# " All Is Lost" movie



## priscilla (Mar 20, 2000)

Let us have some fun....for those who can get to see this film with Robert Redford, as sailors, how many things can we discover that are wrong? Its due out this week.


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## benesailor (Dec 27, 2012)

Good luck finding a theatre!


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## azguy (Jul 17, 2012)

Why must we always find fault, if you read the reviews the movie is much more than just about sailing and the critics are already saying academy award.

Do we really need to pick on a winch being wrapped backwards or that a wrong knot was used. One of my favorite sailing moves is "Wind" and I'm sure there are thousands of wrongs on that movie.

IDK, just MHO


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## MobiusALilBitTwisted (Jun 25, 2007)

Azguy +2, the like only works one time, i will go see this movie because i think it will be a very good one


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## saltydognl (Jun 23, 2013)

Hi All,

Why do we have to critique this film. Your not a sailor if you havent made any mistakes. Your not a person if you havent made any mistakes. EVERY BODY makes mistakes. Just ENJOY a Bloody good film. Long live Waterworld LOL


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

I'd rather go to a movie to watch the movie than go to a movie just to pick it apart.


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## Delezynski (Sep 27, 2013)

azguy said:


> Why must we always find fault, if you read the reviews the movie is much more than just about sailing and the critics are already saying academy award.


I am STILL trying to figure out what happened to the dink in Capt. Ron! The chart caught fire on it, was put out. BUT, they had to wade in chest deep water into the beach???? 

I will bet that some VERY funny stuff ended up on the cutting room floor! 

Greg


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## seafrontiersman (Mar 2, 2009)

Does anybody know where All is lost is playing in South Florida? Why aren't theatres showing it? I live in WPB and I can't find anything around here.....


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## MobiusALilBitTwisted (Jun 25, 2007)

Not Showing in Waco Tx, this place sucks for that Fact Alone


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

priscilla said:


> Let us have some fun....for those who can get to see this film with Robert Redford, as sailors, how many things can we discover that are wrong? Its due out this week.


Hey, let's try this:

You pick the movie apart and find all the wrong bits. Do it silently, in the privacy of your own boat. Keep the results to yourself.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

It was listed at our local theater yesterday. When I got there they said the studo pulled the launch because it conflicted with some other movies launch.
I never heard of that before.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

On the trailer Redford is calling for an SOS instead of a Mayday.
Any ideas as to why. It couldn't have been a mistake as they had technical help.


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

azguy said:


> Do we really need to pick on a winch being wrapped backwards or that a wrong knot was used. One of my favorite sailing moves is "Wind" and I'm sure there are thousands of wrongs on that movie.


Exactly. Who the heck hasn't wrapped a winch backwards at some point? It's been a few decades since I made that mistake but I sure have done it.

Oh - Wind is one of my favorite movies also, but with sailing and Jennifer Gray how could it not be? *grin*



davidpm said:


> On the trailer Redford is calling for an SOS instead of a Mayday.
> Any ideas as to why. It couldn't have been a mistake as they had technical help.


That may be silly but I bet for some reason they did on purpose. Probably because more of the general public recognize SOS than Mayday.


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## stpabr (Dec 20, 2008)

Delezynski said:


> I am STILL trying to figure out what happened to the dink in Capt. Ron! The chart caught fire on it, was put out. BUT, they had to wade in chest deep water into the beach????
> 
> I will bet that some VERY funny stuff ended up on the cutting room floor!
> 
> Greg


Recall the high speed entrance into the first stop as he puts the wheel hard over and then reverse to a starboard side docking at the bar? Did ya notice the Rudder (Note the stern waterline) was hard over to starboard? 
I like to pick out mistakes in movies like that. After all it is Entertainment...
Recall the son spilling the milk, the Jug is down, then the next scene the Jug has been picked up with more milk in it?


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

One can still enjoy the movie for what it is and have fun finding all the sailing errors at the same time. I have no doubt I will enjoy doing both.


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## abrahamx (Apr 3, 2006)

Its showing in to local theaters here but not any of the big ones. Showings all day. I am dying to see it but not sure if I can get around to it.


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## blutoyz (Oct 28, 2012)

I won't rush to see any movie but if it shows up on Netflix I will click on it


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## billsull (Jul 8, 2007)

*" All Is Lost" movie*

Just left the Avon Cinema in Providence RI. I have no complaints at all with the movie, only thanks to Mr. Chandor and Redford for giving us a wonderful film that we will be able to debate about for years to come.

For those that are having trouble finding a screen, go to http://www.zacharyquinto.com/. Yep, the new Mr. Spock from Star Trek was also a producer of All Is Lost and he has a
comprehensive list of theaters on his site where the movie is showing.


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## sailordave (Jun 26, 2001)

So after spending all day yesterday sailing/racing... (mid 50's, 18-20 knots of wind) we're driving home and the wife says, Hey, maybe we can find where ALL IS LOST is playing and catch it.
Just made the show. Almost full theatre. 

Overall, I liked it. I know the movie was about man and his struggle to survive so I could forgive a few "errors". 

Still trying to figure out how a collision in almost dead calm put a hole in the boat, yet when he goes back for the sea anchor he practical rams the container w/ no damage.
And the hole was above the water line. How did all that water come gushing in?

Why didn't he take a life jacket w/ him? 
A few more questions but I don't want to give anything away.

Overall it was good. Amazing how the audience sat almost perfectly quiet the whole movie.


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

*Re: " All Is Lost" movie*



billsull said:


> Just left the Avon Cinema in Providence RI. I have no complaints at all with the movie, only thanks to Mr. Chandor and Redford for giving us a wonderful film that we will be able to debate about for years to come.
> 
> For those that are having trouble finding a screen, go to Zachary Quinto. Yep, the new Mr. Spock from Star Trek was also a producer of All Is Lost and he has a
> comprehensive list of theaters on his site where the movie is showing.


Per his list, it's not showing anywhere in Texas.

I need to move.


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## mananamon (Feb 5, 2012)

The biggest mistake I see is that they must have only made three copies of if. The closest location I found to me (here in St. Louis, MO) is Chicago!

And mistakes in Captain Ron? How could that be? Well this is one, the line about "a diesel likes oil like a sailor likes his rum". My diesel doesn't burn that much oil.....


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## miatapaul (Dec 15, 2006)

sailordave said:


> So after spending all day yesterday sailing/racing... (mid 50's, 18-20 knots of wind) we're driving home and the wife says, Hey, maybe we can find where ALL IS LOST is playing and catch it.
> Just made the show. Almost full theatre.


Now that is a great wife, after sailing all day in the cold, she wants to see a movie about sailing! Good choice there.


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

Saw the movie with my wife yesterday. I thought it was very good. Not standard movie fare..

We hung out at the end and watched the credits. I realized that the only ones waiting to see the credits at the end were fellow sailors. 

So we chatted a bit.. Met Cal 27 owners from B.C., and an O'Day daysailer owner who just moved to Seattle. That was fun.

When you see the movie, see if you can spot the crane lifting point located on the starboard side in at least one shot!


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

Oh.. I would also like to say that while some it it was pretty unrealistic, some things were dead on.

Pay attention carefully to how he winds up with the sextant. That was exactly the same as the way my father got his during his circumnavigation.

Not to spoil it, but I love how he deals with the card!


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## sailordave (Jun 26, 2001)

miatapaul said:


> Now that is a great wife, after sailing all day in the cold, she wants to see a movie about sailing! Good choice there.


Yep. I made out w/ this one. Definitely married "up"!


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## Mirari (Sep 13, 2006)

Saw "All is Lost" last night. I had to drive a considerable distance. Overall I was disappointed, especially after hearing the hype and seeing the trailer. Of course we as sailors see all the errors but this one had so many it was almost comical. The special effects other than a few scenes lask authenticity. The sailor Redford played was woefully unskilled, the boat was a POS and not set up for offshore sailing in any way, his emergency equipment or lack there of was pathetic. One would be asking for certain death if they were sailing off into the unknown with Redford's boat equiped the way it was. I'd be curious how many other Sailnet subscribers saw it and what they thought.


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

I guess that sailors of the last 100 years, who lacked modern safety equipment and "offshore" vessels were "pathetic" too, then.

I'm glad that Columbus and Magellan didn't let that stop them.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Mirari said:


> Saw "All is Lost" last night.....The sailor Redford played was woefully unskilled, the boat was a POS and not set up for offshore sailing in any way, his emergency equipment or lack there of was pathetic. One would be asking for certain death if they were sailing off into the unknown with Redford's boat equiped the way it was. I'd be curious how many other Sailnet subscribers saw it and what they thought.


I can't comment in with any authority on this since I have not seen the movie, but from what I have read it is supposed to be be loosely based on the book 'Adrift', which is the true story of Steven Callahan who spent 76 days in a life raft after his Transat boat sank in 1981.

While Callahan was a very experienced sailor, for some reason the movie folks chose to make the Redford character a comparatively new sailor and the boat a stock coastal racer-cruiser.

I don't know when in time the movie is set, but if it is set during the early 1980's, the lack of safety devices, or the lack of an offshore cruiser would not be all that surprising, and would be authentic to that point in time. These days we are used to even small boats with very sophisticated equipment. But things were very different in the early 1980's.

There certainly were purpose built cruisers back then, but sailors routinely went offshore in what they owned, and with minimal modifications. Before the internet there simply were not these kinds of discussions. It was "run what ya brung" and lots of folks did. People would do all kinds of distance cruising in boats which by any modern standard were just plan poor offshore cruisers.

Similarly basic safey gear that we think of today was almost unknown. Hardly anyone wore harnesses.

Navigational and safety electrionics were largely absent. It was a big deal to have a VHF radio, let alone single-sideband. There was no such thing as GPS back then and Loran was prohibitively expensive and you needed to be near shore to use it. We did have RDF's which on a small boat gave you a pretty big triangle where the boat was supposely located. Epirbs existed but were wildly expensive and in my circles quite rare except on offshore race boats. We still used wind-up chronometers to tell time for use with the sextant for navigational purposes. You calculated the known error on the chronometer and wound it every day at the same time so that that error would remain constant. You tried to get a radio time check every couple days and log the error and reset the chronometer from that.

So I would not necessarily say that the POS boat or lack of safety gear was unrealistic. It might be, but depending on the era (or the error), it might not. It may just be different times.

Jeff


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

The movie appeared to be set in in the present time, if you base that assumption on some of the marine electronics that were aboard. The VHF seemed modern. Battery was AGM.

Since three donor Cal 39s were used for the movie, I expect most of the equipment came from them.

Seemed to me to be a good representation of what someone would wind up with if they wanted to do blue water cruising on a budget. 

(The boat was registered in Portland, I think, and the story takes place in the Indian Ocean)

I'd also say that my father accomplished his circumnavigation in the 1990s with similar equpment.


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## billsull (Jul 8, 2007)

In some ways, I think we suffer as movie-goers by bringing a sailor's perspective into the theater to see All Is Lost. To expect to see an able sailor aboard a well-found vessel is really to ask to see a different movie.

IMHO, this really isn't a movie about sailing, it's about a man. A man who's background, timeframe and character is only hinted at. Indeed, the backstory is so spare that we don't even know his name. On this blank canvas, I projected the following (no spoilers below):

Our man leaves in his wake, some sort of essential failure in his life. The few words we hear him speak are an acknowledgement of, and apology for, past sins. There is a suggestion that at one point, he was well acquainted with the bottle. It looked to me like he was greeting an old friend/demon with the drink we see him take on board. Maybe alcohol was a factor - we'll never know.

He makes many mistakes. That isn't a sign of a bad screenplay or bad directing / acting. It's a depiction of real life. I know how many mistakes that I make just messing about in my coastwise forays. Add a few more decades of punishment to my body and mind and put me in the middle of the Indian Ocean and I'm sure I'd make more mistakes than our man did and it would be a very short movie.

He's obviously on the far side of middle age. A time when all of us take stock of where we are and what we'd like to do before we check out. Perhaps this man had always wanted to go to sea but the opportunity never presented itself until late in his life. Maybe he's running away from the failure mentioned above and dropping the lines and sailing away seemed like a better choice than any other option that he had in front of him at the time. In any event, when he shoved off, he left with the skills and boat that he possessed at the time - none of us could do any more. To wait for more skill, more gear or a better boat is to defer the voyage and our man felt like he had to go when he did.

That brought him (and us) to a lonely spot in the ocean. I enjoyed the story that was told there.


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## casey1999 (Oct 18, 2010)

From Wikipedia:





"In addition to there being only one actor in the film, Redford also stated that the film has no dialogue, however there are a few spoken lines.[7] Because of these aspects, the shooting scrip was only 31 pages long.[5]"

Cannot knock the film too much, it only cost $8.5 million to make and has grossed nearly $100 mil. Who says yachting is expensive? This is one of the cheapest films to make in history and it is getting positive reviews.


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## steve77 (Aug 5, 2010)

Haven't seen the movie yet but I definitely plan to. Do people really think that what you see in the movies is real life? If you see a movie that deals in some way with anything you know really well, you'll probably be able to poke holes in it. And you'll probably ruin your movie experience in the process.


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## ragzamoto (Oct 28, 2013)

Since this is a sailing forum not a movie forum I would like to comment on this movie.
I went to see the movie with my wife and our friends. My wife and I are sailors have been for 20 years together and I have sailed for 40 plus and have logged a lot of sea miles and made my mistakes lord knows and paid for them. 
Half way through the movie my wife had had enough not from so much the glaring mistakes but from the actual brutal endless trashing the por sot was getting she is sensitive and this was not the right movie for a fun evining out. 
Our friends are pretty new to sailing and I had told them about this movie and hoped it would be a good sea movie . They are new to Blue water sailing, enjoying their new to them Hans Christian with the hope of some blue water sailing. 
We held on for a while my wife I knew was ok to wait it out or go across the street and vist the book store but I had to finally give up when the rummy sailer whatever his name was we never know, started fishing around for the right silverware before departing a vessel that had stayed afloat for the night. Actually been pretty forgiving Hmmmmmm. But that was the last straw. I had over looked the container ramming the hull in a calm sea and bashing in the stbd side. I over looked the guy carefully putting things away while water is pouring into his boat. Man I can evan enjoy his mysterious trip up the mast to mess with the VHF . Between storms and his joy rides in and out of the boat . But when he got into the Raft I knew I was in watching a looser and I do not want to know what he says! 

Seriously love all things to do with the sea and was so looking forward to this . Guess Ill hear how it ends but dont much care!


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## opc11 (Jun 8, 2011)

Kind of funny it's available in land-locked AZ but not some states that border the coastline. Going to see it in a few hours. Very much looking forward to it.


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## Mirari (Sep 13, 2006)

Jeff_H said:


> I can't comment in with any authority on this since I have not seen the movie, but from what I have read it is supposed to be be loosely based on the book 'Adrift', which is the true story of Steven Callahan who spent 76 days in a life raft after his Transat boat sank in 1981.
> 
> While Callahan was a very experienced sailor, for some reason the movie folks chose to make the Redford character a comparatively new sailor and the boat a stock coastal racer-cruiser.
> 
> ...


Jeff,
A few notes the Movie does actually take place in modern times. If it did take place in the 80's he would certainly know how to do celestial navigation rather than teach himself in the life raft. Obvious from the electroncs in the movie that this voyage happened post 2007 from the looks of them.

About your comments of sailing in the 80s. I took my first long distance offshore trip in my 23 footer in 1983 when I was a 20 something year old with not a lot of money. I used a cheap sextant, a Timex wristwatch and a cheap time cube from Radio Shack to get WWV Time signals. I consistently could get a fix, weather permitting within 1-2 miles. I could not afford Loran or GPS, which contrary to your statement did exist but you had to wait up to 6 hours sometimes to get a positive fix due to not enough satelites being in orbit. I'm not sure why you think they were "wildly expensive"? EPIRBS then where actually very affordadable. My first EPIRB was $200 purchased in 1984 from Defender. Turnout to be the best $200 ever spent as I rolled and sank my boat 300 miles from the nearest land. Thanks to the EPIRB I was picked up by a freighter headed across the pond to Rotterdam the following day. I was one of the 1st 100 people saved thanks to the 1st version of the modern EPIRB.


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## ragzamoto (Oct 28, 2013)

If I am not mistaken I thought I saw a chart plotter?


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## Mirari (Sep 13, 2006)

ragzamoto said:


> If I am not mistaken I thought I saw a chart plotter?


I saw one as well. It looked like a Raymarine to me. The sextant was a Celestaire Astra. I have the identical one myself


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## ragzamoto (Oct 28, 2013)

Thanks I thought so ,Could someone explain how a container that rips into the side of the boat doesn't wake you up.......and then doesn't rip the rail and deck off as it rolls . Actually the only smart thing he did was throw that crappy WEST MARINE boat hook away that was great !


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## dvuyxx (Jun 23, 2009)

If they aren't choosing to show this sailing movie in Annapolis (which it appears to be the case) then where?


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## ragzamoto (Oct 28, 2013)

Washington Dc is where I saw it.


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## foamy (Nov 26, 2012)

*Just like war movies*

As a kid I played army and watched war movies. Then I spent two years "serving" my country during a war where the young men and women of the lower classes of society protected the privileged young men and women of society from having to be involved (but that's another story).

Anyway, after my time, no war movies were very real or authentic having been trained in two combat MOSs. I could pick apart all the BS very easily in the infantry movies. But I still watched them. So being a life long sailor who has had a life long history of errors and omissions, I will enjoy the movie anyway.


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## unimacs (Sep 6, 2013)

Mirari said:


> Saw "All is Lost" last night. I had to drive a considerable distance. Overall I was disappointed, especially after hearing the hype and seeing the trailer. Of course we as sailors see all the errors but this one had so many it was almost comical. The special effects other than a few scenes lask authenticity. The sailor Redford played was woefully unskilled, the boat was a POS and not set up for offshore sailing in any way, his emergency equipment or lack there of was pathetic. One would be asking for certain death if they were sailing off into the unknown with Redford's boat equiped the way it was. I'd be curious how many other Sailnet subscribers saw it and what they thought.


I saw it and had a different take on it. Note that I have no blue water experience whatsoever.

Although there are things I questioned as a sailor (waiting until he found himself in the worst of the storm before putting up a storm jib for example), he struck me and I think most of the audience as capable, resilient, and resourceful.

There are some hints even to non-sailors that perhaps his boat and its safety gear wasn't quite up to snuff. He had to fashion a handle to use the manual bilge pump (which seemed to be less effective than a decent bucket).

To me that is reality though. There are probably thousands of boats on the seas right now with missing safety equipment and in some degree of disrepair. There are probably skippers and crew who have little or no experience in dealing with an actual emergency.

The background pic on my phone is a photo I took about 3 years ago at a gathering of tall ships in Duluth, MN (Lake Superior). It shows several crew members crawling around the rigging of one of the ships against a blue sky. I remember thinking at the time that that would be about the best job ever.

Though I've wondered in the last year or so which ship it actually was, I never bothered to figure it out until today when I was reminded that the Bounty sank a year ago. I believe it is in fact the Bounty (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). The picture below is the original. None of the deck or hull is visible on my phone. Anyway, the reason I mention that in this thread is that the sinking has been largely attributed to bad decision making and poor maintenance.


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## casey1999 (Oct 18, 2010)

Can someone in France, Australia, and/or New Zealand comment on how the film is being received there? These countries have a much larger pool of blue water sailors and their take on the film would be interesting. Seeing the film apparently only has a couple of spoken lines, it should be a simple matter to translate.


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## miatapaul (Dec 15, 2006)

Well from the critical response I would be very surprised if it is not in bigger release very soon. So if it is not in theaters near you, likely it will be soon. I look forward to it, but not sure if the rest of my family should see it! Perhaps I will go alone, kind of like the Redford character.


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

Hard to say, Paul.. it's not a "fun" movie. But I thought it was a great movie.


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## sailordave (Jun 26, 2001)

Showing at Angelika in Fairfax, VA E Street Cinema in DC


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## joyinPNW (Jan 7, 2013)

I found the movie, but not Robert Redford, agonizing to watch. He's perfectly cast in this role as an aged and stoic sailor. There were many details that veteran sailors might have gripes with, but overall, the movie was thought-provoking. We talked a lot after the movie about what we might have done in similar circumstances.

I made the mistake of seeing it one week after seeing Gravity--I feel as if I've been through the ringer!


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## WhistlerMark (Oct 19, 2013)

My girlfriend who is new to sailing (with me in particular) has insisted I go see this with a friend. I was actually relieved that she was the one to say that ;o)


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## opc11 (Jun 8, 2011)

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT!

Awful! that's all I can say. No opportunity to be sold on the lifestyle or why he's out there. It would have made great contrast to the disaster at sea. I found it totally unrealistic and an exercise in everything I wouldn't expect to do. Poorly equipped blue water boat, poor decisions by the skipper at every turn. (his boat is sinking so he decides to take a break and shave??) Waits til he's knee deep in a major storm to set his storm jib. Don't get me started on his initial reaction to the water streaming in. Zero urgency whatsoever. It seemed every time there was a major event the guy was sleeping. Completely absurd is all I can say. 

I was soooooooo looking forward to this movie. ..and the ending was as stupid as the beginning. Whomever said there was 30+ pages of dialog overestimated by 29 pages. BUMMER!


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## Thistle Dew (May 1, 2013)

Went to see the movie on the weekend. While watching the credits we met a very gregarious sailor (Djoenda??) 
Best part of the movie
Thanks for the chat

(the Cal couple from BC)


BTW- nice boat!!!


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## LaurenceU (Mar 7, 2011)

casey1999 said:


> Can someone in France, Australia, and/or New Zealand comment on how the film is being received there? These countries have a much larger pool of blue water sailors and their take on the film would be interesting. Seeing the film apparently only has a couple of spoken lines, it should be a simple matter to translate.


I don't believe the film will be shown here in Australia till late Feb 2014. I've seen the trailer. I certainly won't be queuing up to watch it. perhaps on a long flight after I've exhausted all other possibilities.


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

Thistle Dew said:


> Went to see the movie on the weekend. While watching the credits we met a very gregarious sailor (Djoenda??)
> Best part of the movie
> Thanks for the chat
> 
> ...


Guilty as charged...

It was nice visiting with you.


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## GMFL (Jun 9, 2010)

Potential SPOILER, 



I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet. Maybe they have and I missed the post.

But, his initial "sos" call was made while he had a perfectly functioning sailboat. It was holed, and he repaired it, didn't have electronics but, the boat was operational. I'm guessing he knew the general direction he wanted to go even without charts or electronics he could have sailed to safety. Why did he attempt his Mayday call when he did?.

Honestly I don't pick movies apart that much. They are made for a general audience, people who don't know proper radio procedure for instance.

I thought the movie was a bit slow, entertaining and thought provoking though. For instance, trying to figure out his back story. Was he running away? That sort of thing interests me more than what life jacket he was or wasn't wearing.


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## unimacs (Sep 6, 2013)

GMFL said:


> Potential SPOILER,
> 
> I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet. Maybe they have and I missed the post.
> 
> ...


It's been almost a week since I've seen it so I'm not quite sure on the chronology. Anyway, even though he did patch the hole I personally wouldn't have had much faith in that repair and I believe it ultimately did fail.

Also after losing all electronic navigation aides, attempting to get some help seemed to be the wise course of action, especially since the radio was also only marginally working.

I actually thought it was cool that no back story was provided and you had to fill in the blanks yourself.


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## GMFL (Jun 9, 2010)

unimacs said:


> I actually thought it was cool that no back story was provided and you had to fill in the blanks yourself.


I guess that is what I was trying to say.


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## casey1999 (Oct 18, 2010)

Redford fretted about 'All Is Lost' reception - StamfordAdvocate

From above:

Redford fretted about 'All Is Lost' reception
LAURI NEF, Associated Press 
By LAURI NEFF, Associated Press
Updated 10:37 am, Friday, October 18, 2013 
1 of 3.
View: Larger | Hide .
Redford got a standing ovation when his new film "All is Lost" premiered at the Cannes film festival in May. But in an interview Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, the Oscar-winning actor revealed he was nervous how the sometimes prickly Cannes crowds would react to the film, in which he is the sole actor, with virtually no dialogue.

He's been in the business more than half a decade but even Redford still gets nervous showing off a new film. But in an interview Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, the Oscar-winning actor revealed he was nervous how the sometimes prickly Cannes crowds would react to the film, in which he is the sole actor, with virtually no dialogue.

"The first time I saw the film was at the festival in Cannes and because they boo films there sometimes, even though you're in a tuxedo, you're sitting in a place that could boo something," said the 77-year-old actor. "When the film ended I thought, 'I don't know how this is going to go.' I really didn't."

Redford also said his first viewing of the film, in which he's the only actor, recalled the extreme demands of the role. "To be reminded of how wet you were so much of the time, which was not fun ... you kind of forgot about how physical it was and that comes back."

Redford recently sat down with The Associated Press to talk about "All Is Lost," a film with virtually no talking at all:

AP: What did you think of your performance?

Redford: I looked at my performance because I couldn't avoid it, (laughs), but no, it wasn't wow it was just, 'Yeah, I remember that. I remember that; hmm. Oh, that's what that ended up looking like.' (Redford says he doesn't look at monitors or dailies while shooting because "I don't like being aware of myself when I'm working.)

AP: During filming did you ever wonder, 'Whoa, what did I get myself into?'

Redford: I was so busy surviving that there wasn't a whole lot of time to think. You just had to do. You had to be there do it as an actor. You had to get through it. There were a couple of times when I thought, 'Hmm, this is extreme,' but you just do it and then you forget about thinking that.

AP: That works for the part.

Redford: It was what was supposed to be. The character is in charge of things in the beginning and then things happen where he's not so much in charge. He's a little bit in charge but not much and then finally he's completely not in charge. He's at the mercy of the elements and then what you do? I found that exciting as an actor to go through that process. ... You finally get to the point where there's only improvisation. There's nothing left except improvise 'cause you're not prepared for what's happening.

AP: I read that you pressed director J.C. Chandor for a backstory and he wasn't having any of it.

Redford: I just do what any actor says, 'OK, there's not much dialogue, in fact there is none, there's very little backstory, so what's on your mind? Is there something I need to know as an actor?' And when he was evasive, I started to get nervous. 'Does he not know how to describe his own film?' Until I realized, no, this is intentional. He's intentionally being evasive - meaning that what's in there is all he wants to be in there and once I got that I released that tendency to ask that.

AP: Is there a message?

Redford: I've always been fascinated by that point in life for everyone -there comes a moment when all seems to be lost, when there's nothing more to do. You can't do anything more. You're up against the odds that are against you and there seems to be no way out, all is lost, no point in continuing and so some people quit and they stop and others for unknown reasons just keep going because that's all there is to do.


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## djodenda (Mar 4, 2006)

I would love to see the ******.

Not sure why it blocked the word

How about this...

s
c
r
i
p
t


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## casey1999 (Oct 18, 2010)

djodenda said:


> I would love to see the ******.
> 
> Not sure why it blocked the word
> 
> ...


I have not seen the movie yet. But geussing it is somthing like:
Sheet,.....Sheet, Oh Sheet. Sheet.


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## rbrasi (Mar 21, 2011)

The thing I noticed the most was how the director never cut away to reverse shots. There were times when I just wanted to know: which sails were up? How high were the seas? But Chandor made it clear- this movie is about Our Man. Not sailing. Not emergency preparedness. Not gear or technique. Just him. He is in virtually every shot. I could understand not liking the movie because you don't have empathy toward Our Man, but to sit there and **** on the film because you think the Cal is not seaworthy (and other such technical nonsense) is saying to people: "I have an impossible standard to meet, yet I will still spend $12.50 and three hours of my time so that I can criticize something that will probably go over my head anyway."


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## miatapaul (Dec 15, 2006)

djodenda said:


> I would love to see the ******.
> 
> Not sure why it blocked the word
> 
> ...


Well I don't think that is what the admin should have meant by "block any scripts from running on the web page! :laugher


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## DearPrudence (Apr 8, 2013)

Not showing ANYWHERE in Ohio...wtf!!
Jeff


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## JSL3 (Jun 6, 2007)

I saw the movie about a week ago and very much enjoyed it. I agree with the others that describe it as a great story that happens to be set on a sailboat out on the ocean. If you are going to see it solely for accuracy of the sailing piece, you'll likely be disappointed. That said it was pretty accurate in most of what it conveyed. For me, I really liked the story and the acting (who knows but Redford could win his first acting Oscar for this one). The fact that most of the story occurred on a sailboat and showed a single handed sailor doing many of the mundane things we all do aboard (and later in the movie not so mundane emergency procedures) I thought was incredibly unique for a feature film. 
They also serve beer/wine at my local theater – what’s not to like about the whole experience?


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## rbrasi (Mar 21, 2011)

JSL3 said:


> Redford could win his first acting Oscar for this one).


I agree- the moment he yells "Fuuuuuuuuu*&!" should be long remembered in cinematic lore.


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## upshift (Sep 4, 2011)

SPOILER ALERT:
The movie is playing in land locked Albuquerque and I saw it today.
I feel the backstory and the opening “sorry” letter don’t suggest an earlier sin but a simple sorry to his family about letting them down and his inevitable disappearance at sea. He was getting up in years and probably had to set out on his ambitious adventure without his wife’s complete consent (his ring finger is shown often in the film).
My main criticism with the film is the lack of dialogue. If you woke up (sleeping in the v berth for some reason) to knee deep water, you’re going to spring to life yelling WTF!?!?! You’d be running around yelling at every bird, fish, cloud or winch handle. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care how seasoned, or green, you are, you’re going to freak out realizing your boat, in the middle of an ocean, is half full of water. 
See Tom Hanks in Castaway for a better depiction of solo living.
My one other concern on the film is that he didn’t have a bucket. Seriously, it would be the first thing I’d grab. I won’t comment on how a sea anchor rolls over a shipping container in a flat sea or how easily he retrieves said sea anchor.
I REALLY wish the camera would have pulled back when Redford was up the mast. I think showing a solitary man atop the mast in the center of the ocean would really have made a statement.


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## weinie (Jun 21, 2008)

...or how sail ties magically appear on the main after he drops it.
...or how the vhf antenna spontaneously disconnects up at the masthead after the impact w/ the container.
...or why he needs a wrench to tighten the antenna fitting
...or how he takes the time to shave before raising his storm sails
...or how the sail on deck never seems to flap around in the middle of a storm
...or how he decides to disassemble the vhf on the deck rather than in the cockpit
...or how he tests the reassembled vhf without connecting it to the antenna 
...or why the genoa was furled while he was working on the radio
...or how he doesn't seem to have a electric bilge pump
...or how he happens to have an almanac for celestial navigation data in his brand new unopened sextant box.
...or why he decided to do a tedious fiberglass hull repair rather than screw a cabinet door or something over the hole
...or how the impact never woke him up
...or how the impact even made a hole when the boat was barely even moving
...or why the life raft was stowed all the way forward in the cabin instead of on deck
...or why he didnt replace the cabin washboards in the storm
...or where was the EPIRB
...or why was he steering when he had the wind vane (in calm and in the storm)
...and where did he get that magical bosun's chair (do they really exist?)
...and don't even get me started about "This is an SOS call..."
...or how a west marine boat hook bent too easily... oh wait, strike that.


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## dvuyxx (Jun 23, 2009)

Again, WTF that this movie is not showing in te Annapolis area. This is where a no dialogue movie about sailing might do well.


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## patrscoe (May 9, 2011)

My wife and I saw the movie this weekend at a theater that just plays Independent movies towards Richmond. We enjoyed the movie. Once it was over, my wife and I started to pick the movie apart, mainly how unprepared he was as the storm was approaching. I think shaving would not be my concern, more so putting up the storm jib now and not in the middle of the storm. We joked on how the Sail mag would pick apart the event in their articles when they state what went right and what went wrong article. We have an excuse, we tend to pick apart things, for the good or bad but every movie will have some inaccuracies and it was well worth the wait. Years ago, I had a close friend who raced cars for a living. We watched a awful movie about car racing. I stated to him, "you must be upset, this movie seems unrealistic in many areas of racing" His response was "it's about racing cars, how can go wrong with that." I believe the movie is mainly about being alone where no one can help you or willing to help you, being resilient to disappointments and setbacks, and bouncing back, and yes, has some sailing in it, how can you go wrong with that.


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## ragzamoto (Oct 28, 2013)

OMG 
This is a sailing forum come on folks.... its fun to poke fun at this stupidly done sailing movie about a deeply flawed man that has run away to sea in an ill equipped boat with no skill . But since I walked out when he was searching around in the the silverware draw while his boat is sinking I guess I will never find out why he was so interested in finding out where he was when he could not do a damn thing about it . I guess the folks in Hollywood were smart enough to know not put it in any sailing areas untill it got enough steam to blow through the flawed technical aspects . 


I think Captain Ron is the best sailing movie ever!!!!!


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## unimacs (Sep 6, 2013)

ragzamoto said:


> OMG
> This is a sailing forum come on folks.... its fun to poke fun at this stupidly done sailing movie about a deeply flawed man that has run away to sea in an ill equipped boat with no skill . But since I walked out when he was searching around in the the silverware draw while his boat is sinking I guess I will never find out why he was so interested in finding out where he was when he could not do a damn thing about it . I guess the folks in Hollywood were smart enough to know not put it in any sailing areas untill it got enough steam to blow through the flawed technical aspects .
> 
> I think Captain Ron is the best sailing movie ever!!!!!


Actually I think fetching a can opener was pretty critical since a bunch of his food was canned (as I recall).

The sextant enabled him to track his drift into the shipping lanes. It was important to the movie but yeah, I'm not sure it's risking your life over, especially since he was only drifting and not navigating.

And since we're talking about it, I'm not all that sure he was deeply flawed. The back story was intentionally vague. You either like the story you create in your head or you don't. 

Just last night I was listening to a radio program about dying well. They made the point that one "good" thing about having a terminal illness is that it gives you an opportunity to repair and/or enhance your relationships. There are 4 key sentences at that time in your life: I love you, I forgive you, Thank you, and I'm sorry.

Redford's opening monologue covered the "I'm sorry" part. Anyway, I only took it to mean that he made mistakes in his life like we all do, not that he was deeply flawed or that he was running away. The sextant appeared to be a gift since there was a card along with it. His boat also looked pretty lived in with a bunch of books. In spite of his mistakes, I don't think we were supposed to be left with the impression that he was a complete novice.


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## BobnCamie (Nov 10, 2013)

Who really cares what crap Hollywood puts out, and for one,I would not walk across the street to watch that tree-hugging redford do anything, especially make money off of me!


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## chuckg5 (Jun 22, 2006)

can't see it in all of florida. did he get his wish and die in the end? after all, its one way to go and there are not many good ones


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## unimacs (Sep 6, 2013)

chuckg5 said:


> can't see it in all of florida. did he get his wish and die in the end? after all, its one way to go and there are not many good ones


Surprisingly, the answer to that seems to depend on the viewer. Some walked out of the theater thinking he lived and others that he died.


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## priscilla (Mar 20, 2000)

I Started this post and finally saw the movie...The previous writer is correct: Redford is a bum, and the movie isn't very good. Our sailnet sailors have done a good job finding all the defects. I can add some others: Where was his West Marine life vest? He's jumping around in mid Indian Ocean without a life vest? Was there no engine? Why was it always either a flat calm or a raging storm? He only used his signal mirror to look at himself! Why that silly wave as a ship passed by? He held the Sextant wrong! A real sailor would have steered his boat thru that storm and there wouldn"t have been any roll-over and A real sailor would have sold all those sneakers in Sumartra...


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## DoubleEnder (Mar 8, 2011)

They should change the name to "Two Hours Lost".....pathetic!


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I think I posted this point in the other spoiler thread on this movie. I won't spoil anything by this post.

I think it has received good reviews from movie nerds that just like the novel idea of a movie with no words. Perhaps some just like making up the back story that is not supported at all. Others are just going to like Redford no matter what.

While some technical errors are to be expected, so that movie shots can be made or time condensed, there are so many unnecessary errors and unbelievable circumstances, it seems they paid zero attention to detail.

I thought it would just be fun to find the sailing errors, but would like the movie for what it was. It turns out the only fun, I guess, was finding the errors. The movie was not worth using up a couple of hours of my life and I was really looking forward to it.


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## fodao (Jul 27, 2000)

I watched this movie last night and I hated it! First of all, I was falling asleep most of the time since there is no action and no dialogue. There are so many stupid mistakes that I cannot believe that the director himself is a sailor like some people have said. 
Robert Redford is never sailing, even when the wind is light his sails are down! There is no rush to plug the huge hole on the hull. His harness is attached to the lifelines! No jacklines? When he goes overboard, the lifelines should have broken. He took forever to decide to rig a storm jib even though he had plenty of warning. Instead of heaving to and setting up the sea anchor, he has decided to lay ahull, leaving his boat at the mercy of the waves??? Where were his portable GPSs? This is in modern times, because he has a tough notebook. It looks like a total novice who decided to take a sailboat and go offshore for a spin. I wasted my money!


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## jimmalkin (Jun 1, 2004)

As a former sailboat delivery skipper currently cruising, I went to see "All Is Lost" in eager anticipation of witnessing Robert Redford dealing with incidents and accidents while single-handing a sailing yacht at sea. I was blown away by the praise of the reviews. 

I saw the movie last night at the MV Film Society.

I was not blown away by the film. 

I got the allegory of "Any Man" (Redford in the credits) tying into "Jedermann" (Thomas Mann in the literature): I got the inference that everyman is alone against his fate and he answers to his own gods and suffers his own trials. I got the swimming up from the depths to the light of redemption; the standard story in near-death experiences. I got the symbolism of a helping hand into Charon's boat.

I didn't get the practical inaccuracies of the sailing and sinking story. A friend, sitting in front of me, turned at the end of the movie and declared "I'm never going sailing." Any sailer I know would tell her that the story on the screen is so far from accurate that she need not fear a sailing trip. Even in the Indian Ocean.

Much has been written about sailing safety since the Fastnet Race and the Hobart Race disasters in the '70s and 90's. As a result of the learnings from those fatal storms, all sailboats - racing or cruising - have ample books, articles, dvds and internet forum to provide details and sufficient equipment to keep them safe at sea. "Any Man" would have been a safer boat handler than Mr. Redford. The simple omissions of safety and common sense at sea were striking.

A single-handing sailor sleeping in the v-berth forward rather than aft by the companionway? A single-handing sailor topside and on deck without an inflatable life preserver? Without being tethered to the boat while working on deck or overside fothering the hull? Without a bucket? Without a GPS Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon? Without a battery operated GPS or VHF radio as a backup to the main system? Without a simple and cheap solar still for fresh water, without an abandon-ship bag with foil packets of fresh water, without the mandated number of parachute, smoke and signaling flares, without a mirror for signaling? Yes, I used to deliver boats between New England and the Caribbean with a zenith portable for time signals, a sextant, a compass and a walker taffrail log. But that was then (and if the movie was set in that period, where was this stuff) and this is now.

And on and on...

All of these things are required to be carried on sailboats on ocean races and in cruising rallys; all prudent off-shore mariners carry them when passage making.

There are boat handling matters and other "personal choice" sailing preferences that I found odd. But these are not the safety measures that I have mentioned. The lack of the safety measures is what destroyed the movie's credibility for me. And my friend, in the row ahead, won't go sailing because "Any Man" was a poorly prepared sailor.

And my friends along side in the theater, who might still go sailing, found the movie "average." "Life of Pi, without the tiger" was a comment.

Perhaps the praise of the movie in the reviews of the NYTimes, the New Yorker and the rest were written by people in awe of Robert Redford's reputation and his facial grimaces. They could not been in awe of his seamanship.

And what did happen to his bilge pump handle - why did he have to whittle one out of the nice teak cockpit cocktail table? What happened to his hearing? I can hear a mouse fart when I'm asleep on a passage!

But, to be fair, he did do a nice job of patching the hull - even if he wasn't tethered to the boat. 

I hope the movie doesn't scare people away from sailing.


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## jigs711 (Jul 10, 2009)

Saw the movie, pretty predictable and there's two hours of my life that I'll never get back. Some good scenes, special effects and the foley artists probably had a blast, but overall pretty bad movie. It is fun to critique, though, both good and bad points. A Cal 39 would have either bounced of the container or dented it, not the other way around. Notice when he "docked" it to the container by ramming it head on? Didn't even scratch the gelcoat. I would have stuffed some cushions or that sail or something in the hole to begin with and not tack around and watch the water come pouring into the boat. How did that crummy patch job work in all that rough weather? Why in the hell would anyone be trying to raise an over sized storm jib in a hurricane instead of just trying to ride it out with bare poles? And what in the hell was he hanking it on to? Notice the jib was furled and no extra forestay. No EPIB or spare radio, flare gun, etc. Spare GPS handheld? Guy must be a genius to learn celestial navigation so fast, but at least it was realistic enough that he had the tables and a watch. Why would you keep letting the water get into the boat rather than close the hatch boards when outside? Would you really go down below and take a long snooze while you were single handing? What the hell is the guy doing shaving when he knows a big one is coming and the boat is torn up? Speaking of water, ever hear of a bucket? (There is no better bilge pump than a scared guy with a bucket). He did have some belts of whiskey or something, which is what any sailor would have done to get "rum brave."


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## mattt (Aug 26, 2013)

Man you guys are cranks. I thought it was a good movie. His mistakes were part of the story. Otherwise he would have safely made it wherever he was going and nothing would have happened.


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## Lucky dog 2 (Apr 28, 2012)

Amazing! It's a movie. I used to rock climb in my younger days. Both climbing and sailing are not "sports" that have followings like football. Why do we only talk about the "close calls" or the time "I almost died"' and yet wonder why movies aren't about the perfect sails on the perfect day with good friends and family. It has a sailboat in it, and I like trees.


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## duchess of montrose (Nov 26, 2011)

I just saw it like an hour or two ago. I think if you go into the movie expecting a sailing movie you are going to have the reactions many on this thread have had he didnt do that this is dumb this is stupid but if you go into it looking for a piece of moving artwork and appreciate it as a movie and see the underlying ideas being communicated and look at the acting it was a very good movie. 

There were some glaring errors and some things sailors would;t due but that is only because as sailor's we know alot about seamanship, but this movie isn't about sailing. not really. The movie is about survival it is about the capacity for humans to understand and empathize with another human without words. that is a powerful message and it is one of the main things that the director was communicating. 

The movie also is very powerful in portraying the many angles of the human psyche in survival situations. It's interesting. That being siad yes there are some errors but those were needed to make the movie more sensational and some of them are so that the story would be more interesting for example, no one in there right mind sleeps in the v berth at sea.


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## weinie (Jun 21, 2008)

The problem is the act of noticing the errors immediately takes you out of the experience of the movie.
That is what ruined it for some of us.


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## mananamon (Feb 5, 2012)

Saw it the other day and my read is that as a sailing movie it leaves a lot on the table but as a movie about a man against the ropes it was very moving. I was surprised by the ending (not spoiling it for anyone).

The funniest thing is that there were only four of us at the Thrusday afternoon show and three of us were sailors! Afterward we were talking about it and we all agreed that we would have handled it differently and better (of course).


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## Ninefingers (Oct 15, 2009)

Just saw it. It struck me as being done on the cheap actually. If a tv show like the Deadliest Catch can give you shots of boats in the Bering Sea, you would think a Hollywood movie could at least do the same. It seamed like it was all shot in a stage/water tank.


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## theonecalledtom (Jan 2, 2008)

Loved it. Far better portrayal of human life than most movies out there.


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## miatapaul (Dec 15, 2006)

Ninefingers said:


> Just saw it. It struck me as being done on the cheap actually. If a tv show like the Deadliest Catch can give you shots of boats in the Bering Sea, you would think a Hollywood movie could at least do the same. It seamed like it was all shot in a stage/water tank.


Well I just saw it last night and this is what I liked about it.

It is available on bit torrent now and the copy I saw was good, except for the fact that it was subed in Arabic. Nice screener, not a cam. Not much of an issue as there are not many lines!

Redford did a great job. He was more prepared than I expected from forum comments and very resourceful. Really all he was missing was an Eperb, but I guess that would have made it a short film!


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Wow that was hard to watch. Way too many goofy things going on.


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## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

An European major sail magazine is doing a pool about it. Till now almost half that had seen it find it gross and boring.


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## benesailor (Dec 27, 2012)

I fell a sleep about 3/4 way thru for about 5 minutes. I couldn't figure out why redford was trying to kill himself. Looked like it was filmed in a pool. 
My issue with the movie was that put the wrong personality in the boat. Meaning; most people that put to sea don't have a personality type as depicted by redford. Given his attitude he should have died about 3 miles off the dock. 

I guess i couldn't get over that it wasn't a sailing movie. It's a movie about a guy with serious mental issues.


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## Marunio (Nov 30, 2007)

Disappointing and boring....
I like realistic that could be boring, but this was just boring.
M


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## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

On that magazine that I was talking about, a German one, the results are now much better regarding the movie:

They divided the pool in 1 to 5 being 5 for very good.

The results are 1- 27.2% - 55 votes ...2- 5% - 10 votes ...3 - 21.8% - 44 votes ...4 - 27.2% - 55 votes ...5 - 18.8% - 38 votes

If we consider only negative and positive opinions (considering the 3 neutral) we will have 46% that liked and 32% that did not like it. How about a pool here about it?


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## benesailor (Dec 27, 2012)

This was the review in Sail Magazine....

Spot on..

"The most anticipated sailing film of the year, of course, was a major feature, All Is Lost, staring Robert Redford's an unnamed solo sailor who loses his Cal 39 in the Indiam Ocean. Unfortunately, the film's creators made no effort to make it at all realistic, and any sailor watching it is apt to feel insulted and annoyed.
Redford's performance was hailed as oscar-worthy, but all i saw was a man who looked confused and aggravated for an hour and a half. I had the exact same expression on my face the entire time i was watching him. "


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