Flood (2007)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Tony Mitchell

Writers:

Justin Bodle (writer)
Matthew Cope (writer)

Release Date:

24 August 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It's coming straight for us.

Plot:

Timely yet terrifying, The Flood predicts the unthinkable. When a raging storm coincides with high seas it unleashes a colossal tidal surge...

Plot Keywords:

Flood | Storm | Disaster | Weather | Hurricane Floyd

Cast

Robert Carlyle	...	Rob Morrison
Jessalyn Gilsig	...	Samantha 'Sam' Morrison
Tom Courtenay	...	Leonard Morrison
Joanne Whalley	...	Patricia Nash
David Suchet	...	Deputy Prime Minister Campbell
Nigel Planer	...	Keith Hopkins
Ralph Brown	...	Mel's Dad
Gottfried John	...	Arthur Moyes
Tom Hardy	...	Zack
Pip Torrens	...	Army Liaison Officer Richardson
Susan Wooldridge	...	Nash's Assistant
David Hayman	...	Major General Ashcroft
Martin Ball	...	Wyatt
Poppy Miller	...	Nikki Fuller
Peter Wight	...	Johnson - Transport Chief

Runtime:

110 min | New Zealand:185 min | Finland:188 min (2 parts) | Italy:144 min

Country:

UK | South Africa | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12A | New Zealand:G (part 1) | New Zealand:PG (part 2) | Malaysia:U | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Power

Trivia:

Last film role of Moira Lister.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The Deputy PM flies from Scotland to London in a small helicopter with a South African registration prefix (ZS) indicating that this sequence was filmed in South Africa (See 'Filming locations').

Quotes:

Leonard Morrison: Not this much water!

Mildly entertaining but ultimately complete RUBBISH

A really wonderful cast and very talented technical crew wasted their valuable career time, and our equally valuable leisure time, by bothering to support this utterly predictable and plainly formulaic piece of commercial junk. The movie is based upon a really good and very topical idea but both the producers and the director simply applied the standard Hollywood 'disaster movie' formula and thereby ruined any potential value from the production.

An unusually high tide and very strong gale conditions combine to produce a record high storm surge that overwhelms London and floods most of the Thames Valley. The plot centers around a heroic scientist (Tom Courtenay) who alerts the authorities of the danger and ultimately saves the day, a glamorous female police chief who runs the entire show and an embattled Deputy Prime Minister (David Suchet) who tries to look important.

But it's all so unreal that one feels like an extended tea break after just 30 minutes. The young glamorous female Police Commissioner demands complete authority over the army during a declared State of Emergency and gets it (as if!). The experienced General is just pushed aside like a complete moron who has to lick her boots because of her obviously superior capacity. The trouble is that our female supremo, whilst now responsible for millions of lives, spends most of her time worrying over the fate of her two daughters who have taken a trip to South West London and haven't telephoned to say they were alright. So our mighty woman sets her staff to look for them and decides that the sole priority for all the army and the rescue services must be South West London and not any other quarter of the city. Of course the Minister, the Army and the entire entourage accept her prioritization without question. One can only assume they all had property there. When her children are eventually found after endless reports and efforts by her staff she is told by our male hero, 'Thank God they're safe, that's the main thing'. Never mind about the millions of others or all the other responsibilities she was supposed to control; as long as her own kids were safe everything was alright.

This film is just another excuse to push the same old female chauvinist sexist clap trap that women are the clever, mindful, caring and clearly able leaders whilst men are good for nothing except physical bravery, mindless strength and very specialist knowledge. And yet the one simple instruction that she could have given the populace; namely to go to the nearest tall building and calmly go up to the 4th floor or above and await instructions when the waters recede was never given by this female super hero - or indeed anyone else. The whole problem was so simple to solve and yet millions of people apparently didn't think of simply going upstairs! Pathetic rubbish.