Based on 182 votes and 26 reviews.
The Rotten Tomatoes numbers are an absolute joke. This is one of the last normal modern movies, before the dark times, before the w0keness. Unless you see it as anti-whaling movie, but I don´t think it takes sides. It just depicts the 19th century as it was: hard and cruel to both the whales and the hunters.
How is this movie so underrated? The CGI is better than in the average M-shit-U generic movie. Mocha Dick, the real whale who was an inspiration for Melville´s Moby Dick, gets the attention he deserves. I love how the scene where he saved the female whale and her calf from the whale hunters is very accurate to the description of the real events. He was a badass. After his death, the remnants of 19 harpoons were found in his body. He was half blind and had a crooked jaw. The movie had to water down this insanely over the top description because noone would believe it, but it´s accurate in the depiction of his white and gray spotty pattern (he wasn´t fully white).
2.5 stars. It was middle of the road. The CGI bothered me. I felt it could have been better. But it does go to show what men would do for oil (Whale oil or the new ground oil mentioned at the end of the movie). And it shows mans vengance and pride can get you killed. Then what you will do to stay alive...even though YOU actually did create the whole situation to begin with. Decent, but I wasn't blown away and will likely forget about it.
Slow moving and basically a rip off of the movie Orca.
Surprisingly exciting and very well shot. Better than Moby Dick the book!
Ron Howard makes a masterpiece better!!
Very poor movie. And boring
Very good used the source material very well A+
we were in nantucket and went to a whale museum and heard the story of how the men went out to sea for years at a time to find whales just to get the oil...we were fascinated...movie was pretty close to how I imagined it...loved it....
A little disappointed my son and I were.....love Ron Howards movies but this one a little boring. Love Chris but better made for being Thor, not this boring guy. Would wait till comes on tv in case you are already tired.