If you grew up in the seventies then you are well acquainted
with the genre known as the disaster film. Oh sure, there were disaster movies
made in the past featuring earthquakes and hurricanes. But in the seventies
there were movies made that featured that as he main them with stories
surrounding the disaster. THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO,
ROLLERCOASTER, METEOR, AIRPORT (1-4), THE HINDENBERG and EARTHQUAKE which not
only depicted a disaster but featured special speaker systems in theaters to
shake the seats due to volume and overuse of bass. It was the heyday of
disaster films. When I read that a new disaster film was coming out on DVD I
was interested. I’d enjoyed the ones from the past and was anxious to see how
this one was. I wasn’t disappointed.
THE WAVE comes to us via Norway. Yes there are films being
made outside of the U.S., start looking at them. The movie tells the story of a
small village in Norway located in the Geiranger fjord in Norway that was
flooded years ago when the side of the mountain slid down and created a tsunami
as it crashed into the lake. Since that time seismic monitors have been in
place to track the mountainside with an alert system in place to make sure
people know if it ever happens again. If the horns sound you have ten minutes
to leave before the wave strikes.
Geologist Kristian Eikjord has been a part of that team for
years now. He and his family are right in the middle of leaving this town as he
takes on a new job elsewhere. The last day he notices something odd but can’t
quite put his finger on it. He returns home and begins final preparations for
the move as his wife heads to work for her last night at the local hotel.
About this same time the team notices something strange is
happening. A camera shows one thing but the instruments show another. Of course
it ends up being a faulty system that fails to let them know the mountain has
shifted considerably and the end result will be another tsunami in the making.
They contact Kristian to see what they can do when their leader is lost and he
sets out to move his family and anyone else.
As the sirens go off the townspeople head to the hills,
literally, to escape the oncoming wave. Kristian drives there with his daughter
but his wife and son are still in the hotel. As he attempts to rescue more
people trapped on the hillside in a traffic jam he has no idea if the rest of
his family is safe or not. Leaving his daughter with a friend he sets out to
rescue them as well.
The movie is perfect for fans of the genre. We have the
set-up for the disaster, the payoff with some great looking visual effects and
a story that draws you in with a family to root for. Sure you might wonder why
they didn’t check the equipment more often knowing the importance it had in the
protection of this town but face it, budget cutbacks take place around the
world. Instead push those moments of questionable logic aside and enjoy the
movie.
The acting is well played by all involved and I’d love to
say its standard for each of them but as I said at the start, this movie was
made in Norway and honestly I’m not familiar with their actors. Should any of
them make the move to Hollywood my guess is they’ll be headed to the top of the
list after watching their performances here. And while Norway may not be as big
as Hollywood it hasn’t stopped them from creating a movie that draws you in and
has you rooting for the people of this village long before the actual wave
hits. And no, that isn’t a spoiler. If you didn’t think it would hit after
seeing the title of the film you weren’t paying attention.
I’ve said
before that more people need to make the effort to watch foreign films to get a
glimpse of what the world has to offer. This one makes it easy with an English
speaking soundtrack. It lets you know that there is a wide world of film out
there and not all of those foreign films are what some fear, the boogie man
known as “art” films. So take a chance and watch this one and discover how
disaster movies can draw you in, have you sad at various moments, cheering at
others and rooting for characters you’ve just met. THE WAVE is a movie that
just may make you change your mind about foreign films.
Click here to order.
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