It’s been almost 6 years since one of the world’s worst man-made disasters took place through an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It was perhaps the worst environmental disasters of our time, an absolute PR nightmare for BP, but more importantly and perhaps less well known, also a human tragedy with 24 people dying during the oil rig explosion. Much was made of the efforts over the few years after that to clean up the mess, but little mention was made of the lives that were lost during this tragedy and now Hollywood is trying to rectify that with the new film Deepwater Horizon (which is named after the infamous rig).
I’m actually surprised it has taken so long to get this movie made, as normally Hollywood tries to capitalize on events like these a lot faster, but perhaps they were waiting for public condemnation of the event to die down before attempting to bring this story out to the world.
I’m also a little concerned at the approach they are taking in telling the story. Not that I have any issues with them focusing on the people that lost their lives and portraying the job they do in a positive light – but rather in the director they eventually tapped to direct the film, Peter Berg. Berg is better known for his hi action low story Michael Bay imitations such as Hancock, Lone Survivor and Battleship and I don’t think this is the kind of film that needs a high CGI and hi-octane approach to it.
It was initially believed that J.C. Chandor (All is Lost, A Most Violent Year) was going to direct the movie, but he eventually walked out of the project due to creative differences with the producers. One can’t but wonder if it was perhaps because they wanted more of an action movie than a dramatic film. That been said, the trailer below does look pretty cool.
The film stars Mark Wahlberg, who is a driller working on the rig in which the incident took place and has the following official synopsis:
Based on the true events that occurred on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, the story chronicles the courage of those who worked on the Deepwater Horizon and the extreme moments of bravery and survival in the face of what would become one of the biggest man-made disasters in world history.
The film also stars Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Dylan O’Brien, Gina Rodriguez and Kate Hudson and opens in US theaters on September 30th with the SA release likely to follow a few weeks later.
Last Updated: March 29, 2016
