The Deep

This film has the air of a docu-drama, and I believe it sticks closely to real events. The drama is gripping though - it's an amazing story of survival and the gruelling ordeal which the fisherman Gulli went through in the North Atlantic. Amazingly, it was almost light-hearted and there is no lack of humour although it was a tragic story as well.

I was wondering in advance whether this would be a frightening film, but it wasn't. Every person portrayed appeared real and it was easy to identify with them. The story of Gulli's miraculous survival, followed by the reaction of the media and scientists kept my interest.

I'm a scientist and so I was fascinated by the implications of the physiology of this man and how he adapted to extreme exposure to cold temperatures. I presume that other people who find sub-zero temperatures easy to deal with may also have adaptations, and science needs to find out more. No one can know how they will react until they are in a life or death situation. Gulli's matter-of-fact response was incredible.

The other thing which impressed me was the authenticity of the settings, the scenery of the sea and the Icelandic islands. It was beautifully shot. Authentic news footage of the eruption of the volcano on the Westman Islands was included, and new scenes with the actors blended seamlessly with that. I have been to Iceland and watched films about that eruption, so I recognised this. I've also walked on a lava field on Iceland, but I was fortunate to be wearing walking boots. I can't imagine walking on that surface barefoot for hours.

I was captivated by this film and I recommend it - very inspiring and informative on so many levels.

An amazing tale of survival with a strong performance by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson in the main role of Gulli.

This ties for the coldest a film has ever made me feel - along with Norway's The 12th Man. The whole ordeal is made the more harrowing by the true story angle.

It features some incredible cinematography. The Icelandic landscapes and scenery were breathtaking. The ocean shots really magnified the sense of loneliness and sheer odds against Gulli.

The scientific angle in the latter half of the film was interesting, though broke some of the momentum. In this sense, it felt like two films rolled into one. I liked how things came a bit full circle in the last few scenes though.

A solid (while not amazing) Icelandic film that I recommend to those into survival stories.

This is a fairly enjoyable, yet surprisingly brief story. It's more like an hour-long television drama than a proper film.

Not a whole lot happens. The story is very simple: the lead character is involved in a disaster at sea and must stay alive in icy Atlantic waters. Apparently it's a true story, and we get to meet the real hero at the end of the film.

There are certainly worse movies out there. My main gripe about this one is that there's just not a whole lot to it.

I think some of the best films these days are coming out of Scandinavia (I consider Iceland Nordic). "The Hunt" and "Headhunters" were very good, and I look forward to watching more of them.

If you asked me half way through this film what I thought of it, I would of probably been indifferent and gave it 6 or so stars yet by the time it had finished I was utterly captivated.

They played it just right! I absolutely adore how we saw both the run up to the event, the actual event then the aftermath. It made it so much more real to the audience.

The real life clips, which they show during the credits at the end, also made a huge impact on the audiences at the showings I saw. The actor who plays Gulli could of easily been related to the actual Gulli.

Speaking of the actor who plays Gulli, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, simply gave a performance of a life time. I believed every word that came out of his mouth and even in the times of silence were his acting was all physical, I couldn't take my eyes of him.

This film really does stay with you and I have not stopped thinking it over since I saw it over a week ago. Really quite superb.

Even as a viewer and even though you might feel at times like it, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to quit. And while that is not nearly as impressive as what you'll see in the movie (and after the movie is over, even in the special features of your disc hopefully), the movie shows you what endurance is about.

While there are no clear answers to some questions, the movie has a strong will just as one main character also does. You might feel indifferent in the middle of it (like another reviewer wrote), but I'm pretty sure you won't be by the end of the movie. It's just impossible not to be impressed by what actually did happen. Very well played and very well shot indeed