MovieChat Forums > The Reef (2011) Discussion > Of all the films that I've watched over ...

Of all the films that I've watched over the years...

posted 8 years ago by ikverkoopspellen
10 replies | jump to latest

...this is the one I feel deserves a remake the most. There's tons of potential here. The premise of the divers having to swim only a small distance for their safety while confronted with a hungry shark is simply wonderful. The simplicity of the premise and the lack of resources for the characters can make for an incredibly tense and unnerving experience.

Besides the premise, the shark shots were realistic and frightening (and could be again), the build-up was great and the continual looking below the water made for quite a bit of suspense. A remake could be the shark film that we've been waiting for since Jaws.

HOWEVER - the film as it is now is severely lacking. The acting ranges from poor to atrocious, the back story of the characters is laughably clichéed and shallow, the dialogue is something from kindergarten, the ending is unrealistic and pretty bad (though opinions differ on this) and apart from the shark shots, the whole thing looks poor.

With better dialogue and backstory and a competent director, I think this one could be great. Perhaps a different, more aggressive shark? What would you like to see in a remake?

[–] Li-1 8 years ago

We've since gotten The Shallows (still in theaters) and In the Deep (available on Amazon Instant Video), both films about individuals stranded a relatively short distance from safety but with great white sharks in their way. They're not remakes but they took similar concepts and ran with them with bigger budgets and more well-known actors.

The Shallows seemed to address at least two of your concerns, what with Blake Lively delivering an excellent performance and the shark in that film being very aggressive (two shots of it breaching out of the water had me jumping in my seat). Her backstory might be somewhat cliched, but I thought Lively sold it and a subplot involving her caring for an injured seagull was really a masterful bit of characterization in my opinion, as it made her into an immensely likable character I rooted for.

I thought the acting in In the Deep was pretty good, but I've read complaints about Mandy Moore's performance. The leads' backstories in this film are arguably weaker than in The Reef and the great whites in the film seemed somewhat inconsistent in their aggressiveness, but I thought the film captured the claustrophobic tension quite well.

The sharks were CGI in both films, but mostly very well-rendered in my opinion. There were a few shots in The Shallows where I was fooled into thinking they may have used real shark footage.

[–] ikverkoopspellen 8 years ago

The Shallows is coming out in The Netherlands next week and I'll be sure to catch it in the very first week, then! I've actually been checking it out and I'm really hopeful for it. I agree on the similarities and rather reassured about your words on the acting. It's my number one beef with The Reef.

I'd never heard of In the Deep before, so I'll have a look to see if this might be the improvement over The Reef that I'd so very much like to see.

Thanks for the reply!

[–] Li-1 8 years ago

I hope you enjoy The Shallows. To me, it's undoubtedly the second best shark movie after Jaws and was the most purely enjoyable thriller of the summer.

I'm not sure if you'll be able to catch In the Deep any time soon. This film had a messed up release. It was set for VOD release on Aug. 2 but the distributor decided to pull back and give it a big theatrical release in 2017. It was actually available for streaming VOD on Amazon Instant Video for a little while, which is how I saw it, but it's since been made unavailable. After the success of The Shallows, I'm not surprised a studio would want to capitalize on a very similarly themed film.

By the way, did you ever see Black Water? That was Andrew Traucki's (director of the Reef) first film, which involves three people stalked by a crocodile. I thought it was superb, even more tense than The Reef and certainly better acted.

[–] ikverkoopspellen 8 years ago

Well, your recommendation was well-warranted!

WARNING! THE SHALLOWS SPOILERS AHEAD!

I really appreciated the movie. Based on your warm recommendation, I actually watched the evening premiere, haha!

The movie is excellent in many ways and I wholeheartedly agree with your 'second best shark movie after Jaws' statement. Two things absolutely stood out for me: A) Lively's performance was amazing and carried the movie; B) The camera work was exceptional.

The scene where the drunk guy is ripped apart and we only get to see Nancy's face is perfect to me. It's HER story and by doing the scene like this, we get to experience her fear of the fate that possibly awaits her. A masterful scene, that. The camera work was really intimate, once more emphasizing it was all about Nancy. All the underwater shots ranged from amazing to breathtaking.

What I didn't like was the Shark CGI. About half the time, it looks perfectly acceptable. But sometimes it's merely an interposed shark that we see moving about mechanically. The shark appears to change in size as well - clearly a mistake.

The ending with her lying on the beach and telling her mother & the audience that she was okay was exceptional for a thriller/horror movie. Not only did she say she survived, but she'd also developed enough to see the value in her mother's attempts. AND THEN... they ruined it by adding another scene with her on the beach. The 'Dr Nancy' was awful, just ramming the obvious in your face. This scene was completely redundant and took away from the experience.

The jellyfish ex-machina wasn't very welcome, but what the twist led to was an amazing scene, so that's all right then.

Altogether I'm really glad I went to see it and will certainly be buying the BluRay when it comes out. The movie is doing really great in terms of Gross VS Costs, which is deserved.

Next: Black Water & In the Deep.

[–] Rattaplan 8 years ago

Don't think this needs a remake at all.
The movie is solid as it is. The acting was fine, there is plenty of nailbiting tension, and the shark looked as good as it could be.

Seeing how remakes are handled nowadays they can only mess it up.

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No, you're not wrong, you're just an a$$hole!

[–] ikverkoopspellen 8 years ago

I agree on the tension - as I don't nail-bite I was actually drumming my feet on the floor to relieve the stress, but I guess you get the picture. The shark looked absolutely stunning and to me it was 100% convincing, so I'm with you on that.

Remakes these days... Judging by Total Recall, Robocop and Last House on the Left, The Reef will indeed NOT be safe in the hands of these mediocre, run-off-the-mill directors looking to make a name for themselves in the safest way possible. We do not need a vanilla movie that brings nothing to the table. But imagine... an actually talented director... someone who's not afraid to do something his own way... What would a remake be like in the hands of Dennis Villeneuve, I wonder?

The acting you liked, eh? I really can't see this. The delivery of the lines was just painfully robotic. There was zero chemistry in it and it was nigh impossible to care for the main characters. We're just lucky the tension was as great as it was with these disposable nobodies.

Thanks for the reply!

[–] tkksilvergun 8 years ago

I thought the acting was good, very subtle for the most part, although the two leads were alot more natural than their friends. I thought they underplayed nicely given their characters' histories and was nice to see a couple who seemed genuinely wounded but also able to still be friends. I definitely preferred it to Lively's sentimental, overly-polished, ridiculously resourceful one-woman show. Everything in The Shallows was hopelessly contrived, and by about halfway through it was too ridiculous for words and totally illogical (don't get me started on those jellyfish).

[–] ikverkoopspellen 8 years ago

Well, now that two people have defended the acting there is nothing left for me to do but watch it again. I'm not quite sure whether I'll go along with your assessment of 'underplayed' instead of 'robotic', but I'll go in with an open mind.

I definitely preferred it to Lively's sentimental, overly-polished, ridiculously resourceful one-woman show.

This seems to indicate that you like the more 'raw' look & acting of The Reef than the refined version in The Shallows. In that case, it's more a matter of taste than a quality discussion.

Jellyfish ex-machina!

[–] tkksilvergun 8 years ago

Yeah I def prefer the raw look (I go for that when I do film stuff myself, partly through necessity but I think it works better for most stories grounded in reality), the pop-up graphics and slo-mo in The Shallows among other things just looked cheap and were distracting. The CGI under the water was bad too. I honestly think in the cold light of day once people watch The Shallows at home they'll see it's a bit of a mess. It's not terrible, just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped and as much as alot of my friends did. Same for Conjuring 2, looked overly polished and acting/tone was all over the shop.

Main thing with The Reef that let it down was the lighting effect for the night-time scenes, some of the incidental music (IIRC) and some bland camerawork. Everything else seemed right to me. I too like Black Water alot, it's well-balanced and gets under your skin.

[–] mackjay2 8 years ago

I recently saw THE SHALLOWS and IN THE DEEP. The SHALLOWS is good, essential for shark movie fans. IN THE DEEP is one of the mos unsettling, terrifying shark movies ever. But to me, THE REEF still holds its own as a top-notch shark terror movie.