Deepwater Horizon 2016

    In April of 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig was the largest drilling platform and it was drilling to the deepest depth.  The BP oil company is in charge of this project and there have been many technical difficulties.  Jimmy Harrell is the operational supervisor and Mike Williams is his Chief Electrical Engineer.  They are both concerned that there will be potential dangers.  BP executives are visiting the rig and they are concerned by the long delays, the curtailed site inspections and the slanted system testing used to make up for lost time.  Williams has been protesting because of the lack of proper safety procedures.  On April 20, structural and system flaws begin a catastrophic series of failures.  They have the potential to cause a massive oil blowout and explosion.  This can threaten every man on the rig and cause a terrible environmental disaster in the Gulf area.

     There are two parts of this film.  The first part is meeting the crew and the second part is the disaster itself.  There are a lot of technical details and conversations about the state of the rig equipment during the meeting the crew portion.  There are a lot of aspects to the disaster scenes, fires, structures collapsing and the men tossed about by the falling equipment.  There is a LOT of tension during the fires and explosions.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

107 min, Action directed by Peter Berg with Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin, James DuMont, Joe Chrest, Gina Rodriguez, Brad Leland, John Malkovich, David Maldonado, J.D. Evermore, Ethan Suplee.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 84% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 2185 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Chalmette, Louisiana.  The oil rig used for the scenes was built specifically for this film.  It’s said to be the largest set piece ever constructed.  Many oil field workers in the Gulf were against the making of this film.  They thought it would dishonor the men who died.  This project first began with J.C. Chandor as the director.  Graham McGinnis plays the Coast Guard Lieutenant and he is an active duty Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer stationed in New Orleans.  This is the first time Kate Hudson has worked with Kurt Russell but they share only one scene.  This is Wahlberg’s seventh film based on a true story.  Patriots Day, Lone Survivor, The Fighter, Pain & Gain, Invincible, Perfect Storm.  I personally know someone who spent time in the Gulf during the cleanup of this disaster.  Oil spill responder ships were mandated after the Exxon Valdiz spill in Alaska and they were on site for a long time cleaning up.