Pressure

Pressure is an example of how to make a small scale movie right. Put several characters on a predicament and let them resolve the increasingly dangerous issues with nature and probably each other. The movie is set nearly exclusively on one location, yet this claustrophobic environment is showcased with rich visual, even sometimes ironically beautiful. The cast, though small, has enough drama for an engaging thriller.

Story follows four men who are tasked to fix oil pipeline on sea bed. This is a very risky job since there's a storm brewing and sure enough, they find themselves trapped underwater. With pressure differential, amongst other lethal problems, they have to work together to ensure their survival. The plot offers healthy amount of realism with its taxing physical condition as well as human nature in jeopardy.

Surprisingly, the simple setting and premise are effective in creating tension. Characters are decent, each of them has their own vice and these make the already volatile situation escalate. Delivery from the actors are nice, coupled with good pacing, the dynamic between them feels natural. It is quick on introduction and doesn't prolong the scenes needlessly, making the desperate men appear more identifiable.

Graphic is not the usual sea oriented or submarine movie, it's in fact quite pristine. The overall tone is painted with blue tint, it eases the sense of dread in sophisticated way. Some of the scenes have outstanding cinematography so the audience won't be lost despite the murky surroundings. A minor obstacle is the movie use to specific lingo that might confuse casual viewer, but majority of the time the dilemma is expressed with adequate simplicity so it can easily capture the thrill.

Cleverly implementing fast pace, good characters and clear visual, Pressure makes the modest premise into an engrossing voyage.

"Pressure" concerns a group of men (Danny Huston, Matthew Goode, Joe Cole, and Ian Pirie), who are submerged in the depths of the Indian Ocean in a small submarine to replace an oil pipeline. However, once their submarine malfunctions, the crew are separated from their base and stuck in the deep waters with no connection to their base and oxygen levels running dangerously low. To survive, the men must conserve their energy and their air in hopes that a rescue team hasn't completely abandoned them in the ocean.

"Pressure" is one of the first films in quite sometime to have the gall to take place in one setting, effectively trapping the audience, much like the characters, in a tight, claustrophobic space, giving the audience the feeling of helplessness and peril. The great thing about these films is they open rely on tension and character development being that the setting isn't changing, so new environments and interactions aren't always being set up. The downside to this, however, is that when films to choose to focus on stunted dialog and lax character development, these films generally begin to become uninteresting.

Such a thing happens with "Pressure;" we have four characters, two of which played by veteran actors, and not a shred of human interest to be found. The characters predominately speak in stunted expressions about wanting to be rescued or argue amongst themselves, and when we do begin to learn about their own personal histories, there's little in the way of conversational realism to attach us.

The film does feature some very nice effects work, specifically on the water and the atmosphere engulfing the ship. The waters are a lighter indigo-color, murky and unrelenting, and scenes when some of the men venture out of the submarine in attempt to swim to shore really exploit the capable effects work in this film. Director Ron Scalpello also manages to create some discernible intensity with the film by having medium-length, extreme close-ups on the faces of the trapped men inside the submarine. While "Pressure" make lack narratively, and have little to grip one in terms of human interest, there's at least a commendable focus on the aesthetics in an attempt to try and create a tense setting.

Above all, however, the real bother is a serious lack of any character to root for or invest in, which makes "Pressure"'s slender runtime of eighty-eight minutes rather grueling to sit through. The characters are almost entirely vapid, the tension is sporadic and sometimes wholly ineffective, the pace finds itself simultaneously working in a slowburn and a slam-bang manner, and the overall impact is middling to say the least.

It's not a masterpiece, and it is contrived, but it's a fairly good. Cole is probably the most compelling character, but all the guys are pretty good.

This picture suffers quite a lot by the continual confusion about, well, pressure. Cole's hair gell explodes under increasing pressure, and later he has a dental embolism under increasing pressure... sorry, I thought Lew Grade was long in the box- they're both backward.

This movie was part of my B movie genre one afternoon. I usually am not the thriller type, I typically prefer more action adventure oriented (Deep Star 6, The Abyss etc...) There were elements that reminded me of Das Boot. However I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it. The Good: The acting was surprisingly good, the script writing was good, the effects were good. The Bad: The plot is a little predictable at times, but this is just an adaptation of Lifeboat. Character development could have been a little better, I didn't feel as invested in any of the characters as I felt I should have. Generally I did enjoy it, I probably will not watch is again, but I would recommend it to anyone

This was not a movie I was really interested in seeing. Four guys trapped in a submersible bell vehicle during a storm. Sounded like it would be boring. In truth, it wasn't the type of genre I'm interested in. However, they did a very good job.

The acting was awesome, and it seemed realistic as to how people would behave in such a situation. The production value was good, as was the cinematography. It didn't look cheap or CGI to death. The movie did tend to have a claustrophobic feel, as a real life situation would.

There is nudity. The young man is dreaming or having a hallucination, and a girl swims up to him, and she's totally naked, and you see everything.

I recommend this movie. I gave it a 7-star rating. I doubt I'll watch it again, but it was surprising that they did such a good job on the movie.