UBET Favorite Boating and Sailing Movies

Get a few boaters together and inevitably the subject of "best boating and sailing" movies comes up. Now that the Winter is fast approaching we're going to need something to help us get through the long dark months. Maybe a UBET "Sailing Movie" night with popcorn and your favorite DVD will ease the discomfort of being "on the hard" for six months?.

Here's some all time favorite. Let us know your preference and we'll post them here. To get you thinking go to this link. Once we feel that we have a fairly complete list we'll poll the membership and rank them in order of popularity. 

Also, if you own one of these movies and don't mind lending it to a member let us know at ubet2.org and we will add your contact info to the movie listing. 

Captain Ron 
1992 Kurt Russell, Martin Short and Mary Kay Place in a funny and entertaining tale of Ozzie and Harriet meet the last pirate of the Caribbean. Lightweight, but fun. The sailing is, for the most part, genuine. Available DVD, VHS 

Wind 
1992 Lightweight, but enjoyable. The fictionalized story of the '87 America's Cup. Preferable to the real thing since Matthew Modine and Jennifer Grey are better-looking and far more likable than Dennis Conner. With the exception of one small scene, all the sailing was filmed on the water, using real twelve meters. For the crews, they recruited real sailors, and taught the stars to sail. This, of course, made for some very believable sailing scenes, which made up for a rather unbelievable story. Available DVD, VHS (VHS out of print) 

Dead Calm 
1989 Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane, a gorgeous 60 ft ketch, and a dying schooner. An intense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It has only one negative, and that's the way it ended. Other than that, it's a great movie, skillfully directed to keep the blood pounding, even after repeated viewings. And it's a wonderful sailing movie! Except for the first ten minutes, it takes place entirely at sea, and was in fact shot in the Whitsunday Passage in Australia. The boat handling looked real and the way the two characters handle the challenges presented them are very believable. Available DVD, VHS (VHS out of print).

Adventures in Paradise
1959 - 1962 Classic TV series starring Gardner MacKay, and a schooner named the Tiki. Developed by James A. Michener from his books of the same title, and sold to 20th Century Fox. This is the only American TV show - to my knowledge - built around a sailing ship, and it is the series that started a lot of ‘boomers’ dreaming about sailing off to a life of adventure in the South Seas. Website www.Bygonevideo.com has over 50 episodes available on DVD
Available DVD, VHS 

White Squall 
1996 A modern story of tall ship sailing, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Jeff Bridges. Based on a true story, this is the best sailing movie not based on a classic novel, and ranks as one of the best sailing movies ever made. The story, sailing, and acting are all excellent. 
Available DVD, VHS (VHS out of print) 

Waterworld 
1995 Okay, it's flawed but hey, Kevin Costner as the sailor of the future, versus Dennis Hopper as the evil stinkpotter, that works for me. Oscar nomination for Best Sound. Razzie nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Costner), Worst Director (Kevin Reynolds - with an assist to Costner) and Worst Supporting Actor (Hopper). Picky picky picky! This movie is actually pretty entertaining, if you think of it as “Mad Max goes to sea”. Available DVD, VHS (VHS out of print) 

Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World 
2003 Based on the Patrick O’Brien books, Screen play and direction by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Capt. “Lucky” Jack Aubrey. The movie starts and ends with the sound of the wind, and is quite simply the best movie ever made about the age of fighting sail. They managed to make this as historically accurate as Hollywood gets, and totally immersed the audience in the experience of being on an 18th century frigate. While the naval battle sequences are quite fantastic, the film is successful because director Weir chose to build the story by getting to know the men who are locked aboard the tight quarters of a small ship and how they interact everyday. The officers and the mates are well-known by the time the final battle comes. The sound effects editing alone is incredible, and that sound team was robbed of the Oscar. Available DVD, VHS

Horatio Hornblower 
1999 The four part TV adaptation of C.S. Forester's classic Napoleanic war saga. The critics gave it mixed reviews, for which they should be flogged. Well written, superbly acted, with lots of actual sailing aboard real tall ships. Loan Gruffydd deserves special note for his portrayal of young Hornblower as he blossoms from raw cadet into an experienced and confident naval officer. They used two actual tall ships in this production, the Grand Turk, in the role of all the frigates, but especially as Indefatigable, and the Baltic trading schooner Julia, as all the smaller vessels. They used 11 scale models for the battle scenes. These models weighed 3,000 lbs each, and had working rigging and cannons that fired by remote control. Available DVD, VHS 
1999
Episode 1: The Even Chance 
Episode 2: The Examination For Lieutenant 
Episode 3: The Duchess and the Devil 
Episode 4: The Frogs and Lobsters 
2001
Episode 5: Mutiny
Episode 6: Retribution
2003
Episode 7: Loyalty
Episode 8: Duty