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Ghost Ship

  • 20022002
  • RR
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
100K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,673
436
Ghost Ship (2002)
Blu-Ray trailer for this mystery about an abandoned ship
Play trailer0:34
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Horror
A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
100K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,673
436
  • Director
    • Steve Beck
  • Writers
    • Mark Hanlon(story)
    • John Pogue(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Julianna Margulies
    • Gabriel Byrne
    • Ron Eldard
Top credits
  • Director
    • Steve Beck
  • Writers
    • Mark Hanlon(story)
    • John Pogue(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Julianna Margulies
    • Gabriel Byrne
    • Ron Eldard
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 543User reviews
    • 157Critic reviews
    • 28Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Ghost Ship
    Trailer 0:34
    Ghost Ship

    Photos170

    Ghost Ship (2002)
    Isaiah Washington in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Gabriel Byrne, Desmond Harrington, and Karl Urban in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Desmond Harrington in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Julianna Margulies and Karl Urban in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Francesca Rettondini in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Steve Beck and Isaiah Washington in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Emily Browning in Ghost Ship (2002)
    JULIANNA MARGULIES in Warner Bros. Pictures'and Village Roadshow Pictures'horror film "Ghost Ship."
    (L-R) ISAIAH WASHINGTON, RON ELDARD, KARL URBAN, DESMOND HARRINGTON, JULIANNA MARGULIES and GABRIEL BYRNE in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Village Roadshow Pictures' horror film "Ghost Ship."
    Julianna Margulies in Ghost Ship (2002)
    Julianna Margulies and Isaiah Washington in Ghost Ship (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Julianna Margulies
    Julianna Margulies
    • Eppsas Epps
    Gabriel Byrne
    Gabriel Byrne
    • Murphyas Murphy
    Ron Eldard
    Ron Eldard
    • Dodgeas Dodge
    Desmond Harrington
    Desmond Harrington
    • Ferrimanas Ferriman
    Isaiah Washington
    Isaiah Washington
    • Greeras Greer
    Alex Dimitriades
    Alex Dimitriades
    • Santosas Santos
    Karl Urban
    Karl Urban
    • Munderas Munder
    Emily Browning
    Emily Browning
    • Katie Harwoodas Katie Harwood
    Francesca Rettondini
    Francesca Rettondini
    • Francescaas Francesca
    Boris Brkic
    Boris Brkic
    • Chief Stewardas Chief Steward
    Bob Ruggiero
    • Captainas Captain
    • (as Robert Ruggiero)
    Iain Gardiner
    Iain Gardiner
    • Purseras Purser
    Adam Bieshaar
    • First Officeras First Officer
    Cameron Watt
    • Second Officeras Second Officer
    Jamie Giddens
    Jamie Giddens
    • Friendly Officeras Friendly Officer
    Matthew Wollaston
    • Steward Number 3as Steward Number 3
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Steve Beck
    • Writers
      • Mark Hanlon(story) (screenplay)
      • John Pogue(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In 2016, the media website ComingSoon named the film's opening scene one of the greatest in horror film history.
    • Goofs
      Murphy says the boat was moving at a certain number of "knots an hour". "Knots" means "nautical miles per hour" so "knots an hour" is redundant.
    • Quotes

      Epps: Have you told anyone else about this?

      Ferriman: Not a living soul.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening logos are tinted brown, and the typical Warner Bros. logo is instead an intentionally chintzy 60s style logo. All this ties into the infamous cruise ship opening.
    • Alternate versions
      The film was released in Germany in both its uncut form (rated "Not under 18") and in an edited version ("Not under 16"), which misses many gory shots (i.e. from the wire scene in the beginning, the squashed diver or the "hooked up" singer). For commercial reasons most cinemas showed the cut version.
    • Connections
      Featured in Around the Bend (2004)
    • Soundtracks
      Senza Fine
      Written by Gino Paoli

      Produced by John Frizzell

      Performed by Monica Mancini

      Courtesy of Concord Records

      [Francesca sings the song in the opening sequence; the salvage crew later hears her singing the song]

    User reviews543

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Does enough, could be better
    Well, not bad. Not great, but not bad. I am a big fan of horror movies that aren't all about the horror but are more about a good, well thought out storyline. Think "Sixth Sense". While Ghost Ship pales in comparison, it has enough elements in it that satisfies me for me to give it a thumbs up, albeit a hesitant one.

    Set and production design ... brilliant. It's incredibly difficult to not believe it's being filmed on location on a real decrepit, falling-apart ship. Inside and outside, it's filled with lush visuals that draw you into the movie. But i'm jumping ahead of myself.

    The beginning is awesome. I love it. Never before have I been so impressed by the first couple of minutes of a movie, like I have been with Ghost Ship. Although the 'dramatic pause' after the event goes on for a bit too long (it doesn't really build up tension because you know what happened) the effect still works well overall and the special effects and acting are pretty damn good. Very nice. As is all the gory stuff in the movie.

    Katie is brilliant. The first close-up we get of her, she looks cold and wet and although not frightening, she looks seriously spooky. Initially, I was mentally preparing myself for her to be heavily involved in the 'scares' of the movie, but was pleasantly surprised at her innocence throughout the movie, revealing later on exactly why she is the way she is.

    The acting is solid enough - not brilliant (with exception of Katie, who does a very good job of tensing things up again - more so than any scare tactics) and the direction is pretty good, with the focus being on the right things and the pace of the movie consistent.

    I do feel not enough attention was paid to the history behind the back-story of the ship's strange events (i.e. the "Lusitania" and how the gold came to be on the ghost ship itself) as well as a suspiciously obvious lack of character background for some of the characters, although the lack of it doesn't really detract from the movie itself, but makes you realize how important these details can be after watching the movie.

    Emotionally I swayed through the movie. Many times I was thoroughly engaged to it, and you feel like a part of the world. At other times I felt totally disconnected as the actors didn't do enough to keep my attention. But then, something would happen that would raise my eyebrows just a bit.

    Speaking of that, the scene where Katie takes Epps 'back' and shows her what happened - wow! I must say that I love that scene ... the camera work is awesome and the acting from the many extras is outstanding. But once again, it is what happens to Katie that is utterly harrowing. It's not often that I utter "Oh my God ..." in a soft shocked whisper as my mouth refuses to close. That scene packed a punch that lasted a long time.

    On the other hand, the scene near the end with the people in the cargo room was totally rushed, with just too much happening and too many switches and deaths and, well, the message is obvious but it occurs with seemingly minor character such as Francesca that didn't seem to (at the time) make any significant contribution to the story. Having said that, after re-watching, I see how Francesca fits into it, based on the motive of the characters and the flow of the story. But it just seems a bit over-the-top ... not in violence, but in concept.

    The thing that killed it ... the ending. Awful. Did they run out of money? Time? I just didn't get why it had to end like that. Sequels aside (how can there be a successful sequel? The 'Antonio Graza' sunk ... so would there be a different boat? Hmmmm...) the ending feels totally pointless. I didn't get it, and I didn't like it either. Do the bad souls leave the ship and go to another ship in the near future??

    Having said that, I think the whole 'souls' thing is a bit ridiculous, because despite it tying in with the movie's concept, it seems to justify having strange occurrences on the ship, rather than having the strange occurrences justify the reason for the ghosts. I hope that makes some sense.

    At the risk of looking at this too deeply for a horror flick, I think that there's more to the gold than just being 'stolen gold' - in my mind, the movie is not about the ghosts, or the gold, or the ship. It's mostly about pure greed - which the gold represents, and the evil in people which will never die. Which is the only reason why the ending could be as it is, in my eyes, since 'evil' walks out with the gold, to trap some more people into 'being evil' and therefore 'selling his soul' - note that the gold has no markings AT ALL and the tracing numbers have been 'filed down' - does the gold even exist??? After all, it was pure greed that got the crew out there in the first place, even though there was a good chance that they'd leave with nothing of significant value despite the attached investment of time and money but without being 'intentionally' greedy.

    Anyway, those are some questions that I wasn't too sure about after watching the movie, even after another viewing. So, overall, pretty decent. But more work needed to be put into the ending and the character development ... even if it added an extra 15 minutes. It would turn a goodish movie into a solidly good movie.

    6/10 is too low, 7/10 is too high. 6.5 but promoted to 7 because of that awesome opening and 'flashback' scene.
    helpful•14
    2
    • davidwarner_za
    • Aug 29, 2006

    FAQ4

    • What is 'Ghost Ship' about?
    • Is "Ghost Ship" based on a book?
    • How does the movie end?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 25, 2002 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Australia
    • Official sites
      • Warner Bros
      • Warner Bros. (France)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Chimera
    • Filming locations
      • Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Village Roadshow Pictures
      • NPV Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $20,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $30,113,491
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $11,503,423
      • Oct 27, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $68,349,884
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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