Recensioni degli utenti

Unlike the other commentator, I am not interested in lightships. I didn't even know what a lightship was until I saw this film. However, I am interested by this film. I saw it on BBC 1, a few months ago, in their late night film slot, a slot usually reserved for B Movies.

The Lightship could easily be a B movie, only it stars two great actors, Robert Duval and Klaus Maria Brandauer, putting the actors in what could easily be a conventional thriller scenario. Brandauer is the captain of a lightship, thus a man of law, thus a good guy. Duvall is a mysterious, shady figure who seeks refuge from the sea, possibly a man on the run, thus a bad guy. So a battle between good and bad, order and disorder, is played out.

This actually happens in the film. Not a great film, or even a very good one. But odd. About as odd as finding your grandmother is into S&M. For both men become fascinated with one another, and their respective occupations. To illustrate how odd this is, there is a scene where Brandauer finds Duvall taking a bath in his bedroom. Instead of being taken aback, Brandauer puts his hand in the water, playfully, like a lover, and they talk. They talk a lot in the film. Moreover, the film set a few years after World War II, yet Brandauer is playing a German (in charge of an American boat)and Duvall is a real sweet, gent of a southern lawyer, who is also a dangerous, psychopathic criminal, in charge of a couple of hoodlums.

All this weirdness is not that surprising, after all the director is that Polish guy with the weird (if you're not Polish) name, Skowlimowski, who has directed some strange films in his time.

I didn't like the fact the narration or the eighties-ness about it (ie soundtrack). But the kid was OK.

I served on the Columbia River lightship and I can say, without a doubt, it was the best duty I had in the Coast Guard. Sometimes monotonous, we did get plenty of fishing and managed to poach a crab pot or two. And getting two weeks off after a month aboard without touching your 30 day annual leave surely made up for the semi-isolated duty that transpired. Also, the ride back and forth to the beach across the Columbias River Bar certainly was worth the price of admission. My lightship was WLV-605 which was homeported at the Coast Guard Bouy Base inside the Ballard Locks. Little enlistedman's bar, I remember poor-boy night; the night before payday when schooners of beer were 25 cents. A Coastie with five bucks in his pocket was popular. I also remember playing a dice game, Ship Captain Crew, for beer. After refit, we would steam up Puget Sound, around Tatoosh Head and down the Washington Coast to station. Boy, I wish I cold turn back the hands of time and have just one more rotation on that Galloping Red Ghost of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

After reading all the reviews for this '85 re-make, it's very clear few people read about, or research, the true origin of a good work.

This story 'Das Feuerschiff' written by a prominent German novelist is actually a semi allegorical tale. It intelligently uses symbolism to demonstrate the bullying tactics of war mongers. The writer, Siegfried Lenz (a modern humanist) has set up a brutal modern crime scenario, that symbolically parables the destructive effects of controlling regimes (ie: Nazi, or any other source of enforced power) exposing the devastating effects they inflict on innocent by-standers.

Lenz thoughtfully sets up a situation that illustrates the adage: 'Evil triumphs when good men do nothing'. The original film version of this classic story was made in Germany in 1962 (not long after the book was published) and directed by multi talented, Austrian-Hungarian born Ladislao Vajda. I saw it under the American/English title of: "Crime on the High Seas" (AKA 'The Lightship')

For my money the earlier film far outshines the poorly constructed 1985 version listed here on IMDb. It seems a great pity in the days of DVD the Award winning original has escaped a wider release. If you want to check the IMDb listing you will need to add the German title 'Das Feuerschiff' or the date ('63) after the title. The 1963 version also won awards in the Berlin Film Festival of its year.

The original version also had the distinction of being one of few films to feature the instantly recognisable Londoner (of Scottish descent) James Robertson Justice in an important dramatic lead. Robertson was a reasonably good choice for the role of Captain of the Lightship, having himself experienced Nazism while serving as a Policeman with the League of Nations, in a region under German governance.

Klaus Maria Brandauer was also a good choice as Captain in the '85 Jerzy Skolimowski vers, but the somewhat over the top performance by Robert Duvall as the homosexual leader of the criminals was somewhat unfortunate to say the least. Perhaps the screenplay writer and director must shoulder some of the blame for this. Much of the original stories depth, and the overall handling of this project, seemed unfortunately lost at sea. Often it appears as if directors and screenplay adapters may get hung up on their own sexual obsessions, sometimes loosing their grasp on the original stories main themes. The voice over narration, added later in post production, was an attempt to add story cohesion - this did not help much, if at all.

Maybe someday we'll be rewarded with the now rare, b/w German original. Find it if you can!

This is one of the great movies from the eighties, however unjustly underestimated and forgotten.

Brandauer plays the captain of the lightship that's constantly anchored at the same place. It's only purpose is to warn other ships for dangerous waters. Robert Duvall enters the scene with his men and his one ambitions. It is also a generation drama about the relation between the lightships captain and his prodigal son.

A brilliantly hermetical story about the thin line between order and chaos, and about relations between people. An excitement that lies not in action but in the trial of strength and the mostly implicit violence, that sometimes breaks out in uncontrolled outbursts.

It also tells the story about the kind of courage that almost looks like cowardice.

Don't miss this one!

The US Coast Guard Captain Miller (Klaus Maria Brandauer) brings his estranged teenage son Alex (Michael Lyndon) on board of his anchored lightship and introduces him to the crew. When they see a boat with three men adrift, the crew brings them to the boat. The leader Calvin Caspary (Robert Duvall) introduces the deranged brothers Eddie (Arliss Howard) and Gene (William Forsythe) to Captain Miller and his crew and soon they overtake the command of the lightship. Alex and the crew is in larger number and wants to resist but Captain Miller has a trauma from his past and wants to protect his men.

"The Lightship" is a boring, annoying and overrated film about a US Coast Guard ship that is overtaken by criminals and the lack of action of her captain that does not want to endanger his crew. There is also a conflict between the captain and his son that believes he is a coward. There are many situations where the crew could easily defeat the criminals that the movie is ridiculous. The duel between the traumatized captain and the nihilist boss of the gangsters is also terrible. The motives of the criminals are not clear. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Ataque em Alto Mar" ("Attack in High Sea")

This is an excellent thriller. Why? Because it is able to create continous tension without big special effects, violence or gun shots. It is a story about several cat and mouse games. About teenage boy and his father, it is a story about who is in charge. It is about what is good and what is right? As a teenage boy you rebel against your father, so when at a lightship just after WWII, and the only way to anoy your father is being interested in a bunch of petty thieves who came a board as castaways. What do you do? As a crew, what do you do? Are you loyal to your captain, who is determined to stick to his mission? Or do you just want to stay alive? As the boss of this bunch of petty thieves, you want to get ashore ASAP, but you also want to show that you are the boss. And you will determine what will happen to this lightship. A lightship which only task is to stay at its place. Great tension and still a great movie, with a couple of great 80 and 90 actors.

This has the absolute worst performance from Robert Duval who sounds just like William Buckley throughout the entire film. His hammy melodramatic acting takes away from any dramatic interest. I'm not sure if this was deliberate scene stealing or inadvertent but it's the only thing I can recall from a truly forgettable film. This picture should be shown in every amateur acting class of an example of what not to do. Thank God, Duvall went on to bigger and better things and stopped trying to effect a cultured accent. He is a good character actor but that's about it. Klaus is so much better. His performance is muted and noteworthy.

"The Lightship" takes place aboard a lightship...an anchored ship that acts like a lighthouse. The beauty of these is that they can be moved, if necessary. I grew up seeing the lightship Chesapeake near my house. I was surprised, however, to learn that these ships are not just an American thing but are used in Europe as well...and this film was filmed in Germany with English-speaking actors. And, if you care, there never was a lightship called 'Hatteras' like it is in the film. In fact, the lightship that DID work the coast along the Virginia/North Carolina region was not the Hatteras but the Diamond Shoal...which was sunk during WWI.

The plot is very simple. The crew of a lightship see a derelict vessel...a small boat whose engine appears to be broken and her passengers stranded. So, they did what you would expect...they bring the men aboard the lightship. But no good deed goes unpunished and it turns out the three rescued men are wanted criminals and they commandeer the lightship. What's next? See the film....or don't...as it seems to take FOREVER for anything to happen in this film...and so often the actions of the characters simply make little sense.

This film marks, by far, the strangest performance by Robert Duvall (the leader of the criminals). His accent is weird...sort of like a patrician from Long Island AND a Southern gentleman combined. Non-Americans might not notice how strange he sounds...but he sure sounds and acts weird in this one. In fact, I think it's the worst performance I've seen by this incredibly talented actor. This might account for why it's one of his more obscure films.

So, apart from Duvall's character, is the movie any good? Not really. As I mentioned above, it seems to take forever for much of anything to happen and mostly the movie consists of Duvall's weird character talking and talking and talking. It's not especially enjoyable and I had to struggle to stick with the movie. And, considering how nonsensical the characters act, I cannot understand a few reviews which give this movie 10s.

A fascinating and complex --under the simplicity of its surface-- fable of good against evil and a coming-of-age tale, with excellent performances by Duvall and Brandauer and a superb direction by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, here in one of his best films --along with "Moonlighting" and "Deep End". Simply: an enjoying and rare gem.

There isn't much new in this gangsters-take-ship-and-crew-hostage drama, except that it takes place on a floating Light Ship. Having endured 14 months of duty on one of these floating torture chambers myself, I can tell you that nothing this exciting ever took place. All we ever did was bounce up and down and listen to a fog-horn, day and night. Too bad Duvall wasn't out there then, we could have keel-hauled him for making this very inaccurate flick!

I bought this movie on video from a charity shop (PDSA)...well that was MY excuse. I expected better from Robert Duvall who was incomprehensible for much of this film's 84 minutes. He wasn't alone...the plot, such as it was, was also incomprehensible...I've watched the damn thing twice now and I still can't make out what nor why. There's far too much chat and not nearly enough action. It takes some dragging out to 84mins so that explains the funereal pacing. There doesn't seem, least not to me, to be any good reason for setting this film on board a lightship. Did the makers think that the novel setting and its exclusivity would make this malarkey stand out from the crowd?? The lightship outshines the cast...but it takes more than a rotting hulk of a boat to save this incomprehensible clunker. I wouldn't be unhappy if the player chews up this particular video!

this a very odd film indeed, odd in a positive sense, its like others posters have commented , a struggle between archetypes of good and evil. i love the fact that it takes place in a limited space and time, allowing an intense scenario for this characters to clash against each other no holds barred. the only real elements that trouble this elementary piece of cinema is the off narration and the acting from the young guy, who is Skowlimowski's son in real life. still a great movie ; Duvall against Brandauer, in a ship that doesn't go anywhere, what more do you want. catch this. Its a lovingly crafted exercise in film-making , with beautiful photography, odd locations, superb acting , and a great screenplay.

If you like lighthouses/lightstations or lightships you will definitely like this movie. The story line is not the best, gangsters on the run who happen to get rescued by the crew of the lightship. But to see one of the few lightships left in operation is a real treat for us "landlubbers".

Robert Duvall gives a good performance but the real star of this movie is none-the-less the "Hattaras" Lightship.

War is over some 10 years ago, the time of tragedy has passed by and has taken its toll on Captain Miller (Klaus Maria Brandauer, good), now currently dealing with his rebel teenage son Alex (Michal Skolimowski, the director's son), bailing out of the jail after another rebellious act of his. Miller takes his son to stay with him to live on a lightship, stranded somewhere, to help with the ships that come and go in that route. What the Captain couldn't predict was that this simple lightship and its small crew consisting of mechanical workers (Robert Costanzo and Tom Bower), a cook (Badja Djola) and one military (Tim Phillips), would be taken by two armed and menacing robbers (Arliss Howard and William Forsythe) and their smooth-talking leader (Robert Duvall), rescued after they boat had some problems and they take the ship for whatever reasons, forcing everyone there to stay cool and don't fight back. Miller is bound to do that, but will the crew and even his troubled son, already conflicted with his father during his absence during the war, will be able to conform and not react against the invaders?

"The Lightship" breaks from the routine of being a simple thriller by giving us a wit duel between two opposite poles on the same coin: the honorable Captain Miller, peaceful more than ever after surviving a terrible tragedy during the war; and Calvin, the group leader, also making the possible to preserve the life of his crew but knowing exactly what he's doing in the boat. While both men share their life's stories and try to find weaknesses and strengths in one another, both of their teams are about to collide and tragedy may ensue. And that's when the movie finally takes off, after some unexplained points, half constructed dialogs which carry little significance, and we wonder how much of the film was cut or rushed (that's why the narration by Miller's son from time to time).

The dramatic exercise works sometimes with all the mystery surrounding Captain Miller and his strict decision of not fighting back (even that his crew is eager to follow him, and there's guns hidden in the ship, not to mention they can improvise more weapons). But the exchanges between him and Calvin are far from right, usually lost in substance or without causing interest in the audience, more concerned in the eventual clash between the men from both sides. And that doesn't disappoint. "The Lighsthip" is a heart-stopping thriller with one sequence better than other. The ship's takeover was a disappointment, probably some scenes were cut from the film (one minute there's an argument between Bower and Forsythe, and in the next shot, the robbers are breaking the radio); it was confusing just as much as a reason of why they're there - probably running from the police, as some say, and now they need a new boat to escape. But the cook's revenge against one of the lunatics, during the storm, is terrifying and powerfully made.

The thesis proved here is that intelligence and wisdom must follow a whole set of actions, and good intentions must be thrown away when the rules are changed. If only they knew...8/10

I want to address the only comment I found on this film first. The reviewer mentions Duvall's bad performance. Well, I think he did watch the film a long ago, and does not recall well. Robert Duvall's character and performance is worth the effort of seeing the film if you ask me. By far the strongest point to make one watch it! Albeit the story line is a bit scarce and linear and stock, the character build is worth any excellent stage play. It was conceived as a stage play, so it is not so appealing to movie watchers. The diabolic, malicious calm and easy Duvall displays is the key impetus for developing all the other characters by way of their reacting to his unnerving energy. In conclusion (my battery is running out), please make this film have more echo then it does, and some worthy critic extend the wikipedia article on it please!

Indeed, as my headline says, refreshing. This movie that goes back 37 years as of today is the complete antidote to the hyped up super hero action movies of today. Heroes and villains alike are no indestructible super beings. Just a solid movie with good actors and a plausible story without any unrealistic and illogical happenings. After seeing a couple of the latest "action" movies where the lead characters would put Batman and superman to shame in their ability to survive barrages of bullets and other bone breaking events, it is refreshing to see that before people actually cared about a plausible plot when making a movie that didn't make you feel like an idiot watching it.

There is no art devised by man that does not include sexuality of some sort. The Lighthouse is no exception to this rule. Brandauer sees nothing wrong in stirring bad-guy Duvall's bathwater. Neither does his son seem to mind Arliss Howard's kiss. The claustrophobic atmosphere of this ship is dense with sexuality. It has other qualities as well. That is of course obvious.To my mind it is an excellent thriller. I have always been keen on sea faring vessels. This film is not perfect. But it surprises me each time I watch it. Not maybe the best but surely not the worst. Try watching it with an open mind. It seems to have this not so rare hate or love quality. That is definitely it's forte.

If you are tempted for any reason to rent this in, do not give in, as you will not be rewarded.

Duvall is interesting, as always, thought I wouldn't say GREAT.

Brandaur is... HOT (to my way of looking), and fine, but big deal.

The kid playing his son looks like a rejected member of A-Ha and acts about as well.

This is a thriller that is not remotely thrilling, and is very slow and wooden. It seems like there were a lot of ideas and subtext in the novel that they just didn't manage to get across in the film, so you're left with a curiously unemotional experience. There were precious few moments that made much of an impression at all.

I only watched this because I bought the video cheap and I'm into lighthouses and lightstations. If you are... still, trust me, avoid this.

Had potential, but... there are lots of other videos out there.

--- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com

It is an interesting thriller, with the undertones of a philosophical allegory. The "lightship that doesn't move from its place" is a symbol of the biblical human values ("Don't kill!", for example) and the captain Miller is a guard of these values. As he says, the ship is the light for other ships in the darkness. Many of them crashed on the rocks because they didn't find that light! It explains his rather passive behavior during the conflict between two groups of people on the vessel. Especially interesting is the last scene when mortally wounded captain still forbids to raise the anchor and set the ship free. Even in the face of death he refuses to betray his belief in human values and dignity. The last picture frame in the film is the lightship standing firmly on its permanent place to throw its light for the "seekers in the dark".

The movie has its drawbacks. Several scenes of violence are not convincing and some dialogs sound very artificial. But on the whole it's a good film for a thinking person. Worth watching!