Last week I decided it had been way too long since I last watched one of my all time favourite action/adventure movies. Being the film snob I am though, I soon realised that my dvd copy just wasn’t gonna cut it, so I promptly ordered myself a second hand Blu-Ray copy off ebay for the bargain price of £2.56!
Within a few days it landed on the door mat and I finally sat back and watched it in all its 1080p HD glory!
Into the Blue (2005)
When most people think of Paul Walker they think of the Fast & Furious movies. I don’t. I’m not a fan of those films (with the exception of the second one) but I do love this movie!
If you haven’t seen it, it’s an action/adventure/crime/thriller starring Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious), Jessica Alba (Sin City), Scott Caan (Ocean’s Eleven), Ashley Scott (Walking Tall) and Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) among others.
This is what it’s about:
When four young divers discover a legendary shipwreck rumored to contain millions in gold at the bottom of the sea, they believe their dream of buried treasure has come true. But nearby on the ocean floor, a sunken plane full of cocaine threatens their find.
With time running out to excavate the site so that they can claim their prize, a dangerous drug lord looking for his missing plane closes in.
I love this movie! Sadly though, it’s one of those films that’s never on TV and one that no one ever seems to have seen whenever I ask them (probably coz it’s never on TV).
As with a lot of films I like, it got panned on release which I find utterly baffling considering it’s got everything you want from a film like this: Action, adventure, beautiful locations, Jessica Alba in a bikini, car chases, boat chases, sharks, treasure, people in peril, Jessica Alba in a bikini…wait, did I already say that...?
Whatever the reason for the bad reviews, they’re totally unjustified in my opinion because this is a great movie!
It has an original and gripping story, characters you can route for, a couple of twists and turns and some great action sequences.
Aside from the many other reasons I love this film so much, I think the main one is the location. It’s set and filmed in the Bahamas which makes for some gorgeous cinematography both above and below the water.
I also love the idea of spending my days in board shorts and flip flops living a simple, carefree life (sigh!)
Watching this the other night I couldn’t help but think how sad it is that Paul Walker’s no longer with us. He’s great in this movie. He had so much going for him and was so full of life! It’s tragic that he was taken so soon, and even more tragic that he went out the way he did.
Jessica Alba was nominated for Worst Actress at the 26th Golden Raspberry awards for her performance in this film, but again, don’t listen to any of that nonsense. I swear some people just love to hate on things to make themselves feel better about how terribly sad their lives are. ☹
As I mentioned above, Josh Brolin stars in this movie too. It was actually one of his earlier roles before finding massive success with No Country for Old Men (2009). He popped up in a few notable movies between The Goonies (1985) and the Cohen Brothers masterpiece, but after that he became one of the hottest properties in Hollywood. As you’d expect, he puts in a decent performance in this film too.
A straight to DVD sequel entitled Into the Blue 2: The Reef was released in 2009 but I haven’t seen that one so unfortunately can’t attest to its quality. Judging by its rating on IMDb though (they’re usually quite fair on there) it doesn’t look too promising…
If you like a thrilling action/adventure movie with a good plot and amazing underwater photography that will whisk you away from reality for an hour and 50 minutes, I highly recommend checking out Into the Blue.
Seen it? Let me know what you think.