Into The Blue

[MacGuffin]

Trailer

Release Date: July 15th, 2005 (wide)

Cast: Paul Walker (Jared), Jessica Alba (Sam), Scott Caan (Bryce), Ashley Scott (Amanda), Dwayne Adway (Roy), Josh Brolin (Bates), James Frain (Reyes), Ramon Saunders (Tech-9), Chris Taloa (Quinn)

Director: John Stockwell (Blue Crush, crazy/beautiful)

Screenwriter: Matt Johnson (Torque)

Premise: When four young divers discover a legendary shipwreck rumored to contain millions in gold at the bottom of the sea, they believe their dream of buried treasure has come true. But nearby on the ocean floor, a sunken plane full of illegal cargo threatens their find. The friends make a pact to keep quiet about both discoveries so they can excavate the shipwreck before a rival treasure hunter uncovers their secret and beats them to the gold. But the plan goes awry when they realize dangerous smugglers are already closing in on the missing plane, and one of the friends make a fatal decision that quickly turns the treasure hunters into the hunted...

[Gold Trumpet]

John Stockwell's a fucking genius.

[Kal]

I really liked that trailer... Paul Walker is not so bad... he did good in Fast and Furious and screwed it up in 2 Fast 2 Furious, but only cause the Script also sucked and Tyrese cant act at all... Not to mention Ludacris...

[MacGuffin]

Tyrese cant act at all... Not to mention Ludacris...

Those two are Brando and Olivier compared to the God-awful 'acting' attempted by Devon Aoki.

[Kal]

Tyrese cant act at all... Not to mention Ludacris...

Those two are Brando and Olivier compared to the God-awful 'acting' attempted by Devon Aoki.

True... but at least she is hot and when you go and watch a film like that you expect at least hot cars and hot chicks

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[Pwaybloe]

John Stockwell's a fucking genius.

I know this is an old statement, but I hope this still holds true for you.  

Though I wouldn't consider Stockwell a genius, I do think he makes excellent films in his genre.  Those of you who have girlfriends and wives know that it's mandatory you go see these type of films (teenage-oriented... marketing inspired), so the ability to filter out the cream of the crop is a necessity.  

When I saw "Crazy/Beautiful" I felt like it had a much more developed attitude, substinence, and style than of those other genre films that I was forced to see.  The characters seemed to speak a little more natural and were put in more realistic situations (though still overall "unrealistic").  The movie seemed to slow down a little bit to allow more development.  

I felt the same when I saw "Blue Crush" as well.  Though the story seemed to be far-fetched, the story was still developed with care and professionalism that is missing from many movies today.  

In short, I have faith.

[Pwaybloe]

This has been pushed to September 30 if, uh, anyone else cares like GT & I.

Just remember to pick me up at 8, GT.  And don't blow the horn again.

[Gold Trumpet]

OOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh........I just got back from this. John Stockwell has exceeded himself. I only wish more genre films had the patience of story and quality of filmmaking that Into the Blue has. The magnificence of this film is its range. It goes from dramatic tension to thriller and even has moments of pure horror, all while maintaing a good realism. The end is a cop out to the genre, but the general story is too sterlized to be an excellent drama anyways. Its just the way Stockwell strains the camera through out the story suggests he's on the edge of peetering over to be a true artistic filmmaker. For right now, he's rescuing the bottom of the barrel genre stories and making them pure gold.

Where I thought before Batman Begins was the quality entertainment film of the year, I now award to Into the Blue.

[Ghostboy]

Heh...I was wondering how long it was going to take you to see this. I'm kinda attracted to it myself. Although that's really only a side affect of being kinda attracted to Jessica Alba. Still, Blue Crush was fun.

[Pwaybloe]

I watched this last night and thought this was really good.  Within the restraints of the genre, of course. 

GT took the same perspective as I did by analyzing it by what is is rather than what it could be.  We all know that it will contain implausibilities and cliches, but it takes a good director to find a story that is self-contained and appropriate for its target market.  To me, all of it worked, so I was surprised at all of the bad reviews and low box office returns. 

Why didn't the public connect to this movie?  Though "Crazy/Beautiful" and "Blue Crush" weren't huge box office hits, they at least made a mark.  This movie seemed to have the most sex appeal, but maybe that was its downfall: marketing to boys.  Stockwell's previous movies were very much chick flicks, and really no room for the 14-year old boy market.  The hero is a male (Paul Walker) and his female partner (Jessica Alba) takes a back seat and is really there for eye candy.  Even with this choice of perspective, I never thought it was outside of the genre.  Stretching the boundaries a little bit, but never breaking them. 

MILD SPOILERS
Beginning with the view of the movie itself, I thought the director appropriately slowed the movie down in the beginning to let the characters breathe.  The movie allowed the audience to really see the camaraderie between Jared and Bryce and the love between Jared and his girl Sam.  Focusing on Jared and Sam, I think their connection mirrored a lot like mine, which is why I attached to it.  The pair were more focused on maintaining a life for one another.  What I mean when I say that is they really put their partner first and did everything they could to make them happy.  The focus on partying, drinking, and hooking up was slowly morphed into calm days of spending time with each other and discussing the future.  Love in teenage genre movies are usually cliched in that it's more of a struggle than a success, so I was pleasantly surprised that he chose these two to be faithful and devoted rather than up to temptation and corruption. 

Watching the deleted scenes, I realized that Stockwell was a superior director.  Some of the scenes would have really cheapened the movie and insulted the audience's intelligence (I'm mostly referring to the drowning boy sequence) by overexplaining details and artificially creating unnecessary heroics.  The audience needs to start from scratch and let them slowly identify with the characters and story so they can make their own opinions.  Luckily the director did so, and that's why I think this movie is probably his best yet. 

Right now Stockwell's in post-production on "Turistas" which sounds just ok, though to his credit, his movies always do.  His skill is to make an ok movie into something more pertinent and globally entertaining.

[Gold Trumpet]

Much credit to Pwaybloe. He wrote a review of length and attention worthy of this film. What I wrote seems to be just gut reaction. I now realize how much more I really should have said. I still need to get the DVD but I am poor. This really was one of the best movies of the year.

[©brad]

This really was one of the best movies of the year.

check please.

[Gold Trumpet]

This really was one of the best movies of the year.

check please.

God I hope you didn't pay someone for that joke. When you get detail to back up your two dollar statements then you can talk to me.

[©brad]

 

This really was one of the best movies of the year.

check please.

God I hope you didn't pay someone for that joke. When you get detail to back up your two dollar statements then you can talk to me.

well damn i just got served.

GT, once again you render me speechless with your relentless defense of retard movies and your incomprehensible prose. to be honest, i don't even have the energy.