MovieChat Forums > The Poseidon Adventure (2005) Discussion > one good video camera

one good video camera

posted 19 years ago by javalorum
7 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else notice how long the kid recorded with his camera? The accident started around dinner time (I assume, because the kid was still up and some people were still in the dinner hall), say, 10pm the latest, and by the time they got out, it was bright day light, which may be, well, 4am the earliest. That still leaves us a minimum of 6 hours. Let's forget for a second why it took those people that long to get to the bottom of the ship, but for one thing, the battery on that camera, and the storage (is it digital?) is just phenomenal! And for a small camera that doesn't have a water-proof housing (it doesn't even look like a all-weather camera) it even worked after the kid jumped into the water!

And i still have one general question, why weren't there more survivors? The only people we saw were the ones in the dining hall. What happened to the rest of the 2500 people? How come nobody else came out of their cabins? And the rescue team, after they heard there were only 11 survivors in the group, didn't even think there might be another group(s) somewhere else that may be waiting desperately for them too?

Java

[–] S.L.Fake 19 years ago

Not defending the movie... but...

In the original movie there was an abscense of other survivors too... although they did find one group being lead down "Broadway" and toward the bow by the ship's Doctor. (And that is not counting the terrible and unnecessary sequel "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" and its little group of survivors). At least in the TV version were were a bit more bodies laying around.

Considering that the ship sank not long after the rescue team arrived, not much time to go after other survivors.

What I did find odd... At 5th Fleet HQ they broke out in cheers when they heard that they had rescued "11 survivors". Sure, the British woman (the one who can redirect spy satelites with a single phone call) did admonish the Admiral about several thousand who died... but still.

While I can see where they would be a slight flicker of joy at some survivors, I think it would be more stunned silence at hearing that it was only 11. I mean, at least the French helicopter pilots (at least I think they were French) in the original looked at each other with a "What the Hell?" sort of look when they found out that there were only 6 people waiting for them when they cut that hole in the hull.

-----
There are no "prequels"... there are no "originals"... there is only one Saga...

[–] javalorum 19 years ago

mmm ... yeah. I can see a better movie would have done just that. I mean, setting it up such that initially there're more survivors, but most of them perished because of human errors and/or pure misfortune. There'd be real conflicts, like when it looks like everything is out of your control and it's only determinted by luck, how do you choose. I'm surprised how few the teams are, and how the team with main characters pretty much did everything right with minimum body count. I thought in reality there'd be more people, and more people wanting to go down different paths and have different endings. Maybe the budget was running short on extras.

Anyway, it would look silly if the main characters started giving their oh-so-heartfelt little speeches if there're many people waiting quietly behind them.

[–] DarkPrince_ 19 years ago

Most cameras won't last the length of a wedding.

This one gets banged around, subjected to fire and dunked underwater and records all night and into the morning.

That's a workhorse camera!

"Mr. Bush, do your critics say you live in a bubble, out of touch with reality?"
"I have critics?"

[–] agentcooper2 19 years ago

i do agree on the battery issue, but to give the filmmaker a small bit of credit in an otherwise mess of a film (wouldn't that metal catwalk with the flames of hell underneath it been scalding hot?), it did appear that the boy put the camera into a black garbage bag or something before diving into the water when they all follow Belle.

rah...bah...bah

[–] davepusey 19 years ago

In the second episode, the kid mentions he has a spare battery and a spare tape for it. Also most low power electronics will survive getting wet, they just need time to dry out properly.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] TorontoJediMaster 19 years ago

In the novel, when the main group emerges onto the hull, they discover that there are a handful of more survivors who emerged from the bow section. It was never revealed just how they made it out.

In this version, one thing I couldn't figure out is how come nobody on the open top decks survived the capsizing. You would assume there were people going for walks on the open decks, and the ship didn't capsize that swiftly or had any violent event outside that would cause harm. (i.e. There was no tidal wave that capsized the vessel. It rolled over due to a hole in the hull). It seemed to me that anyone on top could have conceivably survived the rollover. They either have climbed the high side of the ship as it rolled until it settled upside down. Or, they could have just jumped off and swam back on top.

Of course, the biggest question is why the engineers didn't close the watertight doors and seal off the damage. Yes, the bridge crew was killed. However, down in the engine rooms, there would surely have been engineers still alive (after the explosion) to close the watertight doors with their manual override controls and/or actually stop the ship.