Boom! The largest oil spill in the U.S. waters ever began with an SOS message sent from the oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. The 2016 film based on the explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Deepwater Horizon, is the most touching movie I watched last year, and I highly recommend it to everyone. The movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray this month and is worth watching or re-watching.
The movie begins with protagonist Mike Williams, played by Mark Wahlberg, spending time with his family as he prepares for his departure to Deepwater Horizon, the rig that had drilled the deepest oil well in history. The crew is celebrating “seven years without a ‘lost-time incident’”; they’ve had a perfect record of production. Halfway through the film, however, the moment comes that viewers are anticipating: an explosion kills 11 men.
This is a PG-13 rated movie due to the intense scenes, strong language, violence, and nudity; however, these elements create a more realistic feeling to the film. In fact, I believed I was one of the characters in the movie while I was watching it. Although I highly recommend it to everyone, children under the age of thirteen should watch it with their parents or any adults.
The film makes a powerful argument that the company British Petroleum (BP), who owned the drill, is at fault. Although BP states that it is not their fault, the filmmakers chose to tell what they and people believe as the truth, a brave action. According to the film, since the schedule is behind for weeks, BP chose speed over safety and half-forced, half-threatened the workers to drill the well despite the fact that the inspections were not fully done. Consequently, the explosion happened, 11 men were killed, and a disastrous oil spill affected the entire Gulf Coast region.
The movie focuses on the personal tragedies of the explosion rather than the environmental problems. Many families were destroyed, and even though some got out of the explosion safely, they have severe injuries or mental illness.
The movie also shows the warm side of people. In one scene, Mike’s colleague is afraid to jump into the fiery sea, but she will be dead if she does not do so. Mike could have left by himself, but he chooses to lie to his colleague that he is leaving by himself and right after he said that, he pushes her into the sea to save both him and his colleague, who later feels really graceful.
This is a realistic and tight movie that gives no break while watching it. Furthermore, it requires high attention if you do not want to miss any small but important parts. This is one of the movies that is worth the money to watch as I learnt a life lesson from it—you should never follow what the others tell you to do unless you want to.
Image: The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in 2010; movie poster. Image source: Wikipedia.
