Deepwater Horizon (2016)

A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay by), Matthew Sand (screenplay by)

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Wahlberg	...	Mike Williams
Kurt Russell	...	Jimmy Harrell
Douglas M. Griffin	...	Landry
James DuMont	...	O'Bryan
Joe Chrest	...	Sims
Gina Rodriguez	...	Andrea Fleytas
Brad Leland	...	Kaluza
John Malkovich	...	Vidrine
David Maldonado	...	Kuchta (as Dave Maldonado)
J.D. Evermore	...	Dewey A. Revette (as JD Evermore)
Ethan Suplee	...	Jason Anderson
Jason Pine	...	Stephen Ray Curtis
Jason Kirkpatrick	...	Aaron Dale Burkeen
Robert Walker Branchaud	...	Doug Brown
Dylan O'Brien	...	Caleb Holloway

Storyline

In April 2010, there is no oil exploration operation in the Gulf of Mexico to compare with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig with its size or sheer depth of its drilling. However, the project for the BP oil company is beset with technical difficulties to the point where the general operational supervisor, Jimmy Harrell, and his Chief Electrical Engineer, Mike Williams, are concerned potentially dangerous trouble is brewing. Unfortunately, visiting BP executives, frustrated by the project's long delays, order curtailed site inspections and slanted system tests to make up for lost time even as Harrell, Williams and his team helplessly protest for the sake of proper safety. On April 20, the workers' fears are realized in the worst possible way when the rig's various structural and system flaws spark a catastrophic cascade of failures that would create a massive blowout and explosion that threatens them all, even as it also begins the worst environmental disaster in US history.

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Plot Keywords:

disaster movie | oil rig | deepwater horizon oil spill | oil | system test | 

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Taglines:

When faced with our darkest hour, hope is not a tactic

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for prolonged intense disaster sequences and related disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

Hong Kong USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deepwater Horizon

Filming Locations:

Chalmette, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,223,544, 2 October 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$61,284,947, 2 December 2016

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$118,188,581, 11 December 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Entertainment, Participant Media, Di Bonaventura Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (DTS: X) Dolby Atmos 12-Track Digital Sound (IMAX 12 track) Dolby Digital (2.0 Night Listening) IMAX 6-Track

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second collaboration of Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg, the first was Lone Survivor (2013) (also based on a true story). In development for both actor and director are The Six Billion Dollar Man and Mile 22 (2018).

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Goofs

While a door hitting a man hard enough to knock him across a room might break bones and give him a concussion, this actually happened to Mike Williams not once, but twice, even though the movie only showed him getting struck by the door once. In his statement he described how he actually got angry at these "three inch thick, steel, fire-rated doors with six stainless steel hinges supporting 'em on the frame" because instead of protecting him, they were hurting him.

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Quotes

Jimmy Harrell: Don, you and I both know we need some downtime for maintenance. Mike, how many of our machines need repair?
Mike Williams: Uh... 390, Mr. Jimmy.
Vidrine: 390?
Mike Williams: Yes, sir. Almost ten perecent of all the machinery aboard.
Vidrine: Name a few for me.
Mike Williams: A few?
Vidrine: Mm-hm. I would love to hear exactly what piece of mission-critical equipment are down.
Mike Williams: Shit, where do I start? "A" drilling chair. Process Station 18. BOP control pods. Telephone system. Pipe-racking system. GPS antenna. DirecTV system. Wireless Internet. Iron roughneck. Top ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the opening logos and first few opening credits, you can hear a real life audio clip from the trial that ensued following the disaster.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Martin Short/Gina Rodriguez/Spoon (2017)

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Soundtracks

TAKE ME DOWN
Written and Performed by Gary Clark Jr.
Gary Clark, Jr. appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records

User Reviews

The strengths of "Deepwater Horizon" are its strong characters and its extraordinary attention to detail.

Peter Berg makes movies, but he also knows a lot about deep-water oil exploration. He'd have to, considering how complicated this dangerous activity is, and how well he handled those complexities and portrayed that danger in his film. Berg directed "Deepwater Horizon" (PG-13, 1:47), the dramatization of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion which killed 11 people and resulted in the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. A combination of faulty equipment and human error caused the disaster. Methane gas escaping up the rig's pipes enveloped it, ignited and eventually consumed the rig, which burned until sinking into the ocean 36 hours after the initial explosion. The titular rig's owner, Transocean, and its client, BP, traded accusations of wrongdoing for years, while various cases worked their way through the courts – and a lengthy environmental clean-up of the gulf coast proceeded. No one went to jail, but, according to Wikipedia, "To date BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54bn." But that's all scientific and industrial detail. This film is mainly a story about people.

Berg (with his screenwriters, Matthew Michael Carnahan and Michael Sand) personalizes the story by focusing on a few key people involved in the events depicted. Master electrician Mike Williams (played by Mark Wahlberg, who Berg also directed in 2013's "Lone Survivor") is a devoted family man with a loving wife (Kate Hudson) and a sweet and precocious daughter (Stella Allen), who's very proud of her dad and his job. Radio operator Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez) is a young, single woman who has a steady boyfriend and loves her vintage Ford Mustang, even if she does have trouble keeping it running. Both Mike and Andrea work for "Mr. Jimmy" (Kurt Russell, appearing on film for the first time with Hudson, who is his adopted daughter) is the caring, but tough and diligent Transocean foreman on Deepwater Horizon, who often finds himself at odds with BP's corporate representatives on the oil rig.

As Mr. Jimmy and his crew arrive at the rig for their three-week-long turn on board, it's apparent that the departing shift (including Berg, in a cameo role, in which he briefly talks with Russell's character) hasn't done their due diligence in taking care of operation and safety concerns on the rig. While entertaining two BP executives who are visiting Deepwater Horizon (and who present him with a safety award during a brief ceremony), Mr. Jimmy locks horns with BP liaison Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich). Mr. Jimmy insists on a test of the pressure entering the well from beneath the ocean floor. When the test gives conflicting results and the results of an alternate follow-up test complicates the situation further, the stage is set for disaster. The rest of the film depicts that disaster with astonishing detail and realism as everyone on that rig fights for survival and for the goal of getting back safely to their families.

"Deepwater Horizon" is a fascinating, entertaining and inspiring take on a real-life disaster. We get good character development and a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the considerations, disagreements and actions that led up to the catastrophic explosion, but there are a couple problems with all that. Berg does a good job with a combination of dialog, on-screen verbiage and impressive visuals to help us understand the dynamics at play, but it almost seems like too much, and the conversations, with a lot of technical jargon, characters talking over each other and seeming to mumble their lines, and some with various southern accents and some without, combine to make it difficult to tune one's ear to the dialog and understand everything that's being said. However, the main point of this movie is the survival story. Berg had a realistic version of the rig built (including many working components) for shooting. His attention to detail – in the set and in the film's visual effects is nothing short of remarkable. What's more, we care about the characters and the danger they're in feels real. For excellent acting, a well-developed story and incredible visuals, you should put this film on your horizon. "B+"