I think this one of Malcolm McDowell's worst performances. Acting stinks and the breaks in the movie as well as the music remind me of an after school special.
25 Reviews
Made for T.V.?
jpickettiii29 November 2018
McDowell stars in Boat Bomb
Big Dave-213 August 1998
Good actor in his worst movie
real-snake11 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
There are two reasons why I did not give a 1 to this movie. One reason are some of the actors (like Malcolm McDowell and Gwynyth Walsh) work, who tried to play at their usually good level of acting. However at many scenes they were somehow blocked by the bad scripting.
The other reason is the cool idea and looking of the Cyborg, which is quite different to most other such roles I've seen so far.
Everything else in this movie is as bad as it can be. Boring scenes, useless and boring dialogs, bad script work. And it seemed as it was the first movie ever for many actors. It could have been an interesting story though, but they failed completely.
The other reason is the cool idea and looking of the Cyborg, which is quite different to most other such roles I've seen so far.
Everything else in this movie is as bad as it can be. Boring scenes, useless and boring dialogs, bad script work. And it seemed as it was the first movie ever for many actors. It could have been an interesting story though, but they failed completely.
It can't happen here
wasserfish19 July 2005
This is one of those "so bad it is good" films that you always hear about but never see! Unlike Troma films which are deliberately bad and campy (and I am not amused) this one is 100% pure serious.
However with features such as a supposedly super-lethal killer robot that prances about like one of the Solid Gold Dancers on an acid trip and a magical first mate that calls down lightning and transforms into the Good Witch of the East the fact that it takes itself seriously pushes it so far over the edge of bad that makes it full circle around back to entertaining.
Watcheable enough because of that.
However with features such as a supposedly super-lethal killer robot that prances about like one of the Solid Gold Dancers on an acid trip and a magical first mate that calls down lightning and transforms into the Good Witch of the East the fact that it takes itself seriously pushes it so far over the edge of bad that makes it full circle around back to entertaining.
Watcheable enough because of that.
Action in the future on a boat ... how 'bout them slaves?
Tiny-1313 January 1999
Yet again Michael Pare has made an unwise choice by signing onto this mediocre action movie which takes places almost exclusively in the confines of a large boat. As a result of this fact, the entire movie feels extremely confined and in absolute need of being opened up with various locations... or for that matter a set design with imagination.
The direction is lackluster at best leaving Pare and McDowell to wander the cheap sets bellowing lines as though they were in a high school play. For two actors who have had stellar performances in such films as "Eddie and the Cruisers" or "A Clockwork Orange", one wonders how they could have fallen so far. Gwenyth Walsh (of Star Trek fame) makes an appearance here and is about the only high point in this overly long film. A brief flash of breast from Ms. Walsh seems to have only been tacked on for the sake of a sale on the foreign video market.
All in all, your video rental dollars would be better spent on one of these actors' films from their hey-day instead of this tired re-tread of a formula sci-fi action film.
The direction is lackluster at best leaving Pare and McDowell to wander the cheap sets bellowing lines as though they were in a high school play. For two actors who have had stellar performances in such films as "Eddie and the Cruisers" or "A Clockwork Orange", one wonders how they could have fallen so far. Gwenyth Walsh (of Star Trek fame) makes an appearance here and is about the only high point in this overly long film. A brief flash of breast from Ms. Walsh seems to have only been tacked on for the sake of a sale on the foreign video market.
All in all, your video rental dollars would be better spent on one of these actors' films from their hey-day instead of this tired re-tread of a formula sci-fi action film.
a great movie for film-making students:
saxondog212 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The Deadly Wake is THE PERFECT MOVIE for film students... to learn how NOT to make a film!
Let's see... what did the crew mess up in this flick? Worst music mix Worst editing Worst script WORST ALL-TIME DIRECTING Worst acting Worst choreography Worst cinematography Worst props Worst sets Worst lighting Etc. Let's face it, if this "film" had been in ultra-high contrast black-and-white, AND silent... it still would have been awful. All scenes are dark (lighting people call it "black"), often, the music score drowned out the meandering dialogs, which was OK because nobody ever spoke two whole sentences without long pauses for effect. The "evil" robot was hilarious... what was that? Jazz dancing? Oh... I guess it was supposed to be walking tactically or something. I'm sure it struck fear into the hearts... of the poor editors. And, how do you edit so much footage of garbage? Not possible. Garbage is garbage, no matter how you splice it. How did anyone ever get this thru the dailys???
Bottom line is- I couldn't stand to watch more than 15-minute segments, it was so bad... but I did see the whole thing (with lotsa breaks) just to see if it had ANY good parts in it at all. NOPE! NONE!
A perfect example of how not to make a flick... a must see for EVERY serious film student!!!
Let's see... what did the crew mess up in this flick? Worst music mix Worst editing Worst script WORST ALL-TIME DIRECTING Worst acting Worst choreography Worst cinematography Worst props Worst sets Worst lighting Etc. Let's face it, if this "film" had been in ultra-high contrast black-and-white, AND silent... it still would have been awful. All scenes are dark (lighting people call it "black"), often, the music score drowned out the meandering dialogs, which was OK because nobody ever spoke two whole sentences without long pauses for effect. The "evil" robot was hilarious... what was that? Jazz dancing? Oh... I guess it was supposed to be walking tactically or something. I'm sure it struck fear into the hearts... of the poor editors. And, how do you edit so much footage of garbage? Not possible. Garbage is garbage, no matter how you splice it. How did anyone ever get this thru the dailys???
Bottom line is- I couldn't stand to watch more than 15-minute segments, it was so bad... but I did see the whole thing (with lotsa breaks) just to see if it had ANY good parts in it at all. NOPE! NONE!
A perfect example of how not to make a flick... a must see for EVERY serious film student!!!
One of the worst movies I've ever seen
FlashBangBob9 December 2005
If Mr Cranky had rated this, I'd be tempted just to copy his review and paste it here. But as he hasn't, I'll have to give it a go myself.
The only thing giving this movie a 1 instead of a 0 is that Malcolm McDowall's acting is excellent. However not even he can save this film from disaster. The director must have been really distracted when he worked on this one because it is just a conglomeration of scenes that were thrown together with very little continuity - reminiscent of bad '70's movies. Even worse, both the actors and director appeared to be making it up as they went along which probably showed how bad the original script was.
It's not even worth discussing the story line although it revolves around a futuristic corporation called the Proxate Corporation who put together a crew of dispensable people to carry a dangerous cargo on an old container/slave ship to Nigeria. This ship's computer is a baby kept in a glass jar and wired into one of the crew via USB 12 or something. The company should have been called the Prostate Corporation as the entertainment value of this movie is on a par with an examination of the same name.
I honestly can't find one scene that I could say was well made and made any real sense in the context of the movie. I only watched it to the end as I had a touch of the bird flu and this movie reminded me that there were people out there who were actually worse off than me - Malcolm McDowall in particular. I won't hold this against him as he's a great actor and every great actor is entitled to one bad movie in their career and this one is a doosie.
So, unless this is the only movie your shop hires out or you're male and you're doctor isn't doing prostate examinations this week and you somehow feel this is a bad thing then give this one a really wide berth unless of course if you're really community minded, buy a copy to support Malcolm and then use it as a drink coaster.
The only thing giving this movie a 1 instead of a 0 is that Malcolm McDowall's acting is excellent. However not even he can save this film from disaster. The director must have been really distracted when he worked on this one because it is just a conglomeration of scenes that were thrown together with very little continuity - reminiscent of bad '70's movies. Even worse, both the actors and director appeared to be making it up as they went along which probably showed how bad the original script was.
It's not even worth discussing the story line although it revolves around a futuristic corporation called the Proxate Corporation who put together a crew of dispensable people to carry a dangerous cargo on an old container/slave ship to Nigeria. This ship's computer is a baby kept in a glass jar and wired into one of the crew via USB 12 or something. The company should have been called the Prostate Corporation as the entertainment value of this movie is on a par with an examination of the same name.
I honestly can't find one scene that I could say was well made and made any real sense in the context of the movie. I only watched it to the end as I had a touch of the bird flu and this movie reminded me that there were people out there who were actually worse off than me - Malcolm McDowall in particular. I won't hold this against him as he's a great actor and every great actor is entitled to one bad movie in their career and this one is a doosie.
So, unless this is the only movie your shop hires out or you're male and you're doctor isn't doing prostate examinations this week and you somehow feel this is a bad thing then give this one a really wide berth unless of course if you're really community minded, buy a copy to support Malcolm and then use it as a drink coaster.
It's a slap in Malcom McDowell's face: shoot his agent!
saxondog14 August 2002
Terrible use of scene cuts. All continuity is lost, either by awful scripting or lethargic direction. That villainous robot... musta been a jazz dancer? Also, one of the worst sound tracks I've ever heard (monologues usually drowned out by music.) And... where'd they get their props? That ship looks like a milk carton... I did better special effects on 8mm at the age of 13!
I'd recommend any film student should watch this flick (5 minutes at a time) so as to learn how NOT to produce a film. Or... was it the editors' fault?
It's really too bad, because the scenario was actually a good concept... just poorly executed all the way around. (Sorry Malcom. You should have sent a "stunt double". You're too good an actor for such a stink-bomb.)
I'd recommend any film student should watch this flick (5 minutes at a time) so as to learn how NOT to produce a film. Or... was it the editors' fault?
It's really too bad, because the scenario was actually a good concept... just poorly executed all the way around. (Sorry Malcom. You should have sent a "stunt double". You're too good an actor for such a stink-bomb.)
Worst movie ever!
spannungsbogen1 March 2000
This is certainly the worst movie i ever saw? The beginning is somewhat good, but the end? I still don't even get it! Magical power, 300 years later, goddess, dancing what the f*** is that about??? The acting is somewhat not so bad.. but some place I could do better for sure!
One of the worst flicks I've seen
clehner25 January 2003
This movie is absolutely pointless, one of the good esamples how Malcom McDowall never got one decent role after Clockwork Orange. This one may be one of the worst though. No story, crappy special effects, shot in 4:3/or even worse cropped on DVD, just avoid it ....
This film should be burned and never shown again!
scotmr9 December 2005
Shown in Australia as 'Hydrosphere', this incredibly bad movie is SO bad that you become hypnotised and have to watch it to the end, just to see if it could get any worse... and it does! The storyline is so predictable it seems written by a high school dramatics class, the sets are pathetic but marginally better than the miniatures, and the acting is wooden.
The infant 'muppet' seems to have been stolen from the props cupboard of 'Total Recall'. There didn't seem to be a single, original idea in the whole movie.
I found this movie to be so bad that I laughed most of the way through.
Malcolm McDowell should hang his head in shame. He obviously needed the money!
The infant 'muppet' seems to have been stolen from the props cupboard of 'Total Recall'. There didn't seem to be a single, original idea in the whole movie.
I found this movie to be so bad that I laughed most of the way through.
Malcolm McDowell should hang his head in shame. He obviously needed the money!
Dark Magic Works on High Seas
M. Genese20 December 2000
"2103:The Deadly Wake" is freaky, but a film with cool mystery. I think Malolm McDowel and Michael Pare are great - McDowell as the Captain of a futuristic frighter plays the good-guy! A strange demented good-guy - what a neat call. Pare is cool as suspicious security officer 'Tarkus'.
This may not be for everyone because it makes you think freaky ideas. That's the best part about some lower budget films (which this probably is) the freedom to do something that is not the same as your typical shows. In sci-fi there are too many predictable films.
There's a deadly sexy female cyborg who you won't find on any Star Trek, and a relentless post apocalyptic feel I liked.
This good looking film isn't predictable. Thank goodness. I recommend it!
This may not be for everyone because it makes you think freaky ideas. That's the best part about some lower budget films (which this probably is) the freedom to do something that is not the same as your typical shows. In sci-fi there are too many predictable films.
There's a deadly sexy female cyborg who you won't find on any Star Trek, and a relentless post apocalyptic feel I liked.
This good looking film isn't predictable. Thank goodness. I recommend it!
Disjointed but well intentioned
mxb20015 September 2001
This is not a bad movie. It might superficially appear to be so but it does have its heart in the right place. The wanted to make a good movie but I presume the budget and other distractions likely caused things not to go according to plan entirely. The plot is nothing new, but it is somewhat idealistic which does make it worth watching. The cast is typical B-grade Sci-Fi (Mike Pare!) and is passable. There were unusual touches such as the virtual fantasy scene with Cora and the Cyberkillingmachine (tm) not to mention that the Cyberkiller was played by a trained dancer which gave it a rather odd feel. All in all it was 2 hours well spent.
So bad, it's bad
baddog4614 June 2007
This is probably one of the worst movies ever made. Bad acting, bad special effects, bad plot, bad everything. In the last 15 minutes a cat suited-cyborg is introduced which muddles everything. Malcom MacDowell must have needed to make a house payment because otherwise he would have had to sell himself on Hollywood Blvd to pay the bill. I just don"t know how you can go from Clockwork Orange to this crap and be able to look yourself in the mirror each morning. I could have done better special effects in my bathtub. There's no continuity. The editor must have been asleep or on drugs its so bad. Acting. Do they have to smoke to be bad.? The gun either shoots blue flames or bullets, make up your mind. The bad girl and the other girl in the movie look so much alike that it is confusing. Whay is it called 2013 Seadly Wake. It has nothing to do with the movie
As movies go, very amateur
Gryphon-85 July 1999
I just rented this movie and was very disappointed. The costumes were not well done, not enough incidental music, sets could have been a lot better in design, the plot was very unfocused and needed several revisions before production and as for the special effects...... why even bother?
I felt sorry for the actors, they gave it their best, but there is only so much you can do with a script this bad. Good acting alone won't pull it off.
I recommend this film as an example of what NOT to do when making a film. It looks like it was mostly well cast, but sadly lacking in everything else.
The makers of this film obviously had a low budget and should have examined other films and TV shows with similar budgets to see how best to use their resources. You can do a lot with a little. The TV show Doctor Who is an excellent example, it was always done on the cheap, but had strong scripts and acting. .
I felt sorry for the actors, they gave it their best, but there is only so much you can do with a script this bad. Good acting alone won't pull it off.
I recommend this film as an example of what NOT to do when making a film. It looks like it was mostly well cast, but sadly lacking in everything else.
The makers of this film obviously had a low budget and should have examined other films and TV shows with similar budgets to see how best to use their resources. You can do a lot with a little. The TV show Doctor Who is an excellent example, it was always done on the cheap, but had strong scripts and acting. .
Embarrassing Canadian-UK co-production
DeepDarkWater5 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
A terrible movie containing a bevy of D-list Canadian actors who seem so self-conscious about the fact they are on-camera that their performances are overly melodramatic and quite forgettable.
This film is badly written, badly edited, and badly directed. It is disjointed, incomprehensible and bizarre - but not in a good way. McDowell does a great job with what he is given, but is the only one in this film to do so - he really has a bad story and script to work with. It's not even camp enough to be funny.
I have yet to see Van Pelleske act in a credible manner, and even the sub-characters like Eisen (with his nasal, whiny voice) confirm that we are on a lot in Toronto rather than on a barge off Africa.
Didn't the director see that the 'creature' looks like a jazz dancer in an alien suit? The fight between the blue bolts of lightning and Pelleske's orange wisps of 'magic' (!?! for lack of a better word), is obviously the result of bad actors, with no choreographer, overlaid with completely derivative special effects. Was there even a director on set or in the editing room for this disaster film (not the good kind)?
Learn from the mistakes of others ... don't even waste your time with this one, you'll regret it like I did. I have nothing more to say about this waste of celluloid.
This film is badly written, badly edited, and badly directed. It is disjointed, incomprehensible and bizarre - but not in a good way. McDowell does a great job with what he is given, but is the only one in this film to do so - he really has a bad story and script to work with. It's not even camp enough to be funny.
I have yet to see Van Pelleske act in a credible manner, and even the sub-characters like Eisen (with his nasal, whiny voice) confirm that we are on a lot in Toronto rather than on a barge off Africa.
Didn't the director see that the 'creature' looks like a jazz dancer in an alien suit? The fight between the blue bolts of lightning and Pelleske's orange wisps of 'magic' (!?! for lack of a better word), is obviously the result of bad actors, with no choreographer, overlaid with completely derivative special effects. Was there even a director on set or in the editing room for this disaster film (not the good kind)?
Learn from the mistakes of others ... don't even waste your time with this one, you'll regret it like I did. I have nothing more to say about this waste of celluloid.
Talky sci-fi drama
Leofwine_draca4 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
HYDROSPHERE is a cheap Canadian science fiction film which is all talk and no action. The story does actually have some scope, with a captain in charge of a violent prison ship and the moral dilemmas that ensue, but this is reduced to cheap special effecs and endlessly boring dialogue in this hopeless picture. The great Malcolm McDowell stars and brings a little of his trademark bite to the role, but he alone can't hope to make this a watchable movie.
Dead Men Tell No Tales
unbrokenmetal16 February 2003
Dark Ocean is an overlooked little gem in the realm of SF low budget movies. It tells the story of a captain with a drinking problem (Malcolm `Clockwork Orange' McDowell) who gets a new ship. His employer, the world's largest producer of chemicals, has to get rid of certain forbidden substances, so they hired him and a crew of rogues to sail into the open sea near Africa and sink the ship. The captain isn't too happy when he finds out about that because he and the whole crew are supposed to stay on board (dead men tell no tales). `Dark Ocean' certainly is inspired by various dark SF movies about prisoner (space) ships. It starts like one of those typical thrillers (`I drink too much, because I failed on my last mission, my wife has left, the world is bad
'), but then it gets more and more original. McDowell's presence is enormous and helps to make the movie more memorable. At IMDB, they don't want me to give away the ending. In this case, it's very simple to obey the rule, because: I watched the ending, but didn't understand it. It's unexpected, weird and mystical open to interpretation. Let me know when you found the meaning of it. Meanwhile, I vote 8/10.
Warped little wonder of a B movie
NateWatchesCoolMovies3 April 2016
2103: The Deadly Wake strives to stand out from the B-movie masses by giving turning it's straightforward sci-fi concept somewhat on its head. It's set in the very distant future, in which earth's oceans have become so contaminated that they have all taken a gaseous form, with corporations sending forth spaceship type vessels that deliver goods and wage warfare. They resemble submarines basically sailing through colored fog, and it's one of the neatest and adorably ambitious futuristic settings I've seen. Malcolm McDowell is damn excellent in a rare hero role as Captain Sean Murdock, a salty old sea dog who lost a ship years before and is somewhat disgraced. Forlorn and fed up, he's in a slump when hired to transport a massive ship across the ocean, with a mysterious cargo that's guarded by a sinister mercenary and security expert (Michael Paré). Usually in this type of thing it's Paré as the hero and Mcdowell as the villain (which has actually happened in Roland Emmerich's Moon 44), but here they pull a Tarantino and switch up the type casting which is wonderful to see and makes for a fresh vibe. Paré works for the sultry, sleazy (Heidi Von Palleske), the company CEO who wants an eye kept on the cargo hold. Paré and Mcdowell bit heads, there's murky conflict and the ship's Artificial Intelligence engine is called B.A.B.Y. and is quite literally a fetus in a big gooey tank with wires attached to its brain. If that isn't worthy of a medal in the ambition department I don't know what is. There's an odd sort of climactic fight scene that plays like a dream and doesn't involve fighting at all really, more like just a laser show with strange dialogue. Despite it being set in the future there's a nifty retro style, with soldier uniforms and the darkly poetic tone almost calling forth the sensibility of the 40's. I was reminded of Titanic in scenes, but that could be my weird cinematic free association. This one's a keeper for fans of off kilter, under the radar oddities.
Funky flick, freak fiends
Robert-A-Collins9 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Hmmm, seems I'm in the minority here but this film is is on B sci-fi flick that is fun. Its hard to take low budget sci-fi flicks too seriously, but this one was playful and funny - for a B-movie copyrighted in 1996 I've seen worse effects, but the cast works well, McDowel is suitably tormented and unpredictable as the struggling with booze Captain on a hopeless mission of redemption, and the three women in the leads (four if you include the cyborg - well they're an interesting bunch. Particularly Gwynith the evil corporate type, the spacey first mate by Hidie Von Paleskey was a nice balance- sort of an alter ego to the Gwenyth character (they could have tried a good woman on woman thing there, but what the heck -plenty of fun perverseness between the lines. And what about that hard-wired cyber-baby as ships navigator. That was cool and original (at least when they shot it). Personally I'd date that killer cyborg broad any day - but hey each to their own.
Yeah some effects sucked, big deal, that's not what it's about I've seen plenty of big budget sci-fi that doesn't take us half the places this little one did.
Yeah some effects sucked, big deal, that's not what it's about I've seen plenty of big budget sci-fi that doesn't take us half the places this little one did.
bad, bad movie
dangauger28 March 2002
This is by far, the worst movie I have ever seen. Period. The list of things that are wrong with it are too long to list. I won't even bother. Just do not see this movie. I would rather stare at a blank wall than view this piece of s**t again
Review
catpantry28 February 2022
They had small fountains spread accross the inside of Macy's before. The place was full of visitors in pressed cloths and pants and skirts pulled all the way up to the kidneys; and tidy expressions, with some bright eyes and smiles ounce people got pleased, like if someone got a checklist completed or saw a pair of
leaf shaped hips. Jerico had walked into macys around that time with a brown dog. There were about 22 circled up people that jerricos dog easily leaped into the center of. Everyone in there was scream talking (one guy said: "i drive a dodge charger." And a girl said: "when i walk, i walk quietly.' And thats about when jerico sets up on the edge of it all. Takes out a turned on black and white television saying, 'check this out.' And what jerico shows them is footage of a human shaped stick figure doing ordinary activities, like taking a drink of water or getting into a vehicle and driving off.
worst movie or not!
timpeterson661 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
this movie was all means not good ,but is a chance for new actors and actresses to put in a good performance and maybe get noticed in a very hard industry ,to get noticed.there was some bright spots and some of the actors and actresses were good ,but over all a bomb .there are some pretty big people in this movie,it just goes to show,that sometimes good actors and actresses have to take bad parts in really bad movies.and it's very important, for up and coming actors and actresses to see this.that's why we have to see these really bad movies.keep them coming ,because it's a start and you have to crawl before you can walk and start at the beginning.............
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