The Finest Hours

An action version of the romantic The Notebook (!) about a wartime rescue team on a stormy winter ocean? Dudes in winter jackets steer (and submerge) a 1952 open motorboat through giant waves on the winter ocean with temperatures just above freezing in order to rescue stranded survivors of a shipwreck. The only tense moments in this whole farce is when they climb down the ladder leaving the wrecked ship. Although we should be worried about each character at every moment, while sympathizing with the girl on the mainland, who does not want to lose her beloved, the movie doesn’t elicit any such emotions – it has troubles with the characters and their motivations, and the only thing that remains in your memory is the nice romantic retro style. (04.10.2018)

After Deepwater Horizon, it’s really tough to give this Disney crap a better review than two water test valves. The reason why I’m comparing these is that what Deepwater Horizon has in common with this flick is the story, water and the link to the disaster is more than obvious as well. But what’s more important is that the real disaster was taken care of here by digital effects and the characters are laughable and they would almost make you cry rather than provide a serious emotional basis for a good quality emotional experience. The Finest Hour is simply a bad film and on top of that it might be the first serious Disney movie. In this case, it’s a very bad Disney movie, which I think should be aired on Disney Channel on Sunday after lunch. But it definitely doesn’t deserve to be shown in cinemas. (10.10.2016)

A film that is absolutely breathless, toiling like a barge on a stormy sea. The subdued and skilled camera technically stands up, but what is the point when the actors act between the naivety of the 1950s and the misinterpretations of Shakespeare (especially nominate Hamlet from Casey Affleck's engine room for the Golden Raspberry)? Wooden dialogues, a very vague structure and de facto the only exciting scene (overcoming the surf on the way from the port) result in probably the most boring disaster film, in which the film itself is the biggest disaster. The only thing that deserves some recognition is that Gillespie is trying a more civil approach than, for example, Wolfgang Petersen in The Perfect Storm... but what's the point when nothing but stupor comes from the film? (28.01.2016)

I had no idea if this appealing sea adventure was a true story or the creation of the writers, so I was pleasantly surprised and, within the limits of a "family disaster movie", even found myself in a state of suspense in places. Of course, it's no Perfect Storm, but even so, the rating here seems unfairly low, because many of the scenes are truly memorable –crossing and riding huge waves, steering a half-broken tanker (that long shot of the passing of the order, backed by Burwell's music, is great), the arrival at the port... It's just a pity they didn't work more on the storyline involving Webber's fiancée, which was almost unnecessary in all this. (26.12.2019)

"To the last breath" is not a movie that made an impression on me. Perhaps, if I watched it with my girlfriend, both of us being relaxed and just wanting to unwind, I would be in the mood for it. But this time, the straightforwardness of Disney simply didn't get to me. The story didn't entertain or interest me overall, maybe only the water scenes were beautifully done. (05.05.2016)