Saturday, November 30, 2013

Good sailing movies - let's not get serious

Tillerman wants us to blog our favourite sailing movie and its a been tough assignment.

The problem is there's no really great ones out there and the bad ones aren't heroically awful either.

I did a google and came up with this list of sailing movies and not one would be on my desert island five - or even ten or twenty.

Lets consider a few of those on that list which I have seen:
  • Hornblower: ok but a bit wooden acting and the book was better
  • Master and Commander (above) is probably the best of the crop, a good film but not great
  • Riddle of the Sands: again, the book is better
  • The Life Aquatic: weird
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: its soundtrack has become the inevitable backing music to any TV show involving boats. BTW having holes in your sails makes the boat go slower not faster
  • Castaway: is there any sailing in this film? There is of course a lot of Amanda Donohoe
So no real classics and those that are something else (a book or a show ground ride) are better in the original. Anything based on Treasure Island definitely falls into that category.

And of course some are not on it, such as the previous blogged surprisingly debauched Swallows and Amazons (again, the books were better). Other films and TV shows have moments on boats, such as the Wedding Crashers and Cheers.

There seems to be a gap in the market for a good sailing film as there don't appear to be any classics out there, though I'm willing to give All is lost a go when it comes out here.

But there was one film involving boats and sailors that I enjoyed more than any other, despite being not authentic or serious - well actually because it wasn't either of those things and instead a total hoot.

So prepare to go "Aarrrhhhh!!!" and head off for an extra gruesome adventure involving hams, dodo like parrots, Queen Victoria and Darwin with The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists:

3 comments:

Tillerman said...

Brilliant! I think you sum it up well. There is no one outstanding really good sailing movie. All of them have their faults.

But I think there is about 5 minutes of footage in one movie that comes close to what sailing movies could be. I will have to blog about it. Unfortunately the original seems to be blocked in YouTube.

JP said...

I look forward to hearing what it is!

I forgot that there are bits of sailing in Bond movies, but don't think that's what you have in mind (including sailing a classic yacht up Venice's Grand Canal)

Anonymous said...

I love sailing movie. I agree completely that there is something very soothing about sailing and I am convinced that the smaller the boat and the closer you are to the interface of wind/water the more soothing it is - until you capsize of course. Find Sail New York