because it was wet. you saw the unbelieving, sunken faces of his friends when he did that. one even asks him what the hell he was thinking. people freak out and f*ck up in tense situations. 5) "why did he interfere with the guy who was trying to use the knife?!" again, he was a world class chode! even in their dire situation, at this point he still seems prideful and arrogant and detached from reality. so he sees the other guy wildly stabbing at his (boss's) luxury toy, and he gets all materialistic and selfish. probably still thinking about how he's going to maintain his cover, since it's not even his boat. and by the way, he did not stab the guy,as several people claim - he caused the guy to stab himself. 6) "how could he be so stupid as to try to find the knife on the ocean floor?!" - i don't want to find out for myself, but i think that's what delirium does to people. I found all of these points of frustration for so many posters here to be quite realistic. the film had plenty of other flaws, but i think the realism of the protagonists' descent from calm and crafty to desperate and delirious was right on. much of the acting was unremarkable but did not ruin the movie. what do you expect? i heard bobby duvall had to drop out because of a conflicting project.

• Unimaginative, predictable, ridiculous cash in on Open Water

  adrift-22006-07-14

  Open Water was believable, and much more gripping than this very formulaic sequel. The plot is standard unimaginative Hollywood fare, and seems to make a situation (which could easily have been resolved by the characters) into an unconvincing thriller with an unbelievable script which features a series of contrived episodes. Each incident left me asking "why didn't they try this", and "why didn't they try that" as each character seemed to act in a totally irrational way - why did they only try once to get on board with the swimsuit 'rope' ? It was very cheesy that they almost made it, but then didn't try again. Why did they throw the phone away for no good reason? Why didn't they use the knife as a foothold to get on? I would not have trusted these characters to have made me a coffee without at least three of them getting seriously injured or dying. This film had nothing new in it, and seemed like an attempt to cash in on the success of low budget Open Water.

• Loved It ......

  fiends2007-02-25

  I seem to be in a bit of a minority here, but I loved 'Open Water", thought it was one of the best low budget films to date, and made me fear the ocean all over again ...(thanks "Jaws"!!). So I was pretty excited when I saw this on the shelf, had no qualms shelling out some dosh, and I am so pleased that I did ... Possibly even better than the first, talented (if fairly unknown) actors, and just a great premise ..... I can see how something like this might happen,a stupid mistake that can have very real consequences, and while I was sitting comfortably on my chair in my lounge, thinking "you should try this or try that", (which they mostly did anyway), I'm sure thinking logically whilst bobbing about in the very cold ocean is not so easy ..... I loved it, made me squirm, had to look away at times, and really felt for all the characters and their different ways of dealing (or not) with the situation ..... A great film.

• A Nutshell Review: Adrift

  DICK STEEL2007-02-03

  The original Open Water had a couple stranded in the high seas when they went deep sea diving, and somehow missed the boat, literally, thereby being stranded in the middle of nowhere. The formula is now repeated in Open Water 2: Adrift (just called Adrift here probably to disassociate itself from being a "sequel of sorts" movie), with the number of couples increased threefold. But I can't judge which is better, having not watched the original. Adrift though seemed decent enough, with human nature for self-preservation portrayed so starkly on screen, it's scary. And having to bump up the number of those in trouble, allows for different views and types of people (read: caricatures at times) to be showcased. Each cast member have certain strengths, and some just have total negativity built into them, for contrast purposes. The setup is simple and we waste no time in being introduced to our characters, almost all of whom are high school friends, and gathered together to celebrate one of their 30th birthday. They go on a weekend cruise on a luxurious yacht, and it's party, party, party, enjoying the finer things in life. Until they decide to go swimming in the sea, did they realize that hey, did someone lower the ladder on board? Otherwise, how are they going to get back to the deck? It's down to the adage of looking before you leap, and that danger lurks when you're enjoying yourself so much, that common sense, precautions and safety get thrown in the wind. And when the severity of the problem surfaces, what do you do? Are you the leader, the thinker, the whiner or the quitter? When everything is fine and dandy, everyone knows how to enjoy to the max. But when there's an issue at hand, do you begin to point your finger at everyone else, or help to think of a solution? And when all seems lost, do you give up, or try, try again? The characters partake in exhibiting some of these traits at different points, and with time running out, and dehydration, paranoia and hysteria slowing creeping in, you'd wonder how long they'll last. It's human nature to instinctively try and survive, and watching the characters on screen do just that in spite of impossible odds, just makes your heart pound faster as you think - what would you do if you're caught in the same situation? Would you bitch slap the complainer? Would you follow instructions to a T? Would you give ideas and shut up when it doesn't work? And when all seems lost, what would you do? Supposedly based on true events, this story might have its plot holes at certain times when you think, hey they should have done this or that, but I'd suggest to hold onto your train of thoughts, until a key revelation is made, to which you may nod in agreement why it happened the way it did, and that shake in disbelief when you think that when it comes to life and death, material things should be sacrificed first, and facing the music is just part of the inevitable consequence.

• An okay film that puts you under the microscope and has you questioning,what would you do?

  axlrhodes2008-05-05

  Interesting one this.I liked the film.It set you in the scene,what would you do? How would you cope?I like films that put me there and make me question how id behave in similar circumstances.Okay,it doesn't feature any big star names and its direction and stylisation is pretty non existent but its a compact little film that myself and my partner enjoyed as a piece of throwaway entertainment on a Saturday night.I since watched Open Water which i didn't enjoy as much as this.I like that the ending is open to interpretation also,its adds a spooky element to the film.I think being stranded and abandoned is one of our primal fears, this film taps into that fear effectively.