Poseidon (2006)

On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner, Poseidon, capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for survival as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Mark Protosevich (screenplay), Paul Gallico (novel)

Stars:

Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Lucas	...	Dylan Johns
Kurt Russell	...	Robert Ramsey
Jacinda Barrett	...	Maggie James
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Richard Nelson
Emmy Rossum	...	Jennifer Ramsey
Mía Maestro	...	Elena Morales
Mike Vogel	...	Christian
Kevin Dillon	...	Lucky Larry
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Marco Valentin
Jimmy Bennett	...	Conor James
Stacy Ferguson	...	Gloria
Andre Braugher	...	Captain Bradford
Kirk B.R. Woller	...	Chief Officer Reynolds
Kelly McNair	...	Emily
Gabriel Jarret	...	1st Officer Chapman

Storyline

It is New Year's Eve, and over 2,000 passengers & crew are ringing in the New Year aboard the huge cruise ship 'Poseidon' when it capsizes on the open sea in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean! A small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler Dylan Johns ignores captain's orders to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others, as Dylan is followed by a desperate father searching for his daughter and her fiancée--a young couple who hours before couldn't summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges. Along the way they are joined by a single mother and her wise-beyond-his-years son, an anxious stowaway and a despondent fellow passenger who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn't want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets ...

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Plot Keywords:

passenger | new year's eve | nightclub | cruise | survival | 

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Taglines:

Mayday

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [au] Warner Bros [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

12 May 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Poseidon: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

Stage 20, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$119,446 (South Africa) (7 July 2006)

Gross:

$60,655,503 (USA) (4 August 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Virtual Studios, Radiant Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 98 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) jogging on the deck of the ship during the beginning credits the evening before the ship capsizes pays homage to the original film, The Poseidon Adventure. In it, James Martin (Red Buttons) jogs on the deck of the ship before the night of capsizing. Mr Martin starts off by taking a deep breath at the deck railing before starting off, and Dylan ends his jog at the deck railing. Both wear a full jogging suit which are both the same color.

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Goofs

The experienced fire fighter grabs the door handle briefly with his hands to see if it was hot. It is taught in elementary schools to touch the hot door (or in this case the door handle) with the back of your hand. This prevents burns from limiting the use of your hand.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Christian: When?
Jennifer Ramsey: Mmm. Today.
Christian: Yeah. When today?

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Connections

Referenced in The Loop: The Phantom (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Mamasita"
Written by H. Sanchez, K. Perazzo, J. Norek and M. Pistel
Performed by Latin Soul Syndicate
Courtesy of LoveCat Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

The Hollywood imagination

This movie epitomizes what is wrong with Hollywood today. Because they lack imagination, the major film studios either copy an idea from a foreign film (Japanese, French, English, especially) or make a sequel or remake of an an existing moneymaker and milk it to death. Where are the original ideas? The Hollywood movie industry (and most of American TV for that matter) has become far too idealistic in my view. The characters are depicted as, not how people really are, but how we would like them to be, and the viewers often emulate what they see on screen as if life actually IS like that. Why should it be all about the 'bottom line'. Out of the top 10 top grossing movies each year, how many actually make a profit? It seems to be a matter of just churning out this sort of garbage and hoping for the best. Why don't the major studios spend the same amount of money making fewer but better films? One wonders sometimes how people are convinced into investing good money in making this rubbish. Poseidon? So far this 'blockbuster' has grossed $50 million – a long way from the $140 million it cost to make. Chances are it won't even break even. It becomes very obvious right from the start that it is formulaic and clichéd. For example, why anyone in their right mind would take a woman and her young son along with the exploring party is anyone's guess. Probably because they prove useful along the way. The Hispanic busboy (Valentine) who tags along was the obvious candidate to die being a nonentity, an unknown actor. It's all squarely aimed at the 'demographic' – the 13-30 group. That's why there is always a child involved in the story, why most of the characters are 30 years old – and good looking. That's why we have a politically correct cast with a black captain, Hispanic entertainers, etc. There is a always a love interest to attract the female segment of the audience and there is always a happy ending one way or another. We have the usual combination of 'B' list actors and those desperate for work, who go through the motions of what passes for acting these days. 'Stand on your mark and say your line when it's your turn'. Don't the directors realize that when people talk to one another, they often interrupt one another? Robert Altman knows this but few others. The special effects are good but with a few too many quick camera movements that are hard on the eye after a while. After only a few minutes I realized that I had seen this movie before in all its forms. Even though the backdrop changes, the character development is always the same. The guy who cares only for himself discovers that he has some redeeming features, The hero will do heroic things and maybe make the supreme sacrifice to save others. Father and son/daughter will reconcile their differences, the coward becomes brave, etc.etc. I've seen it all before.