Sailing Videos?

[sailortjk1]

What are your favorite sailing videos/movies?
I want to enlarge my video collection and would like to know what others recommend. I am interested in any input.

My favorite sailing movie is "Master and Commander", I think it was done very well and I think it was fairly authentic. "Mutiny on the Bounty" is another one. What are your favorites?

Can you tell it's the end of February and we are still two to three months from launching? Yes, I live in the North.
I hope I don't take a beating for this post.

[Jim H]

You're probably hear from others about all the popular ones like "Dead Calm" and "Captain Ron."

My favorite, however, is harder to find. It's "Knife in Water," (Nóż w wodzie) a 1962 film by Roman Polanski that was made in Poland. The story and characters are pretty intense, but it's also cool that most of it is set on an early folkboat, and it covers an overnight trip complete with below decks scenes in the evening. Simple, strong, graceful film.

For more info, see

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056291/

It's available on Netflix, but be warned that it's black and white and subtitled. However, I don't think I've seen a film that was so realistically set on a small yacht. In the additional DVD materials, Polanski talks about how he was doing a lot of sailing at the time in the area shown in the film.

Jim H

[Cucamonga]

Here's a couple more. "Wind" with Jennifer Gray and Matthew Modine about America's Cup racing (Fiction). Also "Dove", produced by Gregory Peck, about Robin Gram's solo circumnavigation on a 23 foot Ranger in the 1960's.

Jeff

[administrator]

I know it's not a video, but I assume everyone has read "Adrift" ?

[MJJ]

You can also rent 8 dvd's of Hornblower from Netflix. I've only seen #1 and it's ok, a bit cheesy, but will give you your fix for big boats.

[latitude_chaser]

I just watched an interesting one. "Voyage of the Yes". It's about 2 kids in the Pacific on a Columbia 26 MKII.

Rick
"PairaDice"
Columbia 28

[LaceyKay]

Captain Ron is a definate must if you have not seen it yet. If you are into comedy.

There is that movie about to come out in theaters with Matthew McConaughy and Sarah Jessica Parker. It's called Failure to Launch. I don't think it is 'about' sailing, but there is supposedly a lot of sailing in it. Another comedy though.

[Sasha_V]

The Visitors with Naomi Watts.

A sometimes good sometimes not great horror/thriller with real pacing issues in the editing...But worth getting.
It takes place entirely on a 38 foot sailboat with a solo-around the world yachtswoman played by Naomi starting to mentally burn out and have visions.

Sasha

[Sailormon6]

My favorite sailing movie is "Shackleton," a PBS movie about the antartica explorer whose ship was crushed by ice, and who sailed a 19 foot ship's launch about 600 miles through stormy seas past Cape Horn to a whaling island, in order to rescue his crew. Another good PBS movie is "Latitude," about the invention of the chronograph, which revolutionized navigation. A great read is the entire "Bounty" trilogy, but especially the part that describes Bligh's epic 3600 mile voyage in an open, worm-eaten ship's launch across the just recently charted Pacific.

[sailortjk1]

I to am amazed when I read stories of survival and seamanship. When I think of Bligh and Shackleton on the open water in small boats, ...... I just can't imagine what it was like.

Yes I have read "adrift". Another amazing story of survival. Those darn fish would have driven me crazy. Well more crazy than the author anyway. Can you picture yourself alone in your life raft in the middle of the Atlantic, life would be miserable enough and than the dorados are constantly ramming at your bottom. I would have gone insane long before he did. He held it together pretty good.

Another great read but kind'a on the dark side is "In the Heart of the Sea." Unbelievable is all I can say. And yes a sperm whale can capsize and whaling vessel! You can also read Owen Chase's (1st mate) narrative of the account, very good reading. Kind of controversal in regards to the captain and his handling of the ordeal, but still very good reading.

Guess I kind of moved from videos to books.... sorry.

Thanks for your responses everybody.