Dark Tide (2012)

Simply A Masterpiece

i must have seen a different film!!

Admirable film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

WARNING: Plot Details. Not ending.The film takes place in scenic South Africa. We get the National Geographic tour. The film starts out great showing us Halle Berry's cleavage, a guy filming her cleavage, and then they throw a shark into the film...and no more cleavage. Halle's hobby is to pet Great Whites in open water out of a cage. She is married to Jeff who films the action. So when sharks suddenly behave badly, Halle quits diving with them.After a year, Jeff is trying to get back with Halle. The have fights about the relationship. The film contains Halle doing a first person philosophical narration and the music is very tame, not what one expects for an action/thriller. Halle who has spent 10 years in the water doesn't like the smell of fish and screams when someone tries to push her in. Clearly this is an action flick written for women, or by a woman (Amy Sorlie). In one scene Jeff apologizes for whatever it was that made Halle angry. Halle is angry that he doesn't know why she is angry and won't tell him...because he should know! She finally says, "You have no idea what's wrong with me!"As Halle's business starts to fail, a wealthy Brit (Ralph Brown) trying to connect with his son (Mark Elderkin) wants to swim with Great Whites without a cage. Halle is reluctant but agrees.They set out in the water to go dancing with sharks. And if everything went well, there wouldn't be a movie. Dad fights with son, Jeff fights with dad, Halle fights with Jeff, and Halle fights with dad. At this point I was hoping a two headed mega shark would swallow the whole boat. The climatic scene I can't detail because I have no idea what is happening. Everyone is in the same dark suits and it is dark. The full view film of the sharks appear to be stock footage. (Ed Wood would be so proud.) This is more of a drama with some poorly shot action scenes.No f-bombs (that I caught), sex, or nudity. Some PG-13 name calling. Might be enjoyed by women who like a soft female lead in an "action thriller."

Really surprised this film scores so poorly as I thought it was actually quite entertaining. Despite Berry's overly-dramatic portrayal of a so-called "shark whisperer" whose able to swim in open water with massive white sharks, general acting aside, the photography, exterior sets and choreography of attacks are excellent. If there was any CGI, it wasn't apparent (which should be the idea) instead the makers have used footage of real white sharks in the wild, and integrated these seamlessly with the actors.The Capetown (Fish Hoek) setting adds realism, and whilst the plot is heavily contrived, the shark footage more than compensates. It's not in the league of "Jaws" though imo it does narrowly outperform "The Reef" which was a pretty decent exponent of the genre itself. Berry and Martinez are merely scenery but director Stockwell's (Cougar from Top Gun) timing builds suspense nicely despite the clichés.Multiple maulings will keep traditional shark audiences engaged whilst the discerning viewer might be sustained by a more ethical depiction of White sharks. Humans are the antagonists here; the men in grey suits simply behaving as any reluctant host would tolerate such an irritating cast of prima donnas. Sharks = 6, humans = 0.

I agree with what most said about the Sharks made the movie. I was grateful this didn't try to incorporate some "fake" stuffed or blew up shark and was moved by the beauty in the scenes and especially the great whites.The characters were NOT believable. I am not against Halle Barry, I learned to respect her in The Call. Thought she did that Thriller justice (decent acting). However she was completely cast wrong here. I didn't see her as a shark expert..and was dumbfounded (really DUMB founded) by the dialog? Really, a "Shark Whisperer" with lines like "you have to get right up there and feel them and touch them for them to teach you what you need to learn.."?? Here is another famous Shark Whisperer's knowledge (listen close people, you don't want to miss this).."In order to swim with sharks you need to get near them so they trust you"? That's it. This is why this film failed miserably with me. The DIALOUGE was immature and stupid. it made Halley Barry MORE unbelievable to be in that role. I found her real simple (3to 4 words) here and there in the beginning where she was trying to speak (South African?) or (haitian)? Not sure. Sounded very forced and like she was reading from a card. Was NOT believable she had a second language. The relationship had NO chemistry with the French dude. He really made no sense (i mean literally) couldn't understand him and his mannerisms belonged more in a predictable French horn-dog movie then an action "shark" specialist movie. he didn't fit in his role either.the annoying rich guy was just that ANNOYING. an ENTIRE scene was thrown in that had NOTHING to do with the movie at all when the clam /seal criminals swam "that night"?? No bodies turned up, no fish was identified as "blood hungry" now, they even drove their boat to the very spot and never a word more about that scene (not to mention I couldn't tell what happened it was so dark and disheveled)??? Much of the action scenes I couldn't tell who it was or what was actually happening then it would flash to what we were taught to believe was "Kate" just hovering in the water, gasping for air every 10min then swimming back under water? Scrip should have been more smart and acting and CASTING more believable. I should have learned more of sharks. Halle didn't look to me like a shark woman and the script and lines were too dumb to prove her worthy of being any remote resemblance of a shark expert? You couldn't tell who was who in the water and after she lost her "safety" she continued to dive in with No one to watch her back? What changed for needing a safety? ANd, diving in treacherous water in the pitch BLACK made no NO sense not to mention taking two innocent wacks out in that dangerous patch. Nothing made sense. BUT, the scenery was gorgeous, the sharks were so gorgeous and I wanted yes YEARNED to alteast hear some new information about them (something intellectual and real interest) but everything out of Halle's mouth was stupid talk. I could have made stuff up more interesting and that sounded more SharK "ettiquitte" than her lines. I also didn't see any Love connection..just dis jointed, jittery, almost silly (child like) scenes from the beginning to end (with the guy that first died to her french misfit husband). no real chemistry or sense. I thought she needed time to adjust and yet we see a very short, forced scene where she dives in (again with NO safety) and she is back? The director and whoever wrote the scripts must have been hired off the streets?I loved the beautiful REAL LIFE shark filming. I wouldn't say I hated the movie though but that is because there have been so many MANY MANY horrid, absolute HIDEOUS movies out with blood and guts, bad script and it was refreshing to finally watch a movie with no sex and bad language - THAT was refreshing.

Shouldn't there be some kind of protective Union to help prevent poor defenseless animals from appearing in stupid and embarrassing movies? I mean, actors and actress are supposed to be smart enough and decide for themselves whether or not a horrible scenario will negatively affect their careers (I'm looking at you, Halle Berry), but animals can't read clumsy scenarios! The sharks in "Dark Tide", for instance, are truly some of the most beautiful creatures Mother Nature brought forward, yet their astonishing appearance is criminally abused here in this dumb, exaggeratedly clichéd, dull and incompetent film. Amazing animals like these only belong in masterful documentaries or, as rare as they are, in qualitative adventure movies. Luckily enough – for my own personal anger management program, at least – I watched "Dark Tide" with the absolute lowest expectations imaginable, and that's all thanks to the fact I noticed the name of the director from beforehand. John Stockwell isn't a real filmmaker; he's a wannabe with an unhealthy fetish for famous actresses in colorful bikinis on the posters of his films! Kate Bosworth in "Blue Crush", Jessica Alba in "Into the Blue", half a dozen of sexy chicks in "Turistas" and now Halle Berry in "Dark Tide". The only recurring aspects that draw attention are the bikinis on the cover. I don't know John, but it's becoming rather difficult to convince us that you want to be seen as a serious director. The plot of "Dark Tide" features the dullest of stereotypes in the cast (traumatized heroes, obnoxious businessmen dying from cancer …) and immediately reverts to the worst clichés (troubled father-son relationships, heroine facing her demons…). The only thing worse than the dialogs are the miscast actors and actresses citing them. None of the cast members display any sort of conviction or emotion, and why should they? It's nothing but sheer nonsense anyway. If you do, however, make the mistake to watch "Dark Tide" you can at least enjoy the Cape Town filming locations and the shark footage.