As with any freediving movie (yep, both of them :duh ) we should probably either wear our Freediver hat or our movie-lover hat when forming opinions on them, not try to do both. I'm of the opinion that there will never be a movie that will both a) have a great storyline and b) represent Freediving fairly and accurately. It simply makes for crap movies (prove me wrong writers/directors/producers, prove me wrong
)
This is probably why I love the freediving documentaries and competition DVD's so much - they have the footage I want to see with none of the sensationalism that makes me cringe.
I guess it's the same in a lot of extreme sports. Skydivers and basejumpers cringe at movies like Terminal Velocity and surfers cringe at movies like Point Break (though PB was a better made movie with slightly less cringe factor).
It's usually a standard formula showing a young dreamer, teams up with the experienced guy that never made it, falls in love with a girl that can kick his ass six ways from Sunday in his chosen sport, run into a gang of baddies and have shenanegans, then they almost always throw in a guy that's a hellraising old bloke that parties too much, has hot girls all over him, has a beard and sleeps wherever he falls that night, and wherever he goes the rest of the cast look at him and say something like "there goes Crazy Pete, he's the only one that's
{insert applicable} skydived/ freedived/ basejumped/ climbed/ skateboarded/ cycled Devils Canyon and lived..."
Then the old guy gets shot, the dreamer nearly gets killed but is saved by Crazy Pete. Crazy Pete yells out "Go for it kid!" and the dreamer saves the day.
That's a pretty standard formula across most extreme-sport movies.
Though that all said, if anyone could pull it off, Jim Cameron would be your man.
Hmm, maybe I should stay off the Red Bulls too....
