[eggandbeans]

Just finished watching this. Absolutely incredible. Balled my little eyes out from start to finish. At one point i felt like switching it off as it was unbearable to watch, glad i stuck it out though!! So powerful and moving! - best film I have ever seen. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves during awards season! I never watch the same film twice but I would definitely watch it again. If you haven't seen it - go and see it.

[MrSuper]

Originally Posted by eggandbeans

Just finished watching this. Absolutely incredible. Balled my little eyes out from start to finish. At one point i felt like switching it off as it was unbearable to watch, glad i stuck it out though!! So powerful and moving! - best film I have ever seen. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves during awards season! I never watch the same film twice but I would definitely watch it again. If you haven't seen it - go and see it.

It's an incredible film, but it won't. Naomi Watts Best Actress nomination was deserved - BAFTA didn't even nominate her! - but it was lucky she got in. She got in over Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone and that's a MUCH better performance!

[XAndyX]

so want to see this , looks so powerful!

[Sez_babe]

Originally Posted by XAndyX

so want to see this , looks so powerful!

It's brilliant. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like when I went to see it so I was shocked at how amazing it was.

[jake19801957]

just seen this incredible film

[Toy_Hero]

Just to echo everybody else - Incredible movie. Very powerful stuff. It really does pull out the emotion and I can honestly say the acting was fantastic. Not only was Naomi Watts outstanding, but that little boy who played Lucas - Damn, I do think he should have got a nomination for Supporting Actor in the Oscars.

This really is a must see. I'd say it's a 9/10 for me

[Shizuku]

Wow, all 5 leads were incredible, especially Tom Holland. I was on the edge of my seat throughout, didn't know what the outcome would be. Loved the depiction of the Thai people, it reminded me why I love that country.

[Schadenfreud]

Me and the wife watched this recently. She pretty much cries at any Disney film so was expecting the worst after all the build up.

All I can say is 'meh'... pretty average. The wife says she only got a lump in her throat at one point, but other than that just thought it was an 'ok' film, which pretty much echoed my thoughts.

I really don't see why people are getting so emotionally affected by this film.

[Stansfield]

Originally Posted by Schadenfreud

Me and the wife watched this recently. She pretty much cries at any Disney film so was expecting the worst after all the build up.

All I can say is 'meh'... pretty average. The wife says she only got a lump in her throat at one point, but other than that just thought it was an 'ok' film, which pretty much echoed my thoughts.

I really don't see why people are getting so emotionally affected by this film.

Because it was a True Story....Disney isn't.

[Schadenfreud]

Originally Posted by Stansfield

Because it was a True Story....Disney isn't.

No shit?
Here's me thinking that there really was a hunchback of Notre Dame!

Yes Sherlock, ofc we know it was based on true events (ignore the changing of nationalities from Spanish to British for now). But it still didn't really move me in the way that people on here are talking about.

Just to simplify it for the hard of understanding... the Disney remark was just an indication that my wife isn't some battle hardened tough as old boots type person.

Still didn't think it was moving at all tbh.

[Daisychain21]

My 20 year old son went to watch this with some of his mates when they came back they openly admitted they had all cried at it without a shadow of embarrassment .
I went along with hubby few days later thought it was brilliant was the only film I've watched that my husband didn't fall asleep during which says it all .

[ryanbain75]

An amazing film....so hard to recommend as its so harrowing and emotional. It is sadly so overlooked in this years awards....:-(

[gcmac]

Just went to see this film last night and thought it was fantastic.

I think it really captured what happened in Thailand when the Tsunami hit, I've never really thought about it as survivors personal journeys and it really brought it all home what everyone must have gone through. The sense of community, especially from the Thai survivors was evident throughout the film.

I thought the acting from everyone was incredible, especially young children. For me Tom Holland and Naomi Watts stole the show though and the scenes between them were extremely emotional as you watched him take on the role of parent to try and save their lives.

I found the film very tense to watch and it left me emotional, but considering the subject I think that was to be expected and I think it captured the horror of what happened without over sensationalising it.

Overall I thought it was a fantastic film and I will definitely watch it again. 9/10

[BumbleSquat]

This was an absolutely brilliant film! I went to see it last week and was moved by it so much that I went again. Oddly enough, I found it a lot more emotional to watch the second time, even though I knew the outcome. I have to agree with the majority here who said Naomi Watts and the boy who played Lucas were outstanding. Not to mention the CGI and sound. I'll put the rest in spoilers regarding the details...

Spoiler

The Thai people are portrayed extremely well, helping holidaymakers as they themselves have lost so much. The overworked hospital staff are never seen to be losing patience or crumbling under pressure. In fact, the only negative portrayal of anyone within the movie was of an American man and his family - people who'd been extremely lucky, who had no injuries and were even wearing clean white clothing. This was the person who told Henry, a visibly distressed and injured man, that he was basically inconveniencing him for asking to use his mobile phone to ring family back home. A man who's only concern was that his holiday was ruined!

There has been some criticism to the race issue within the movie. The majority of victims seen are white and the nationality of the family which the entire story is based upon had changed from Spanish to British. Those are understandable concerns to have nonetheless.

Having said that, this really is a fantastic film. Superb acting and direction. The story itself is horrifyingly remarkable - it would be a tad unbelievable if you told me it was fiction.

TIP : Have a decent supply of hankies

[chrono88]

Like I said in the other thread, the product placement at the end of the film was cheeky and gratuitous, and Naomi was upstaged by Lucas whenever they were put together in the same scene (I know this is an unpopular opinion but I must say it, I don't understand why she got nominated for this role, she did much better in some of her previous works like Mulholland Drive but went unnoticed, then she got a nomination out of nowhere)

Regarding this film some might point out the all-white leading roles in an Asian disaster film. I somehow saw Asians being portrayed as heroes so there was no big deal about it.

[twingle]

Saw this tonight having seen Les Mis and Life of Pi recently and thought it the best of the three and I sobbed buckets the whole way through yet didn't shed a tear thro Les Mis. maybe because I knew Impossible was a true story

As others have said the acting from the eldest boy was fanatstic

I read that they did change certain things and wonder if how they found each other was one of them. It just seemed a bit twee and contrived. I am not sure how todo spoilers so I wont ask my question but Iam sure I spotted a big continuity error But even so fantastic film and very well done

[JasonWatkins]

Originally Posted by twingle

I read that they did change certain things and wonder if how they found each other was one of them. It just seemed a bit twee and contrived. I am not sure how todo spoilers so I wont ask my question but Iam sure I spotted a big continuity error But even so fantastic film and very well done

They did use some artistic licence for how they all got together. From memory, I think the scene where he sent the kids away in a truck was changed because they were really just on the roof of the chalet the family stayed in, but he apparently did leave them there to go and search for his wife.

So it would consequently make the scene where the brothers met up on the truck also not quite accurate. Even though that scene itself just made me cry like the big sissy girl i am

[fizzle90]

Originally Posted by twingle

Saw this tonight having seen Les Mis and Life of Pi recently and thought it the best of the three and I sobbed buckets the whole way through yet didn't shed a tear thro Les Mis. maybe because I knew Impossible was a true story

As others have said the acting from the eldest boy was fanatstic

I read that they did change certain things and wonder if how they found each other was one of them. It just seemed a bit twee and contrived. I am not sure how todo spoilers so I wont ask my question but Iam sure I spotted a big continuity error But even so fantastic film and very well done

BIB - just do [spoiler.]your text[/spoiler.] but without the full stops. I'm intrigued!

[twingle]

Originally Posted by fizzle90

BIB - just do [spoiler.]your text[/spoiler.] but without the full stops. I'm intrigued!

Spoiler

The father was actually in the truck with them shutting up the back he even said thank you for waiting then next thing you saw him in the street running towards his kids

Thanks fizzle it worked

[BumbleSquat]

Originally Posted by twingle

Spoiler

The father was actually in the truck with them shutting up the back he even said thank you for waiting then next thing you saw him in the street running towards his kids

Spoiler

I'm guessing it was to bluff the audience. You'd assume there would be a big dramatic scene at the truck where he shouts to be let off having spotted his children. Plus, we'd already just watched the 2 boys running towards Lucas so we probably didn't need to see the father do it too.

[MissySmith]

Spoiler

How did he magic the private jet/insurance,when he had to beg to use a phone? Hospital,maybe?

[tally]

Brilliant film and stunning acting from the eldest son.
Tissues were needed, but not as much as I thought ( and I'll unashamedly cry at anything) People have said it's too soon to make a movie about the Tsunami, it doesn't portray the horror or Thai suffering etc.
I couldn't disagree more. It moved me a lot and it WAS one families true story. You couldn't convey the horror involved, so many tragedies, so much loss of life. Keeping it true, keeping it to one small microcosm of the events, made it seem horribly real. 8/10 for me

Originally Posted by chrono88

Like I said in the other thread, the product placement at the end of the film was cheeky and gratuitous, and Naomi was upstaged by Lucas whenever they were put together in the same scene ........<snip>

Regarding this film some might point out the all-white leading roles in an Asian disaster film. I somehow saw Asians being portrayed as heroes so there was no big deal about it.

^^^^^ This. So agree. I'd love to have seen the boy get a nod for best supporting actor. If a 9 year old can get a nomination why cant he?

Spoiler

His face when he realises he's still got his brothers, completely tore me up

[LIZALYNN]

I read a real life account in a magazine about a woman who lost her family in the Asian Tsunami.
She said that because her personal experience didn't have a happy ending it was very unlikely for a film to be made about her.

[SparklingEyes]

Just been to see this film, cried many times, absolutely breath taking knowing it was a true story which I remember so well from Boxing Day 2006, when the thought of all those lost lives and broken hearts was so awful to comprehend.
If someone had made this story up it would never have gotten to the screen because they would have said … it’s impossible.
I have never seen Naomi Watts in anything but I thought she and Tom Holland (the eldest son) were just incredible; the bond between them was so real. I have a son myself and I just sobbed during the early part of the film when they were caught up in the water trying to reach one another. The moment when they finally did, the emotion they both portrayed as they clung to one another was so incredibly well acted and real it had me in pieces.
The boy’s reaction to his mother being sick in the hospital was so heart rendering and heart breaking – my own children can’t stand it when I’m ill, it makes them vulnerable and they even get angry, just like the young lad in the film.
The second son, too, was remarkable for one so young. In the film the character he was portraying was only seven and a half. The scene he acted with Ewan McGregor when he was begging his daddy to stay with him and the youngest son instead of sending them to the mountain was superb.
Make up and special effects also brilliant; and I was pleased to see at the end that there was reflection and recognition for all those poor souls who lost their lives or loved ones.

[revans9]

caught up with this last night and was disappointed.

i was with it for the first hour or so, Watts and Holland were excellent

but McGregor didn't make much of an impression on me beyond the scene where he rings his father-in-law. and the whole thing degenerated into a bit of a manipulative soap opera with the camera overdoing the whole turn-round-he's-behind-you bit

it reminded somewhat of one part of these large scale films that cover a disaster from different viewpoints. in a bigger, more wide-ranging film it would be one of the less interesting stories

i'm sure there are better stories to tell about the tsunami than this one. i wasn't emotionally invested in it at all.

Spoiler

they all survived and flew out to safety at the end, leaving total devastation behind them.

the plane take-off at the end of Argo was an edge-of-the-seat and completely involving affair.

Spoiler

here i just thought, well it's alright for them, bit of white, middle-class suffering but no harm done. I don't think that was the point they intended to make but it came across that way to me

maybe it was not having kids that made the difference, so the more manipulative elements didn't get to me. the makers definitely played it for all they were worth. they weren't far off crashing cymbals and soaring strings in the later reunion scenes.

there's often something slightly off when europeans make a film in english and that felt like the case here. 8/10 for the watts/holland sections, 6/10 for the rest