One of the greatest rescue movies of all time

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2016)

This is based upon a true story.
In 1952 a severe storm off the coast of Cape Cod causes the oil tanker, SS Pendleton, to break in half sending 34 men to the stern of the ship in the hope of a rescue. Head Engineer, Ray Sybert (Casey Affeck) believes the only hope they have is to run the ship onto a shoal otherwise the ship would be at the mercy of the 70-foot waves. USCG Commander Cluff (Eric Bana) sends Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) and his team out to rescue the men on the Pendleton. The real danger in this is going through the bar, a series of shoals that are very dangerous to go thru even in calm weather. Oh, oh.
This is probably one of the best rescue movies I have ever seen. I sat there cringing all the time even though I knew the rescue would be successful. How many of the scenes were shot is beyond me. Yes, I knew CGI played a big part in this butstill I mean it was like I was actually there being tossed about inside that half of a ship, and those waves outside were more than menacing. Kudos to the director.
The acting all around is excellent, but the cinematography should win some awards as it was nothing short of spectacular. It looked like they shot the movie in the worst part of winter with ice all around and if that was CGI, it was exceptional. Kudos. (maybe movie magic?)
Just like any trip we take, the longest part of the journey is getting there. Coming back doesn't take as long. And this was true within this movie. Took a long time to get to the half-ship, but coming back hardly took any time at all. See? (yes, very clever)
There are no twists to look for, but keep in mind Bernie and company lost their compass and really didn't know where the Pendleton was. And after the rescue, Bernie didn't know where the homeland was to return. Bernie says on the way out he kept to the left and on the return he kept to the right. Seemed to have worked.
Watch at the end to see what happened to all as photos are shown of the actual USCG crew.
A statement at the end also says this was one of the greatest rescues in USCG history for small boats. I say this was probably the greatest rescue in history period. We salute the USCG, and, of course, all military personnel, firemen and policemen who run to the problem and not run away from it. Kudos and thank you. (9/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.