best yacht movies

20 Best Sailing Movies of all Time

Last Updated by

Daniel Wade

June 15, 2022

If you have been looking forward to curling up on the couch, grabbing a bowl of popcorn, and watching some captivating movies, this can be a good time. A good sailing movie can be perfect given that you'll hear a few lines that you're already familiar with when on the dock or setting sail.

This can be a perfect time to binge-watch some of the best sailing movies.

So in no particular order, we'll highlight 20 of the best sailing movies of all time. From the brutal and dramatic tales of man vs. sea to inspirational explorations and expeditions, we've covered it all. Keep reading and you'll be inspired while waiting to get off dry land when it's safe to do so.

Table of contents

All is Lost (2013)

For lone sailors, All is Lost is probably the best movie to give you a glimpse of what might go wrong for you if you decide to sail the big blue ocean alone. With a near-mute performance as an old man who loves sailing alone, Robert Redford puts in an almost quasi-silent performance by portraying the ordeal of what a lone sailor can undergo when the sea turns on you.

Directed by JC Chandor, there's only one person on the screen throughout the film. He's all alone in the vast sea with his damaged boat. He has to become tough, resourceful, and calm even when things turn against him. Single-character movies are a rarity even today but this is a great survival film that perfectly depicts what could happen even to the hardest lone sailors out there.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Directed by the talented Peter Weir, this critically-acclaimed movie was nominated for 10 Oscars and won for best cinematography and sound editing. Depicting the return of the high-seas adventure, this movie is skillfully and meticulously adapted from the historical novel by Patrick O'Brian set during the Napoleonic Wars and starring Russell Crowe.

Crowe plays an arrogant captain who pushes his ship crew to the limits while trying to capture a French warship. This movie offers action-packed battle scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This movie gives you an insight of what sailors undergo in their struggles to make it through the high-seas alive.

Captain Ron (1992)

With little sailing experience but with an inherited yacht moored on an offshore island Martin Short hires charismatic Captain Ron to take them back to Florida. The voyage isn't as easy as they expected as they have to face pirates, breakdowns, and other obstacles. They all get more than what they bargained for.

Portrayed by Kurt Russell, Captain Ron depicts the misadventures of a nominal sailing character that is hired by an upper-middle-class father to guide a yacht through the Caribbean. From the marine accidents, pirates, guerilla carnivals to malfunctioning equipment, and Russell's croaked absurdities, this movie is just full of double humor and worthy performance. 

Wind (1992)

As one of the biggest races in competitive sailing, America's Cup is often associated with rich people competing in weird-looking boats. But this movie changes this as it takes viewers through the eyes of tanned and rugged Will Parker as played by Matthew Modine. He's hired by a self-made millionaire (Cliff Robertson) to lead his crew in the competition.

Together with his girlfriend Kate who is an equally skilled sailor, Parker intends to win America's Cup but Kate is thrown off the crew leaving Parker angry. When the crew loses America's Cup to the Australians, Parker decides to form his own syndicate to win back the cup. 

White Squall (1996)

This movie follows a young man's adventure movie that follows a group of high school students who boards the brigantine ship called Albatross for their senior year at sea. They sail to the tip of South America and back. They get to accept responsibility, learn how to be sailors, and grow up.

The skipper of the ship, Christopher Sheldon together with the 13 teenage boys set sail for an eight-month voyage. The boys soon discover Sheldon's psyche gradations, rattling tension, and freak storms that sink the ship. As a sailor, you'll be disturbed by the fact that four students and two crew members drown, leaving skipper Sheldon facing a fierce tribunal, tortured conscience, and grieving parents and students.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

As one of the greatest epic movies of the 1960s, English Captain Bligh is on a sea voyage to transport breadfruit from England to Jamaica. He is so abusive that he gets on the nerves of his crew members, especially 1st Lieutenant, Fletcher Christian.

Tension eases when they reach Jamaica and the crew indulges in the island's lifestyle but the captain claps some members of his crew in irons as they try to desert. Further abuses lead Fletcher to inspire a mutiny against the Captain. Fletcher and his men set the Captain and his loyal members afloat in a rowboat. This movie offers a realistic depiction of a larger-than-life character that most sailors are known for. 

Dead Calm (1989)

Starring Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman, Sam Neil, and a gorgeous 60 ft. ketch, Dead Calm revolves around a mass-murderer who kidnaps and seduces a young beautiful woman after leaving a husband to die on a vessel whose crew he has just murdered.

This movie was filmed in the Whitsundays Islands of Australia, which is one of the best sailing destinations in the world. Bringing forth an epic combination of deadly sailing conditions , complete isolation from the rest of the world, and a skillful villain aboard the vessel, this movie is thrilling and will leave you looking behind your back whenever you're out there on the sea.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

This adventure-comedy follows the high journeys of Steve Zissou, a character adaptation of French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. It follows his ocean expedition when tracking the ‘jaguar shark' that apparently ate his partner, Esteban.

Esteban had been working with Zissou on a documentary about mysterious circumstances by a shark. This is a sharp film with lots of fun and adventure on the sea.

Kon-Tiki (2012)

Legendary Norwegian explorer and ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl believes that the South Sea Islands were originally colonized by South Americans. Thor, who fears water and doesn't know how to swim, partakes on a voyage in 1947 to prove his belief. Together with five crew members, set sail from Peru on a balsa-wood ancient raft.

Even though their only modern equipment is a radio, they have to navigate through the ocean while relying on stars and ocean currents and they achieve the impossible after exhausting three months at the sea. This is a very spirited adventure that depicts what's possible when we believe in our dreams. 

Maidentrip (2013)

A 14-year-old sailor by the name Laura Dekker sets sail on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the world's youngest sailor. Laura sets out from Holland and sails throughout the world. Apart from the occasional foul language that Laura uses now and then on the documentary, this is an excellent film that shows what one can achieve when he/she lives her dream and works hard towards achieving it.

The documentary, however, doesn't suggest that Laura is alarmingly young to sail across the unforgiving Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Instead, she's depicted as an independent outsider who is looking for paradise in a never-ending sea. 

Adrift (2018)

In most cases, sailors seem to never anticipate that they may sail directly into a catastrophic hurricane and this is exactly what Richard Sharp and Tami Oldham do when they sail directly in one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded in history.

Tami awakes in the aftermath of the hurricane to find their boat in ruins and Richard is badly injured. And because they do not have any hope that they would ever get help or get rescued, Tami is left with two options: sit there and perish or find strength and determination to save herself as well as the only man she's ever loved.

Turning Tide (En Solitaire) (2013)

In this daring tale, this movie portrays how a fearless sailor known as Yann Kermadec finds a lot of obstacles in his biggest race as a two-hander named Turning Tide falls flat. In a nail-biting tension, the story begins when Kermadec replaces the main skipper in the Vendee Globe on short notice.

After some smooth sailing, things go eerily wrong for the sailor as his ship is damaged and he's forced to anchor off the Canary Islands to repair it. When he gets back on his journey, he soon discovers that a Mauritanian teenage boy has sneaked inside the boat and he has no option but to sail with him at least until they cross the Atlantic Ocean.

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

An old Cuban angler known as Spencer Tracy is so unlucky that he hasn't caught any fish in 84 days. And despite the commitment of a young boy to bring him food, the angler fears that he's forever lucky but catches a small fish on his 85th day, so he decides to keep fishing.

When one of his many fishing lines hooks a large marlin, he decides not to go back to the shore until he reels it in. For almost two days and nights, he has no choice but to sit there and do everything he can to redeem himself from what seems like a perpetual failure.

Morning Light (2008)

By entering the TRANSPAC, which is one of the world's best open-ocean competitions, 15 young men and women prepare for a sailing adventure of their lives. With world-class teachers, these sailors begin intense training in Hawaii but only reach a climax in an elimination process that comes in the form of who-stays-and-who-goes process.

This documentary follows these sailors for six months as they embark on a 2,300-mile sailing ordeal, which starts in Los Angeles and ends in Honolulu.

The Perfect Storm (2000)

Created by Wolfgang Petersen, The Perfect Storm is a blockbuster that's big on visuals and depicts an action-packed escapade on the water as Captain Billy Tyne and his crew set on a fishing expedition aboard a ship known as Andrea Gail.

They're soon caught up in a catastrophic destructive storm when they decide to risk the storm and have to deal with a very powerful hurricane. At the height of their fishing expedition, their ice machine breaks down and the only way to ensure that their catch doesn't go stale is by hurrying back to the shore to sell their catch. This is exactly why they decide to risk their lives and it doesn't turn out as they expected.

Captain Phillips (2013)

When Captain Richard Phillips takes command of an unarmed container ship known as MV Maersk Alabama from the port of Salalah in Oman, they anticipate that they'll be attacked by Somali Pirates on their way to Mombasa, Kenya.

They attack the ship and Captain Phillips has to use his wits and diplomacy to negotiate with the pirates and save his crew. 

Maiden (2018)

As the saying goes; what a man can do a woman can do even better. This is exactly what's depicted by this sailing movie that follows the life of Tracy Edwards as she leads the first all-female crew when competing in the Whitbread Round the World Race.

Covering 33,000 miles and lasting for nine months, this is a truly grueling race that depicts the corrosive sexism that still exists in the sailing world as well as the ocean terrors that sailors have to deal with during voyages or competitions. 

Chasing Bubbles (2016)

This is a captivating documentary that follows the journey of Alex Rust who is a free spirit who gives the normal life to sail around the world. Alex is brought up as a farm boy but becomes a stock trader in Indiana. At the age of 25, he decides to abandon his life in Chicago, buys a modest sailboat known as Bubbles and embarks on a very unique free-spirited voyage. It takes him three years to sail around the world and to quench his insatiable curiosity while meeting great people and fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a free soul.

This is a breathtaking travelogue that depicts the sailing life of a truly absorbing character.

180° South (2010)

Directed by Chris Malloy, this is a sailing documentary that covers the journey of Jeff Johnson as he travels from Ventura, California to Patagonia in Chile. He does this to retrace the same trip covered by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins in 1968.

While the two initial explorers made the journey on the land, Johnson travels by sea using a small boat.

Deep Water (2006)

This movie follows the true-life story of Donald Crowhurst, an inexperienced British sailor who enters the Golden Globe, which is the first nonstop boat race in the world. Donald puts up his home as collateral to gain financial backing to compete in the race but soon finds himself on the wrong end of things as he enters the race under-prepared.

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Atlas & Boots

The UK's most popular outdoor travel blog

25 sailing movies for when you’re knot shore what to watch

We share some of our favourite best sailing movies, from Hollywood blockbusters and indie films to illuminating documentaries

I still hang on to the rather fanciful notion of sailing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race . Until I pluck up the courage (and the funds), I’ve been busying myself with more realistic nautical escapades.

From  tall ship sailing off the west coast of Scotland  to  sailing the Whitsunday Islands  in Australia , more and more of our travels have taken place on the water.

However, until I make the leap from weekend warrior to blue water sailor, I’ll have to make do with films, books and daydreams.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of the best sailing movies I’ve seen. What follows is a broad mix of modern and classic, indie and feature, drama and documentary film. Whatever their style, these flicks are thoroughly wet and wonderful.

And, I’m sorry about the pun, but you know, ship happens.

best sailing movies

Listed in no particular order, these nautical movies include terrifying ordeals of tragedy, inconceivable stories of survival, turbulent tales of adventure and wild journeys of discovery – perfect for a night in on a dry and comfy sofa.

1. Kon-Tiki (1950) Let’s start with one of the best sailing movies ever made. In 1947, Heyerdahl and five others sailed from Peru on a balsa wood raft. This is the classic Academy Award winning documentary of their astonishing journey across 4,300 miles of the Pacific Ocean.

Watch on Amazon Rotten Tomatoes IMDB

2. Red Dot on the Ocean (2014) Once labelled a ‘youth-at-risk’, 30-year old Matt Rutherford risked it all in an attempt to become the first person to sail solo non-stop around North and South America. Red Dot on the Ocean is the story of Matt’s death-defying voyage and the childhood odyssey that shaped him.

3. The Dove (1974) Produced by Gregory Peck, this coming-of-age adventure is based on the true story of Robin Lee Graham . At 16, he set sail in a 23ft sloop determined to be the youngest person to sail around the world.

4. Wind (1992) In over 140 years of competition, the US has lost the America’s Cup just once. This is a fictional story of the American challengers intent on winning back sailing’s top prize. A tale of money, power, love and ambition follows… oh, and some sailing.

5. Morning Light (2008) A riveting true-life adventure aboard the high-tech sloop Morning Light. Fifteen rookie sailors have one goal in mind: to be part of her crew, racing in one of the most revered sailing competitions in the world, the Transpac Yacht Race .

6. Between Home – Odyssey of an Unusual Sea Bandit (2012) An independent filmmaker’s account of his solo voyage from the UK to Australia, negotiating the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans en route. A trip that eventually takes over two years to complete.

Watch on Amazon IMDB

7. Styx (2019) When a lone yachtswoman comes across a sinking ship of refugees, she is torn away from her idyllic trip and tasked with a momentous decision. Should she act when authorities tell her to sail away?

8. Captain Ron (1992) After inheriting a yacht, a Chicago businessman enlists long-haired, one-eyed low-life Captain Ron to pilot the yacht from the Caribbean to Miami. During the voyage, the sailor frequently loses his way while becoming a hit with the businessman’s family. Goofy comedy starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short widely recognised as one of the funniest sailing movies ever made.

9. Maidentrip (2013) This riveting documentary chronicles the life and adventures of 14-year-old Laura Dekker who set out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world.

10. Kon-Tiki (2012) A well-crafted retelling of the epic original and one of the best sailing movies ever made. This dramatised version is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that’s exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting.

“But you can’t navigate a raft,” he added. “It goes sideways and backwards and round as the wind takes it.” – Thor Heyerdahl, Kon-Tiki

11. Abandoned (2015) Four men set sail on the trimaran yacht Rose Noelle . It capsizes in a storm, trapping the crew in a space the size of a double bed. After 119 days adrift, the yacht washes ashore. The crew’s story is extraordinary, but doubt is cast on their claims and they face hostility from the media and authorities.

12. Adrift (2019) There are far better films on this list, but Adrift is just about worth a watch. Based on true events, a young couple embark on an adventure of a lifetime that brings them face to face with one of the worst hurricanes in recorded history.

13. The Perfect Storm (2000) A skipper insists that his crew go out on a final fishing trip before winter sets in. Unknown to them, a brutal storm is on its way. While the special effects are excellent for the time, the film falls a little  short on characterisation.

14. Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World (2016) The vessel is Infinity, a 120ft hand-built sailboat, crewed by a band of miscreants. The journey, an 8,000-mile Pacific crossing from New Zealand to Patagonia with a stop in Antarctica .

15. Turning Tide / En Solitaire (2013) Franck Drevil is a star skipper, having won the latest Vendée Globe , the most prestigious round-the-world single-handed yacht race. However, with this year’s race approaching, a sudden accident forces Franck to withdraw.

16. Knife in the Water (1962) When a young hitchhiker joins a couple on a weekend yacht trip, psychological warfare breaks out as the two men compete for the woman’s attention. A storm forces the small crew below deck and tension builds to a violent climax.

17. Dead Calm (1989) This tense thriller tells the story of an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill) whose yacht cruise is violently interrupted by the mysterious lone survivor (Billy Zane) of a ship whose crew has perished.

18. The Riddle of the Sands (1979) A classic British swashbuckling yarn based on the early English spy novel of the same name. In 1901, two British yachtsmen visit Germany’s Frisian Islands and accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.

19. Maiden (2019) The story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, who became the skipper of the first-ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.

20. White Squall (1996) Based on a true incident from 1960, White Squall is the story of the tragic sinking of the Albatross , a prep school educational two-masted schooner, during a Caribbean storm. Starring Jeff Bridges.

21. The Mercy (2017) Starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, this is certainly no heroic tale. Instead, it’s the dramatisation of the bizarre story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his attempt to pull off one of the greatest hoaxes of our time: pretending to be the first to sail singlehandedly around the world!

22. Deep Water (2006) Following on from the above, Deep Water is a British documentary about the remarkable story of the first Golden Globe round the world yacht race , focusing on the psychological toll it took on its competitors – particularly one Donald Crowhurst.

23. Captains Courageous (1937) A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship gets picked up by a fishing boat, where he’s made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work. Based on the 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling.

24. Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) A silly premise, but entertaining nonetheless. Six friends jump off a yacht without lowering the ladder first. With no way to climb aboard, it’s only a matter of time before bickering turns to terror.

25. Master and Commander – The Far Side of the World (2003) During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain (Russell Crowe) pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel.

“Do you not know that in the service one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?” – Capt. Jack Aubrey, Master and Commander

Readers’ suggestions

Here’s what our readers have added to the list of the best sailing movies.

• Masquerade (1988)
• Violets are Blue (1986)
• Kill Cruise (1992)
• Message in a Bottle (1999)
• High wind in Jamaica (1965)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• O Mundo em Duas Voltas (The World in Two Round Trips) (2007)
• One Crazy Summer (1986)
• Coyote: The Mike Plant Story (2018)
• The Weekend Sailor (2017)
• Harpoon (2019)
• Waterworld (1995)
• Around Cape Horn (1929)
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
• The Bounty (1984)
• All Is Lost (2013)

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Lead image:  IM_photo/Shutterstock

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10 Best Boat Movies of All Time

Top 10 Best Boat Movies to Binge-Watch

• Captain Ron (1992)
• Maiden (2019)
• Adrift (2018)
• The Mercy (2017)
• White Squall (1996)
• Wind (1992)
• Dead Calm (1989)
• Jaws (1975)
• Captain Phillips (2013)
• Lifeboat (1944)

Find a Boat for Your Next Adventure

Captain Ron

Mandatory watching for any sailor, Captain Ron with Kurt Russell is remarkably accurate from a technical standpoint except for one glaring piece of silliness as it relates to sailboats. See if you can spot it. Any sailor worth his/her salt has most of the key lines memorized and despite its goofiness, there are a few scenes in this film that will ring remarkably true for anyone who’s spent time on an old boat.

A fascinating 2019 documentary about Tracy Edwards and her all-woman crew in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race. You can’t beat this true story for sheer grit and an important history lesson. There’s a bit of humor as well if just in the great fashions and bad mustaches of the times.

Loosely based on a true story from 1983, Adrift is the tale of a young couple on a yacht delivery. They become dismasted when they sail into the path of a hurricane and the rest is the story of the sheer will to survive. Shailene Woodley does an impressive acting job in this tale with a twist. Watch this one alone if you ever want your significant other to go distance cruising.

A fictionalized tale of the very real and very disturbed Donald Crowhurst, this 2017 film centers on the 1968 Golden Globe Race, the first singlehanded, non-stop circumnavigating competition. Colin Firth captures the misery of impending failure and the film puts the rigors of sailing in context as Crowhurst faces the open ocean and an uncertain future alone.

White Squall

Not exactly a chuckle fest, White Squall is based on a real tragedy from the 1960s. Jeff Bridges as the stalwart captain in charge of a training vessel and a bunch of wealthy newbie sailors relies on discipline to keep an orderly ship. When disaster strikes, it’s an uncomfortable study of what it means to be a captain.

A mixed cast of real America’s Cup racers and thespians like Mathew Modine and Jennifer Grey act their hearts out in this tale of competitive drama. The plot is thin, the dialogue is stilted and the acting is at times cringe-worthy, but the cinematography is phenomenal. You can’t beat this movie for sheer beauty.

More in the horror genre is Dead Calm with Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill cruising a remote stretch of the South Pacific when they come across the evil Billy Zane. This one’s full of completely improbably scenarios, sailing inaccuracies and a young Kidman’s bizarre perm, but it’s a bit of twisted fun that will put the Academy Awards in perspective.

Spielberg’s major directorial debut couldn’t be more iconic and quotes from Jaws can be entertaining at any happy hour. If you get a chance, watch the two-hour making of this film as well to appreciate the end product. Not everyone sees this movie as a comedy but if you watch closely, you’ll see a bit of humor.

Captain Phillips

In 2009, the US-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama was taken over by Somali pirates. Tom Hanks convincingly plays the captain during this hostage drama that was made into an award-winning feature film in 2013. This is a portrayal of leadership during its most taught moments.

Finally, a classic thriller from Alfred Hitchcock based on a John Steinbeck novel. After a German U-boat sinks a passenger ship, the survivors crowd into a lifeboat along with a German officer they pull from the water. You’ll not find a more convincing study of group dynamics and human nature than this well-crafted 1944 award winner.

There are probably 50 other nautical films that are well worth watching, so start with these and you may soon become a seafaring movie buff.

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15 Best Sailing Movies You Can’t Miss

A true sailing enthusiast suffers when forced to stay at home… So here we are to help you, presenting our selection of the best sailing movies that a sailor absolutely cannot miss. We discussed, because the world of cinema and TV (just think of Netflix) give us an almost infinite catalogue. We finally succeeded and we are happy to present you our favorite sailing movies. Which is your favorite?

1. 180° SOUTH (2010)

“180° South” is a 2010 adventure documentary film directed by Chris Malloy. The film follows the journey of Jeff Johnson as he retraces the steps of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia, Chile. Along the way, Johnson encounters a variety of challenges, including navigating rugged terrain and dealing with extreme weather conditions. The film also explores themes of environmental conservation and the importance of protecting natural resources. It features stunning cinematography and is narrated by actor/musician/environmentalist Jack Johnson.

2. All is lost (2013)

“All Is Lost” is a 2013 survival drama film directed by J.C. Chandor. The film stars Robert Redford as an unnamed man who is stranded at sea after his sailboat is damaged by a shipping container. The man must use all of his survival skills and resourcefulness to stay alive in the face of increasingly dire circumstances. The film is notable for its minimalist approach, with no dialogue and minimal music, and Redford’s performance as the only actor on screen. It was praised for its technical achievements and the acting of Redford.

3. Captain Ron (1992)

“Captain Ron” is a 1992 comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Kurt Russell as the titular character, a slovenly, irreverent sailor who is hired to help a family sail their yacht from the Caribbean to Miami. Along the way, they encounter a variety of mishaps and adventures, including pirates and a hurricane. The film also stars Martin Short as the head of the family, Mary Kay Place as his wife, and Benjamin Salisbury and Meadow Sisto as their children. “Captain Ron” is known for its silly and irreverent humor and the strong performances of its cast. We have to be honest: Captain Ron is our favourite between the sailing movies of this list!

We discussed, because the world of cinema and TV (just think of Netflix) give us an almost infinite catalog of sailing films

4. Chasing Bubbles (2016)

“Chasing Bubbles” is a documentary about the journey and spirit of Alex Rust , a farm boy turned day trader from Indiana who, at 25, abandoned his life in Chicago, bought a modest sailboat (called Bubbles) and set out to sail around the world.

5. Dead calm (1989)

Dead Calm is a 1989 Australian psychological thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. The screenplay by Terry Hayes was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams; the film represents the first successful film adaptation of the novel after Orson Welles struggled for years to complete his own film based on it titled The Deep . Filmed around the Great Barrier Reef, the plot focuses on a married couple, who, after tragically losing their son, are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship. A must see among sailing movies!

6. Deep Water (2006)

“Deep Water” is a 2006 documentary film directed by Jerry Rothwell and Louise Osmond about the history of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race , a solo sailing race around the world that was held in 1968. The film follows the stories of the race’s participants, including Donald Crowhurst, a British sailor who became embroiled in a scandal when it was revealed that he had falsified his position in the race. The film also explores themes of adventure, ambition, and the human cost of pushing oneself to the limits. It was well-received by critics and audiences and won a number of awards.

7. Maidentrip (2013)

“Maidentrip” is a 2013 documentary film about the life of Laura Dekker , a Dutch sailor who, at the age of 14, became the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The film follows Dekker’s journey as she navigates the challenges and dangers of her voyage, including rough seas, equipment failures, and isolation. It also explores Dekker’s background and her motivations for embarking on such a risky and ambitious journey. “Maidentrip” was praised for its intimate and engaging portrayal of Dekker’s journey and for its powerful depiction of the human spirit and determination.

8. Master and commander (2003)

During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America. The naval action in the Mediterranean is  closely based on the real-life exploits of Lord Cochrane , including a battle modelled after Cochrane’s spectacular victory in the brig HMS Speedy over the vastly superior Spanish frigate El Gamo.

9. Morning light (2008)

Fifteen young sailors… six months of intense training… one chance at the brass ring. This documentary tells the story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life’s first great adventure. Fifteen young men and women prepare for the adventure of their lives when they enter the TRANSPAC, one of the world’s most prestigious open-ocean sailing competitions. They begin their training in Hawaii with world-class teachers, but it is the race itself, a 2,300-mile ordeal featuring top professionals, that molds them into a cohesive whole.

10. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

“Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” is a 2003 adventure film directed by Gore Verbinski and based on the popular Disney theme park attraction of the same name. The film stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, a wily and unpredictable pirate who teams up with a blacksmith named Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and a Governor’s daughter named Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) to rescue Elizabeth’s father and defeat the cursed pirate captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). The film also features an ensemble cast of supporting characters and is known for its action, humor, and special effects. It was a commercial and critical success and spawned a successful film franchise.

11. The Mercy (2018)

The Mercy is a British biographical drama film , directed by James Marsh and written by Scott Z. Burns. It is based on the true story of the disastrous attempt by the amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst to complete the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968 and his subsequent attempts to cover up his failure.

12. The Odyssey (2016)

The Odyssey is a movie which chronicles the life of the great Jacques Cousteau. Jacques Cousteau is perhaps one of the most famous French persons in the world due to his pioneering work on scuba diving, underwater exploration and film-making which introduced a whole generation to the wonders of reef and marine life in the ocean.

13. Turning Tide – En solitaire (2013)

It tells the story of Yann Kermadec whose dreams suddenly come true when he has to replace the DCNS star skipper at the last minute before the start of the Vendée Globe (a round-the-world non-stop single-handed yacht race). After several days of racing, Yann, who is in the lead, has to stop to repair a damaged rudder. This will disrupt his round-the-world journey…

14. White squall (1996)

Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage. It is a coming of age film in which a group of high school and college-aged teenagers sign up for several months of training aboard a sail ship, a brigantine, and travel around half the globe when suddenly they are challenged by a severe storm.

15. WIND (1992)

Will Parker, played by Matthew Modine, loses the Americas Cup, the worlds biggest sailing prize, to the Australians and decides to form his own syndicate to win it back. In 1983, yacht sailor Will Parker (Matthew Modine) leads an American crew financed by millionaire Morgan Weld (Cliff Robertson) to defeat during the America’s Cup race against an Australian crew. Determined to get the prize back, Will convinces Morgan to finance an experimental boat designed by his ex-girlfriend Kate’s (Jennifer Grey) new beau, Joe Heisler (Stellan Skarsgard). When the boat is completed, the Americans head to Australia to reclaim the cup.

Finally, what do you think about our 15 sailing movies to watch at least one time in your life?

Come sail away: 4 stories about sailing, five best places where to sail at least one time in your life, 8 great sailing books for your reading pleasure, sailing for beginners: a guide to ensuring the safety of guests on your boat, live your passion, subscribe to our mailing list.

Maiden Voyage. Round the world race by first all female crew.

What about “Maiden”. Terrific women’s movie, but good for all.

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Home / Features / 25 best boat movies ever

25 best boat movies ever

Boats aren’t just good for ferrying people from one mass of land to another or for catching fish, they can provide the backdrop for great films, too. Here are 25 best boat movies ever, in no particular order.

Titanic (1997)

“Jack, this is where we first met.” Well, of all the stupid things to say when your ticket to America starts looking like a one-way fare to a watery grave. Even so, James Cameron’s retelling of the historic Titanic disaster as an epic romance (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet at Cupid’s helm) turned out to be a big-budget awards magnet and it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer scale of the production.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Peter Weir’s seafaring epic should have made off with a treasure chest of Oscars, but for one pesky detail – it came out in the same year as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. None the less, it flies the flag as one of the best boat movies ever made, with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany leading a stellar crew through stormy waters. A long-expected sequel is yet to materialise.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Sean Connery goes off-mission in an undetectable Soviet sub – the titular Red October – causing the CIA’s Alec Baldwin to give chase… in person. The Russians are (figuratively) on board with the hunt, but things hot up below deck when Baldwin (literally) joins the Red October and some unlikely alliances are formed. A masterful piece of Tom Clancy-penned sub-aquatic suspense.

The Boat (1921)

Artful out-to-sea comedy from Buster Keaton, who builds a boat in his house without planning how to get it out. The ensuing project to take said vessel (plus wife and two Keaton juniors) to the water leaves the family homeless, carless and barely afloat in a storm. What’s the joke? Damfino. (Yeah, you probably need to watch this 25-minutes short to get that.)

The Perfect Storm (2000)

A nice spot of fishing, this ain’t. George Clooney leads a crew of fishermen, including Mark Wahlberg, on a late season deep sea rod-and-line trip. But things turn nasty when, as they retreat for the shoreline, their boat, the Andrea Gail, gets caught in gale force winds, tempestuous seas and all sorts of bother. Based on a true story, The Perfect Storm’s ominous reviews were stilled by box office success.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

The plot’s in the title, but Mutiny on the Bounty could also have been called Who Moved My Cheese (On My Boat). Marlon Brando and Richard Harris have their patience tested first by their captain’s light-fingered approach to cheddar, but things turn uglier as Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) drives his crew with increasingly uncompromising fervour. In reality, it was Brando’s on-set antics that nearly caused a mutiny.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Johnny Depp threw away the Errol Flynn book of swashbuckling pirates, instead borrowing heavily from ragged Rolling Stones axeman Keith Richards for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite his scene stealing antics, the cast was peppered with talent and Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush also turned in ace performances to make Pirates of the Caribbean’s first outing one of the finest pirate movies ever made. Three (disappointing) sequels followed.

The African Queen (1951)

As war breaks out, Humphrey Bogart – a coarse delivery man – rescues prim Methodist missionary Katherine Hepburn and the pair make an unlikely alliance aboard the African Queen. Bogart won an Oscar for his steer on the lead role, though the script had to undergo a rewrite after it transpired he couldn’t pull off the cockney accent the part originally required.

The Abyss (1989)

Although The Abyss is perhaps more at home in our list of the 25 best alien movies ever, it does have lots of boats in it, and we can’t forgo the opportunity to include a bit of sea-borne sci-fi. Fun fact: James Cameron’s original water movie was shot not in the sea, but in an unfinished nuclear power station’s containment building.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Airport, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake… the early 1970s were rich with star-studded disaster movies. The Poseidon Adventure is the icing on that suspenseful cake, with the SS Poseidon running into suitably troubled waters. On board, the Rev Frank Scott (Gene Hackman) asks God to help him deliver survivors into the safe hands of the rescue party. Who he holds accountable for the unfavourable sailing conditions is never properly addressed.

Das Boot (1981)

The ironically dry title (The Boat, in English) belies the epic wetness of this WWII submarine movie, credited with some of the most claustrophic cinematography ever committed to film. Robert Redford and Paul Newman were considered for the lead role, but plans to bring in an American director and star were ditched in favour of an all-German cast directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

Errol Flynn stars as the eponymous Peter Blood, a man with a penchant (funnily enough) for swashbuckling antics. Sold into slavery and at his wit’s end, Blood must plot his escape and avenge his capturer. And get laid, obviously. Boats, naturally, are crucial to the ensuing plot, as they were in many of our other 25 best pirate movies ever.

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

There’s not much Hollywood hasn’t thought of through the years, and if you thought boats and time travel hadn’t been successfully combined, you haven’t watched The Philadelphia Experiment. Disappearing boats are one thing, but we can’t help feeling the protagonists’ disbelief (on arriving from 1944) that Ronald Reagan is president was shared by plenty of non-time travellers in 1984.

Moby Dick (1956)

Sci-fi don Ray Bradbury was drafted in to pen a screen adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel, with Gregory Peck starring as Captain Ahab. Everyone knows the most famous non-Biblical whale story of all time, but not everyone knows Moby Dick was played in the film by a 12 tonne, 75ft bit of rubber specially made by Dunlop in Stoke-on-Trent. He had an appetite for 80 drums of compressed air and was lost at sea during filming. Pity the fisherman who finds him.

Knife in the Water (1962)

The movies have always taken a dim view of the hitchhiking fraternity, and Roman Polanski’s feature debut is no exception. It’s a taut drama with a cast of three, and a cautionary tale about taking strangers on sailing trips. Especially if you don’t trust your wife.

1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)

Christopher Columbus sets sail to discover… well, he doesn’t know. That’s sort of the point of Ridley Scott’s discovery movie, in which Gerard Depardieu plays the New World explorer and Sigourney Weaver puts in a turn as Queen Isabella I. It flopped at the box office, but the central motif of the soundtrack was adopted by the Portuguese Socialist Party, which has kept it ever since.

Cape Fear (1991)

Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam all had roles in the original 1962 Cape Fear, and each got a reprisal cameo in the remake starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. The usual boat and storm combo is drilled up for the finale, with a psychopathic rapist, bent on vengeance, thrown in for good measure. Do not file under rom-com.

The Sea Hawk (1940)

Errol Flynn stars as (guess what?) a privateer. Based around the time of the Spanish Armada, it sees Flynn jacking the Spanish ambassador’s boat and chatting up his wife. Being that it was released during the Second World War, there’s some pretty heavy jingoism going on, but it’s still worth a watch. If you must be a purist, track down the 1924 silent version, which is more faithful to Rafael Sabatini’s novel.

Under Seige (1992)

Steven Seagal cooks up a storm in the galley of the USS Missouri when Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones try to hijack the boat’s weaponry for sale on the black market. But what the baddies don’t realise is that Seagal is (of course) not really a ship’s cook, but a highly trained former Navy SEAL. Uh-oh. Under Seige was a massive success, and so impressed was Harrison Ford with Andrew Davis’ film, he signed up for the director’s next outing, 1993’s The Fugitive, on the strength of it.

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

Ernest Hemingway’s novella set sail for the big screen with Spencer Tracy at the helm, a role for which he would pick up an Oscar nomination. The story of a down-on-his-luck fisherman looking for one big catch was brought to life with a pioneering new film technology, the bluescreen. Cutting edge stuff.

Waterworld (1995)

It’s the future and rising sea levels have done away with most of Earth’s land. Enter Kevin Costner on his trimaran to become embroiled in a plot about a missing orphan, pirates called Smokers and the search for Dryland (yes, really). Eventually, Cossie upgrades to a jetski for his assault on the pirates home turf (an optimistically intact Exxon Valdez).

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

In boat movies, things generally get out of hand for three reasons: adverse weather (The Poseidon Adventure, The Perfect Storm), petty misdemeanours (Mutiny on the Bounty, Knife in the Water) and war (Master and Commander, The Hunt for Red October, The African Queen). In The Caine Mutiny, it’s all three – with a violent storm, the theft of some strawberries and enemy fire conspiring against the crew’s brief. Throw in an ace performance form Humphrey Bogart, and there’s little reason not to navigate towards the play button.

Dead Calm (1989)

The plot of this Aussie thriller (which also made our list of the 25 best Australian movies ever) has more tacks than the Sydney-Hobart boat race. An idyllic yachting getaway runs aground when a homicidal maniac (Billy Zane) joins the party of two (Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman). Cue the suspenseful action, including novel uses of harpoon and flare guns.

White Squall (1996)

What could possibly go wrong on a school sailing trip? Ridley Scott set out to discover in this based-on-a-true-story retelling of the Albatross, which sank in 1961. Jeff Bridges is the teacher who trains the boys in the ways of the waves. The white squall of the title refers to a sudden sea storm that appears without the usual foreboding clouds.

Lifeboat (1944)

If there was one thing Alfred Hitchcock liked, it was having a small stage (Rope, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window). For Lifeboat, that stage was the particularly cramped titular escape vessel. It all starts off genially enough, but needless to say tempers wear thin when there are limited rations and even more limited chance of rescue. If there was another thing Hitchcock liked, it was a twist. But we wouldn’t like to spoil the ending.

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

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My Cruiser Life Magazine

The Ultimate List of the 17 Best Sailing Movies

Nothing can inspire dreamers quicker than an evening of streaming old sailor movies. Sailing adventure movies can be terrifying survival stories or inspirational documentaries about sailors pushing their limits. Unfortunately, Hollywood blockbusters are rarely sailing-related, but there are a few examples out there that will get the seawater in your veins pumping.

Table of Contents

Waterworld (1995), white squall (1996), wind (1992) – the story of the world’s biggest sailing prize, captain ron (1992), pirates of the caribbean (2003-2017), black sails (2014-2017) – a series with great sailing scenes, master and commander – far side of the world (2003), kon tiki (2012), the bounty (1984), all is lost (2013), adrift (2018), the mercy (2018), maiden (2018), chasing bubbles (2016), sea gypsies: the far side of the world (2017), red dot on the ocean (2014), maidentrip (2013), which are your favorite top sailing movies.

Feature Films and Big Productions – Best Sailing Films of All Time

In no particular order, here are my top picks for the best sailboat movies. Good sailing movies can be divided into two categories. Most are about survival at sea, less a sailing movie and more of a drama set on a sailboat. Others are feature films, sailor movies complete with sailing action and exploration. Let’s start with those.

It’s the year 2500, and the ice caps have melted, and sea level rise has claimed the world. The Mariner (Kevin Costner) lives as a wandering nomad on the oceans in his custom-built trimaran. Chased by thugs on jet skis, he leads a search for a mystical place called the “Dryland.”

Ok, it’s ridiculous, and it was a complete flop at the box office when it was released. But Costner’s trimaran is pretty cool. And what cruising sailor doesn’t envy him, with his sad little tomato plant and total freedom?

Based on a true story, White Squall is the story of the brigantine Albatross and her crew of college-aged men. Directed by Ridley Scott and staring Jeff Bridges as the salty Skipper, the movie is captivating and authentic.

The Albatross was a teaching vessel, and Skipper was there to teach the men discipline and how to survive as a team. Drama unfolds as the crew gets to know one another, and even more drama ensues when the brigantine encounters a freakish white squall offshore.

Even cruising sailors will love this inspirational story of an underdog attempt to take back the America’s Cup. For the uninitiated, the America’s Cup is the most prestigious trophy in sailing and the oldest trophy in competitive sports.

The movie features incidents taken from real competitions and fictionalized into the plot. Peter Gilmour, who sailed in the 1987 America’s Cup, was the “Sailing Master” for the film. Many of the yachts used in filming were actual boats from America’s Cup races. Best brush up on those points of sail and sailing terms before watching–this movie is as authentic as it gets!

Overall, the movie has the over-the-top romanticism of movies of the era, like Top Gun but set on the water. But just like Top Gun , this movie is as entertaining today as it was back then.

Absolutely no list of sailing movies is complete without including Captain Ron . And love it or hate it, it deserves to be in top place. Sure, it’s goofy, silly, and a bit dated. But this story of a straight-laced midwestern family throwing in the towel to live on a sailboat in the Caribbean resonates with dreamers and sailors like no other film does.

What makes the movie so special is Kurt Douglas’s portrayal of the singular Captain Ron Rico. Who else could’ve given us these quotes, which will live on, quoted repeatedly on sailboats everywhere?

“If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen out there!” “A diesel loves her oil like a sailor loves his rum.” “If we get lost, we’ll just pull in somewhere and ask directions!” “Yeah, incentives are important. I learned that in rehab.” Captain Ron Rico

And then there’s the boat. The Formosa 51 ketch Wanderer was the perfect boat for this movie. Its dilapidated condition and lack of seaworthiness are sure to make every boat owner laugh out loud. But, like any good boat, with a little elbow grease, she got them through it.

There are tons of rumors and fables surrounding this film in sailing circles. But consider this. It accurately details two real types of characters. The Harvey family, led by the indomitable Martin Short, is like many starry-eyed Americans who fled to the Caribbean for a life afloat. And Captain Ron? He’s based on a real person . The real one even had a peg leg, but the movie producers thought that would be too over the top!

For a movie series based on a hokey 1960’s Disney Land ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean films have made a name for themselves. It’s the 15th highest-grossing film series of all time, and two movies have grossed more than $1 billion. There have been five films to date, but rumors are a sixth may be in the works.

So, Pirates is a fun series of movies, but how’s the sailing connection? Well, the Black Pearl is a sailing ship, sort of. It’s more of a ghost ship. And it’s all set at sea or on pirate-plagued islands in the Caribbean, so that’s neat. Overall, I wouldn’t rate these films as sailing ship movies, but they certainly are fun to watch.

It’s not a movie per se, but who doesn’t like a binge-worthy series? Combine Game of Thrones with a realistic pirate story, and you get the idea. It’s dirty, gritty, and historically accurate. Black Sails aired on Starz Network for four seasons and can be streamed on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and others.

The series is a prequel to Treasure Island and provides a backstory for pirates Long John Silver and Captain Flint. Unfortunately, Robert Louis Stevenson didn’t go into much detail about the notorious Flint, so the show used some artistic license to combine these fictional characters with the real pirates of the Caribbean.

More specifically, the stories are set in Nassau during its period as the “Pirate Republic” before England sent Woods Rogers to govern the island in 1718 and drive the pirates out. Yes, this is all there, and many real-life pirates are depicted in the show. The story tells the tales of Anne Bonny, Jack Rackham, Charles Vane, Israel Hands, and even Blackbeard. What a show!

And, of course, the ships and the action packed battle scenes are amazing to watch.

This movie is based on the novels by Patrick O’Brian about Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), commander of the British man-of-war HMS Surprise during the Napoleonic Wars. The story follows the chase and battle with the French privateer Acheron , who they follow around Cape Horn to the Galapagos Islands, where drama ensues.

The characters in the movie and novels are fictionalized, as are the precise events. But the author drew from real events that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. The film draws from three different novels in O’Brian’s series.

The film is exceedingly accurate, with all shooting taking place on real ships. Ten days of filming were done at sea, while the rest was shot in the same 20-million-gallon seawater tank in Baja California where Titanic was shot.

The Kon-Tiki Expedition was a 1947 raft journey to prove people from South America could have populated the Polynesian Islands. At the time, most theories believed that the Polynesian people settled from west to east, not east to west. The expedition was led by Norwegian writer Thor Heyerdahl, who wrote the book about it. There was also an Academy Award-winning documentary made by the same name in 1950.

The 2012 version is dramatized but follows the events closely. Heyerdahl’s opponents, at the time, countered that no expedition would likely be successful in reaching Polynesia from Chile. To prove them wrong, he builds a balsawood raft with the same materials and techniques that people would have 1,500 years prior. The 4,300 nautical miles journey doesn’t go smoothly, as you might imagine. But then, I don’t want to give away the movie!

You can’t talk about sea stories without including a good mutiny. And while there are plenty of good tails, few stand the test of time better than the character-driven plot of William Bligh and Fletcher Christian of the HMS Bounty . The story was portrayed in the 1962 MGM film Mutiny on the Bounty and again in 1984 in The Bounty starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. Both films used extremely accurate replica ships.

Sailing Movie Stories of Survival at Sea

It can’t be denied that many good sea stories revolve around the conflict of man against the elements. The sea is the ultimate element, so many movies about sailing turn toward a darker survival story.

Most sailors dislike this movie immensely. It has so many flaws that the story takes on more water than the boat in the movie does. But putting those facts aside, it’s a gripping tale of one man (Robert Redford), alone on a sinking cruising boat in the middle of the ocean, struggling to survive.

In 1983, a young couple was asked to ferry a yacht from the South Sea islands, through the sailing routes across the Pacific , to the US. But things go poorly when they run head-first into Hurricane Raymond, a late-season Category 4 storm.

The boat is knocked down and dismasted, and the man is washed overboard. The movie is based on the 2002 book Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft, the sole survivor. In other words, it’s a true story.

Another true story follows amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth), a dreamer who sets out to enter the 1968 Golden Globe single-hand around-the-world race. The only problem? He doesn’t own a boat or know how to sail. So he gets some sponsors, builds a trimaran, and leaves his home and family behind. Then, as you might suspect, drama ensues.

Documentary Sailing Movies

Sailing documentary films aren’t for everyone and seldom make for a light-hearted date night. But there are some great sailing movies in this genre for those looking for inspiring true stories without all the big-movie hubbub.

This movie tells the tale of the all-woman crew in the 1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Race. It features interviews with Captain Tracy Edwards, who formed the team.

This YouTube documentary is about the true story of the (self-described) worst sailor to ever sail around the world. At 25, Alex Rust left his life as a day trader in Chicago to sail the world. With a sailboat he buys on Craigslist, Rust finds adventure during his four-year journey.

Sea Gypsies is the story of the sailing ketch Infinity , a 120-foot hand-built vessel on a never-ending nomadic voyage. The crew of 16 “wandering miscreants” set out from New Zealand in 2014 during one of the worst winters on record. They stopped in Antarctica on the way to Patagonia, 8,000 miles away. The film has won numerous awards at global film festivals.

You can rent Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World on Venmo or Amazon Prime in the US.

Another story about a young man risking it all to find freedom on the ocean, Red Dot on the Ocean tells the story of Matt Rutherford. At age 17 and in jail, Rutherford became inspired and turned his life around. He bought a pocket cruiser sailboat on the internet and cruised from the US to Europe, West Africa, and back to the Caribbean.

He was then inspired by Artic explorers like Shackleton and set out to transit the Northwest Passage by boat. That led to his desire to become the first sailor to circumnavigate the American continents, a 27,000-mile journey.

You can purchase Red Dot on the Ocean on Venmo, Amazon Prime, or Apple TV. You can also hear some great interviews with Rutherford on the On the Wind podcast from 59 North Sailing .

Maidentrip is a movie about sailing around the world, as done by Laura Dekker. In 2009, Dekker decided she would become the youngest person to circumnavigate single-handedly. At one point, the Dutch courts stepped in and prohibited her from leaving. But with legal hurdles cleared, she departed in 2010 for the 518-day voyage.

Dekker sailed the 40-foot ketch Guppy on her trip. She was inspired by Tania Aebi, author of Maiden Voyage and person who previously held the record as the first American woman and youngest person to circumnavigate solo.

Whether you’re in the mood for hardcore action binging Black Sails or a light-hearted escape to the Caribbean with Captain Ron , there’s a little something for everyone. From docs to laughs, there’s a sailing movie to make everyone in your crew happy.

But the best is Captain Ron , seriously.

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

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12 Top Boat Movies To Inspire Nautical Adventures

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read the disclaimer here .

As someone who watches a lot of travel-inspiring films, I love watching movies set in far-flung destinations. But as the saying goes, “It’s about the journey, not the destination” so I’m focusing on a mode of travel in this post. Everyone else might focus on planes, trains, and automobiles but I’ve created a list of the top boat movies instead!

Boating movies, ship movies, sailing movies… They all sound similar but there are so many different types of boat movies!

Many are ship disaster movies with sea creatures, storms, and iceberg crashes. Some of the best boat movies are about the stormy seas within. Others are plain old swash-buckling adventure movies, and we love those too.

There are honestly too many movies with boats to mention, but I’ve done my best. I feel like that “Boats! Boats! Boats!” character on season six of How I Met Your Mother , I’ve written the word so many damn times.

Without further delay, here is my boat and ship movies list complete with boat movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more.

List of Top Boat Movies

1. lifeboat (1944).

English | 97m | 90% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a novella written by John Steinbeck, Lifeboat  was always going to be a brilliant boat movie.

It’s a story set during World War II about British and American citizens fleeing to lifeboats after their U-boats sink a passenger vessel. Because it was sympathetic to German soldiers and released while the war was still ongoing, many viewers didn’t rate this claustrophobic drama too highly!

Luckily, with the passage of time, the film holds up as one of the great boat films of all time.

2. The African Queen (1951)

English, German, Swahili | 105m | 96% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Winning four Academy Awards including Best Actress for Katherine Hepburn,  The African Queen  is one of the best movies about sailing. Many think it’s a true story, but it’s a fictional tale set at the start of World War I with Hepburn playing a British missionary in German East Africa .

After the war breaks out, she is forced to flee on a little postal boat named African Queen with boat captain Humphrey Bogart. It’s one of the top classic movies about boats that stands the test of time.

Although set in the former German East African territories ( Burundi , Rwanda , the Kionga Triangle , and parts of Tanzania and Mozambique ), it was filmed in entirely different places.

Studio filming was carried out in  Shepperton Studios  in the  UK . On-location filming was in places like the Ruiki River and Ponthierville Falls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other scenes were shot in Lake Albert, Port Butiaba, and other beautiful destinations in Uganda .

3. Moby Dick (1956)

English | 116m | 84% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Love to watch movies about boats sinking and movies about sailing ships? You’re in luck, Moby Dick  is both!

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is an American classic (one I still need to read). It’s a tale told from the point of view of a sailor called Ishmael. He’s sailing on a Nantucket whaling ship called Pequod run by Captain Ahab. The captain has an obsession with killing a white whale called Moby Dick, even if it puts his crew in danger.

Moby Dick  is directed by John Huston and stars Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab and Orson Welles as Father Mapple. There have been several other TV and film adaptations of the 1851 novel, but out of all of these movies about ships at sea, this version is still the best.

4. Jaws (1975)

English | 124m | 97% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Like  Jaws  wasn’t going to be on the list, right? Sure, it would be more at home on a list of thrillers or monster movies than a list of boating movies, but it definitely falls under the  nautical  movies banner. And the, “we’re going to need a bigger boat” line is iconic.

Jaws  is Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster mega-hit about a great white shark that is terrorising the fictional New England beach town of Amity Island . It was mostly shot at Martha’s Vineyard . Three men (played by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw) hunt down the shark on a boat called Orca .

It was just big enough to accomplish the task of taking down the great white (spoilers, I guess?) but not so big for everyone to survive.

5. Dead Calm (1989)

English | 95m | 83% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Dead Calm is an Australian psychological thriller starring Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman as a couple grieving the loss of their young son. While sailing through the Great Barrier Reef , they pick up a sailor (Billy Zane) who claims he is the sole survivor of a sinking sailboat.

They sail a 23-meter Bermudian ketch although I’m not sure of its name. But  Dead Calm  is one of the best boat trip movies with sailboats if you’re in the mood for a thriller. Plus, it’s not the only boats movie on this list with Billy Zane playing a bad guy!

6. The Hunt for Red October (1990)

English, Russian | 135m | 88% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

I don’t know if I would’ve put  The Hunt for Red October  on a list about ships in movies considering it’s about submarines, but it’s just too popular to leave out. Specifically, it’s about an undetectable typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine with a caterpillar drive.

The Hunt for Red October  is based on the Tom Clancy novel set during the Cold War. It stars Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan, a CIA agent who suspects the captain of the Red October sub, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) of being a Russian defector. 

He must find the captain and confirm his suspicions before Ramius’s submarine is targeted by either the Americans or Russians.

Many movies about ships are naturally full of suspense and The Hunt for Red October  is no different. Hopefully, this is one of the better ship movies so you’ll forgive the fact that it’s a submarine! Unless submarines are ships?! Honestly, I’m not the person to ask.

7. Captain Ron (1992)

English | 100m | 26% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Here’s one of the few films about ships on this list that is a comedy! Kurt Russel stars as the titular character in  Captain Ron . Martin Short’s character inherits a Formosa 51 sailing boat docked in the Caribbean and he enlists Captain Ron to sail the vessel to Miami for him.

The only trouble is that Captain Ron is what I would call a ‘bit of a character’ and not everything is plain sailing when he’s at the steering wheel.

Is this one of the best sailing ship movies of all time? Probably not, but if you’re in the mood to watch lighthearted, travel-inspiring movies on boats then you could do worse.

8. Forrest Gump (1994)

English | 142m | 71% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Okay, so  Forrest Gump  is a film set on a boat entirely, but in my opinion, it does have one of the most famous boats in movies! Forrest’s Beaufort shrimp boat called Jenny is an icon. And, of course, all of the other Jennys that Forrest adds to his fleet of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. boats.

Forrest is a hapless, affable human who just happens to live an extraordinary life. He becomes a shrimping boat captain after promising his army friend Bubba (who dies while fighting in the Vietnam War) that they would start the company together.

After a rocky start, a storm grounds all of the other shrimping boats in the area allowing the Jenny to thrive.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve watched Forrest Gump. 10 times? Maybe more? It’s not perfect, but I watch it whenever I want to travel around the US or just be inspired by a beautiful story.

9. Titanic (1997)

English | 195m | 88% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

Yes, you knew  Titanic  would be on this list of movies with ships somewhere! James Cameron directed not only one of the most successful films at the box office (as only James Cameron can) but one of the best Hollywood ship movies ever.

Titanic  uses the real-life disaster of the RMS Titanic, a White Star Line passenger liner and now one of the most famous movie ships. It hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean while sailing from Southampton to New York City . The movie follows a wealthy Rose (Kate Winslet) and the lower-class Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they find love against the odds.

It really is one of the best ship-sinking movies for many reasons. One is that in the extended cut, the Titanic takes just as long to sink in the film as it did in real life.

10. The Perfect Storm (2000)

English | 130m | 46% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Amazon Prime

One, while it’s not one of the best films with boats,  The Perfect Storm  is a true story. And despite getting mixed reviews, it was a commercial success at least.

It tells the tale of ‘Andrea Gail’, a commercial swordfishing boat that got caught up in one of the worst storms in modern history back in 1991. Three fierce weather fronts collided creating, some might say, the perfect storm.

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and John C. Reilly lead an all-star cast of fishermen caught up in this monumental storm somewhere between Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the  Flemish Cap . Slight spoilers, but The Perfect Storm comfortably falls within the ‘boat sinking movies’ category.

I hope you aren’t an optimist and you hoped that a small fishing boat would be able to survive one of the worst storms ever, right?

11. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

English | 143m | 80% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Disney+

Based on a ride at some of the  Walt Disney   theme parks,  Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl  is the first in a successful (yet mixed) fantasy franchise. Thinking about the movie, it has a much more complicated plot to explain than I first expected!

Basically,  Curse of the Black Pearl  stars Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, a pirate captain without a ship who arrives in Port Royal in the Caribbean . Orlando Bloom as blacksmith Will Turner and Keira Knightley as the governor’s daughter Elizabeth Swan also star.

The Black Pearl is a ship manned by undead pirates who are in need of Will’s blood, and a coin in Elizabeth’s possession to break their curse.

It’s a family-friendly, fun adventure movie and by far the best of the series. And who doesn’t love a pirate film?! 

12. True Spirit (2023)

English | 109m | 79% Rotten Tomatoes | Watch on Netflix

You don’t have to resort to watching amateur sailing videos on YouTube to satiate your desire to watch free boat movies. If you have a Netflix subscription,  True Spirit  is one of the best boating movies on Netflix!

Based on a memoir of the same name, True Spirit  is about a 16-year-old Australian sailor. She wants to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. Naturally, she must deal with tons of challenges and face her greatest faces (one of them being a horrendous death, I assume).

Although there aren’t many sailing movies Netflix has made as an original production, this one is a really great one. She sails a S&S 34 Ella’s Pink Lady and goes through some unbelievably scary moments.

Other Top Boat Movies on Ships: Overboard (1987), Hook (1991),  The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou  (2004), The Boat That Rocked/Pirate Radio  (2009),  Life of Pi  (2012), All Is Lost (2013),  The Mercy  (2017),  Dunkirk  (2017),  Adrift  (2018)

Top Boat Movies: That’s a Wrap!

Those are some of my favourite boat movies and ship Movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other platforms.

Have you watched any of these films or have any more recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!

75+ Best Travel Movies To Inspire Your Wanderlust

Hey! I wrote this. And I'm the human (and hair) behind Almost Ginger. I live for visiting filming locations, attending top film festivals and binge-watching travel inspiring films. I'm here to inspire you to do the same! Get in touch by leaving a comment or contacting me directly: [email protected] .

4 thoughts on “ 12 Top Boat Movies To Inspire Nautical Adventures ”

Wonderful list Rebecca. So many of these I love. Lifeboat is in my list of top 10 Hitchcock films, and Jaws is an all-time fav of mine. Nice to see Dead Calm make the list – a top-notch, edge-of-your-seat thriller. I must check out Captain Ron, Kurt Russell is great but this one has passed me by.

Thanks, Dan! There are so many great ones, and so many more I need to check out and add to the list!

I love this post. So many good ones. Jaws is by far my favorite on this list. So much of the fun of that film is the boat itself. I feel like I know every detail of it.

I would put Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World on a list like this. Impeccably well-made and almost entirely on a ship. I also have Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo on my mind. That is how you work with a boat on a film set.

Thanks Kevin! 🙂 Funnily enough I’d thought of Fitzcarraldo but I’d JUST included it in a list of movies about Peru so I thought it would be a bit much considering it’s a more obscure film. I can’t say if heard of the others but I do actually need to watch Jaws again, it’s been aaaages

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22 Sailing Movies You Must Watch In 2024

If you’re looking for sailing movies you absolutely must watch then you’ve come to the right place! Here are our top picks of the best sailing films out there to keep you dreaming of your next sailing adventure.

Adam and I have spent many a winter evening huddled together under a blanket watching sailing movie after sailing movie, and we found some great ones that we’ve watched over and over (and some awful ones too!)

I have to say that some of these might not be great ones to watch with nervous family members before you head off on any kind of voyage. They also might not be great for you to watch before embarking on a sailing adventure!

But even though we were living on a sailboat when I watched most of these, and even though I’m not the best at separating real life from fantasy, I didn’t get put off sailing. So you might be fine!

Obviously, films are a personal taste, but here are our picks of the best sailing shows out there – you’ll just have to watch them all to decide whether you agree with us or not.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn from other affiliate programs. This means we may receive a small commission on products purchased through our links at no extra cost to you.

• Chasing Bubbles
• Red Dot On The Ocean
• COYOTE: The Mike Plant Story
• White Squall
• Captain Ron
• All Is Lost
• Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)
• Dead Calm (1989)
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
• In The Heart Of The Sea
• The Endurance
• True Spirit
• Untold: The Race Of The Century

Our Top Picks – The Best Sailing Films Out There

The Best Sailing Movies Based On True Events

These are our favourite sailing movies based on real events. Obviously, the filmmakers have had a lot of artistic license, and when you read up on what really happened it doesn’t always correlate with what you see in the film.

We still find these the most gripping films as you can imagine someone actually going through the events. Here are some of the best based on true events.

Adrift is probably my favourite sailing film of all time because I am in awe of Tami and her survival skills!

Although the movie itself rather overdramatises the events to pull on the heartstrings, it’s still a true story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s ordeal of sailing into a Pacific hurricane.

The boat rolls and she’s left unconscious. She wakes to a dismasting and then sails solo under a jury rig for 41 days alone to Hawaii with limited supplies.

It’s based on the book of her experience, ‘Red Sky In Mourning’, which you can get a copy of here .

I’d recommend reading the book first. I got so involved with the whole story that I read up on Tami afterward and her strength and courage through all she’s had to face in life, even after the catastrophic event, is really incredible.

✔ Get a copy of the DVD here

#2 Kon Tiki

Another of the best out there, in our opinion. The ones based on real-life events are so much more exciting!

This sailing movie is based on Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific Ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans could have crossed the sea and settled on Polynesian islands back in pre-Columbian times.

We loved how the film was done, with the dramatic lead-up to a voyage that seemed so sure to fail, to the days the men spent at sea in a tiny floating raft. I won’t ruin the ending for you, but it’s a must-see film in our opinion!

✔ You can get a copy here

#3 Chasing Bubbles

If you want to see what sailing the world is really like then Chasing Bubbles is the documentary for you.

Alex was a farm boy turned day trader who set off on a voyage around the world at the age of 25. He had no idea how to sail, but stuck at his adventure for 4 years and filmed it all.

This is a true real-life sailing movie. It’s gritty, and raw, and the footage is far from professional, but that’s what makes it so compelling.

I found it hard to watch in places, and it certainly didn’t have the happy ending I was hoping for, but it’s great if you want to know what life at sea is really like.

You can watch it all for free on YouTube .

#4 The Mercy

In this sailing movie Colin Firth plays Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor who competed in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in the hope of becoming the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping.

I found this an incredible emotional watch, but it’s one of the best films about sailing out there, with some superb action shots and a great true storyline. And an all-star cast really helps too! Give this one a few hours of your time and you won’t be disappointed.

✔ Buy now on Amazon

#5 Deep Water

This is a documentary of the film above and is a great watch if you enjoyed The Mercy.

This documentary-style movie uses original 16mm footage, tape recordings, and interviews, and reconstructs Donald Crowhurst’s tragic, perhaps foolish but certainly brave and determined journey to complete the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.

It’s not always the most cheerful watch but it will certainly get you thinking!

#6 The Dove

This feel-good film tells the true story of  Robin Lee Graham , a 16-year-old boy who set sail in an attempt to be the youngest person ever to complete a solo circumnavigation.

Shortly after setting sail he falls in love, and the film shows this romance blossom as she meets him at different places around the world.

There are the obvious ups and downs, and we won’t ruin the ending, but it’s a happy one and this film is uplifting compared to some in the list!

#7 Red Dot on the Ocean (2014)

The inspirational story of Matt Rutherford, a severely troubled youth, who went on to become a sailing legend.

This film shows how Matt Rutherford overcomes obstacle after obstacle in his sailing journey, until facing his biggest ever challenge. To complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the Americas, solo.

This 27,000 mile journey saw him tackling icebergs and the legendary Cape Horn, a voyage many professional sailors declared “a suicide mission.”

It’s a truly inspirational story that you’ll want to watch if you have plans for a great sailing voyage yourself!

✔ Watch now on Amazon

#8 COYOTE: The Mike Plant Story 

This is more of a documentary than a film but it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re looking for some sailing inspiration.

It depicts the life of the single-handed American yachtsman, Mike Plant, and focuses on his sailing career. It’s an unconventional life, full of pushing boundaries and some notable successes before his tragic death at sea in advance of the 1992 Vendée Globe .

The Best Sailing Movies For Escapism

If you’re looking to forget about life for a while and be transported to the sea then check out these shows for escapism and be transported to the wind and waves!

Wind follows a sailor’s dream of winning the America’s Cup. It’s pretty cheesy to be honest, with fast boats, lots of drama, and of course a love story, but it’s a great film with some wonderful camera work – especially the sailing shots.

We really enjoyed this easy to watch classic.

✔ You can get a DVD copy here

I’m not sure if you can really class this as a sailing movie, but I’m including it in this list.

Adam and I aren’t Disney fanatics, but we did really enjoy this Disney sailing movie! It’s about a girl born to sail but held back by her family, until she just goes for it anyway and has the adventure of a lifetime.

I think any sailor will appreciate the nautical themes and the adventurous spirit of this uplifting show. If you don’t find yourself singing songs from this on your next sail then you need to watch it again, on repeat, until you know all the words!

#11 White Squall

This sailing movie is based on the 1961 sinking of the schooner,  Albatross , in the Gulf of Mexico. When caught in a white squall, the skipper tries to lead a bunch of school kid crew through survival tactics at sea.

I’ve got to be honest, we didn’t really enjoy the actual film production. The special effects are a little unbelievable and it’s a bit overdone.

But the actual boat is incredible and it’s an easy watch. It’s definitely one to make you dream of being out on the ocean again!

#12 Styx (2019)

This isn’t a feel good escapist sailing film like some of the others but it will have you completely absorbed for the duration!

Styx is the story of a young woman torn away from her own little sailing bubble, when she comes across a group of refugees shipwrecked at sea.

She faces many moral dilemmas out on the ocean that most of us hope never to have to face, yet here she is with some serious, life-saving decisions to make.

This is a film full of drama, and a little too much like real life. It will certainly make you think.

#13 Captain Ron (1992)

This is such a funny film and an absolute must-watch if you want to take your mind off things for a few hours and have some belly laughs.

Captain Ron is employed by a Chicago businessman who inherits a yacht, to skipper it from the Caribbean to Mexico. Captain Ron is perhaps not the most trustworthy of sailors! He wiggles his way into favour with the business man’s family, all while making a million and one sailing mistakes.

It’s a great watch and we highly recommend it!

#14 All Is Lost

I should really put a disclaimer here: I absolutely hated this film. But I know so many people who love and it is always recommended on sailing forums as one of the best sailing-related movies out there, so it has to make the list!

It’s a one-man show and starts with disaster when his sailboat is hit and begins to sink. It is an interesting look at all the mistakes you could make when stranded at sea, miles from anything.

My best guess is that they are trying to show how you don’t always do the most logical thing when in a tricky situation out there alone, but I couldn’t help but just feel incredibly frustrated!

#15 Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)

This is a bit of a silly story plot but I still found I wanted to watch to the end. When six friends head out for a sailing trip and jump in a calm ocean, none of them expect to be stranded in the ocean with no way of boarding their boat again.

You watch the excitement turn to terror as they realise they are lost at sea with no way to get back to safety.

✔ Watch now in Amazon

#16 Dead Calm (1989)

This psychological thriller has an all-star cast and a big reputation.

It tells of an Australian couple who take to sea to find solitude after the death of their son. They find a lone sailor who is the only survivor of a sinking ship, and he joins them on their yacht.

Obviously that’s a super simplified version and we’d recommend you give it a watch for yourself. It’s a little over-dramatised, but then aren’t all the best escapism movies!?

The Best Period Drama Sailing Movies

I love a good period drama, and throw in a set of sails and I’m happy for the evening! Here are my top choices.

#17 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

We actually watched this in Pilos, the site of a huge sea battle, in a super calm anchorage surrounded by castle ruins and twinkling distant town lights. Maybe that had something to do with how much we enjoyed it – though I doubt it!

This critically-acclaimed film was nominated for 10 Oscars and won for best cinematography and sound editing. We could see why! It stars Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. It was based on a series of novels by the author Patrick O’Brian.

The sailing movie is set during the Napoleonic wars and dramatises the story of an arrogant captain attempting to capture a French warship.

Obviously, there are some tense battle scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but some of the real highlights of this sailing show are the depictions of friendships formed on the high seas, and the tough decisions that needed to be made in times of war.

#18 In The Heart Of The Sea

Starring Chris Hemsworth, this period drama sailing film is based on the great novel Moby Dick. This film goes into more detail than the novel, and explores the real-life events that inspired its writing. With the recent orca attacks on sailing boats in the Mediterranean, this film has even more relevance.

In the winter of 1820, a New England whaling ship was attacked by a gigantic whale with a thirst for revenge. This movie delves into the aftermath left by the whale and the unthinkable decisions the crew had to make to survive.

#19 The Endurance

This is a retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s tragic expedition to Antarctica in 1914-1916. It’s fascinating because it features new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of key expedition members.

You’ll also hear archived audio interviews with expedition members, and get to see footage from the trip.

The Best Sailing Movies On Netflix

There aren’t many sailing movies out on Netflix, though we’re pretty sure this will change in time. We’ve added a few you can watch in the meantime.

#20 True Spirit

It’s no wonder True Spirit took the world by storm when it was released on Netflix. It’s based on the true story of Jessica Watson, who aimed to be the youngest person to sail non-stop around the world.

It’s seriously tense in places but it has such a feel-good nature that we couldn’t tear ourselves away. Seriously, what an incredible girl to have endured so much and come through smiling. It’s the perfect sailing film to get you itching to go out for a sail!

This sailing movie is the true story of Tracy Edwards, a 26-year-old female skipper who led the first-ever all-women crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the world race. We really loved this film.

She was awarded the 1990 Yachtsman of the year award – the first woman to have ever received the award. It’s an inspiring story of perseverance in the face of adversity and a must-see for any sailors – especially women!

You can get your copy here or watch it on Netflix.

#22 Untold. The Race Of The Century

This isn’t actually a film, it’s a documentary, but you can watch as though it is a film and get totally absorbed in the action.

‘Untold’ is the story of the Australia II’s historic victory at the 1983 America’s Cup. The crew tell the story of their absolute commitment to winning the race, and every step they took to get them there.

It’s really well put together and gripping from the start, with lots of great sailing footage. This one is definitely worth a watch!

Conclusion: The Best Sailing Movies

So there you have it, our pick of the best sailing films and documentaries out there for you to enjoy sailing vicariously!

Hopefully, that’s enough to lift your spirits until the next time you can make it out on the open waters and create sailing movie adventures of your own!

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you missed a big one. Mutiny on the Bounty. i enjoy all three versions.

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• Search Search Hi! We’re Emily, Adam and Tiny Cat, liveaboard sailors travelling the world on our 38ft sailboat and writing about it as we go. We hope we can inspire you to live the life you’ve always dreamed, whether that’s exploring the world or living a more simple way of life in a tiny home. Find out more. Patreon
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Sailing & Seamanship Movies

Movies about sailing, boating, pirates, castaway, fishing, sea & boat adventure, biography, discovery, exploration, island and surfing, and hijacking.

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. 180° South (2010)

PG | 85 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport

The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.

Director: Chris Malloy | Stars: Yvon Chouinard , Doug Tompkins , Keith Malloy , Alicia Salome Acuna Ika

Votes: 3,168 | Gross: $0.03M

2. Wind (I) (1992)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sport

Romance and adventure happen during the America's Cup series of yachting races.

Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Matthew Modine , Jennifer Grey , Cliff Robertson , Jack Thompson

Votes: 3,094 | Gross: $5.52M

Best sailing...

3. Turning Tide (2013)

TV-14 | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Sport

It tells the story of Yann Kermadec whose dreams suddenly come true when he has to replace the DCNS star skipper at the last minute before the start of the Vendée Globe (a round-the-world ... See full summary  »

Director: Christophe Offenstein | Stars: François Cluzet , Samy Seghir , Virginie Efira , Guillaume Canet

Votes: 2,540

4. Waterworld (1995)

PG-13 | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In a future where the polar ice-caps have melted and Earth is almost entirely submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw "smokers," and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl try to find dry land.

Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Kevin Costner , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Dennis Hopper , Tina Majorino

Votes: 208,977 | Gross: $88.25M

5. Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)

Not Rated | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

During the Napoleonic wars, a British Navy Captain has adventures in Central American waters.

Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Gregory Peck , Virginia Mayo , Robert Beatty , Moultrie Kelsall

Votes: 7,473

6. Captains Courageous (1937)

G | 117 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.

Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy , Freddie Bartholomew , Lionel Barrymore , Melvyn Douglas

Votes: 10,857

Some sailing and excellent story

7. White Squall (1996)

PG-13 | 129 min | Adventure, Drama

Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Jeff Bridges , Caroline Goodall , John Savage , Scott Wolf

Votes: 25,379 | Gross: $10.30M

8. Dead Calm (1989)

R | 96 min | Horror, Thriller

After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.

Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Nicole Kidman , Sam Neill , Billy Zane , Rod Mullinar

Votes: 43,523 | Gross: $7.83M

9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.

Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Russell Crowe , Paul Bettany , Billy Boyd , James D'Arcy

Votes: 236,979 | Gross: $93.93M

Best sea war

10. The Bounty (1984)

PG | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, History

Fed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Mel Gibson , Anthony Hopkins , Laurence Olivier , Edward Fox

Votes: 30,154 | Gross: $8.60M

11. Captain Ron (1992)

PG-13 | 100 min | Adventure, Comedy

A Chicagoan inherits an old yacht. He, his wife, daughter and son fly to a Caribbean island and hire a dubious Captain Ron to sail them on an adventure to Miami.

Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Kurt Russell , Martin Short , Mary Kay Place , Benjamin Salisbury

Votes: 22,845 | Gross: $22.52M

Best sailing comedy

12. The African Queen (1951)

PG | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

In WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.

Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart , Katharine Hepburn , Robert Morley , Peter Bull

Votes: 84,033 | Gross: $0.54M

13. A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)

Approved | 103 min | Adventure, Drama

In 1870, a Jamaican colonial family sends its children to Britain for proper schooling but their ship is taken over by pirates who become fond of the kids.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Anthony Quinn , James Coburn , Dennis Price , Lila Kedrova

Votes: 2,314

14. Utopia (1950)

82 min | Comedy

Stan inherits a yacht and a South Pacific island. Ollie and Stan sail there with 2 other men. They shipwreck on a new atoll and settle there. An ex-fiancee joins them. They declare an independent nation and problems arise.

Directors: Léo Joannon , John Berry , Alfred J. Goulding , Tim Whelan | Stars: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Suzy Delair , Max Elloy

Votes: 2,210

15. Against All Flags (1952)

Approved | 84 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Brian Hawke of the Royal Navy versus the pirates of Madagascar.

Director: George Sherman | Stars: Errol Flynn , Maureen O'Hara , Anthony Quinn , Alice Kelley

Votes: 2,949

16. Knife in the Water (1962)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Thriller

A couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Leon Niemczyk , Jolanta Umecka , Zygmunt Malanowicz , Anna Ciepielewska

Votes: 23,489

if you liked "Dead Calm" you may enjoy this one also.

17. The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller

In 1901, two British yachtsmen visiting Germany's Frisian Islands accidentally discover a German plot to invade England.

Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Michael York , Jenny Agutter , Simon MacCorkindale , Alan Badel

Votes: 1,368

18. The Perfect Storm (2000)

PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.

Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: George Clooney , Mark Wahlberg , John C. Reilly , Diane Lane

Votes: 177,378 | Gross: $182.62M

19. Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Not Rated | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, History

In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.

Directors: Lewis Milestone , Carol Reed , George Seaton | Stars: Marlon Brando , Trevor Howard , Richard Harris , Hugh Griffith

Votes: 17,747 | Gross: $13.68M

20. Plymouth Adventure (1952)

Passed | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, History

Trials and tribulations beset the one hundred odd settlers that journey to Virginia in 1620 including unexpectedly arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Spencer Tracy , Gene Tierney , Van Johnson , Leo Genn

Votes: 1,644

21. Robinson Crusoe (1954)

Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

The classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Dan O'Herlihy , Jaime Fernández , Felipe de Alba , Chel López

Votes: 4,477

22. Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950)

Approved | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Romance

When some of his crew are captured by the Spaniards in Rio De La Hacha, pirate Captain Peter Blood enters the city in disguise in order to free his men from Marquis De Riconete's prison.

Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Louis Hayward , Patricia Medina , George Macready , Alfonso Bedoya

23. Morning Light (2008)

PG | 97 min | Documentary, Sport

Experience an inspiring true-life adventure aboard the high-tech sloop MORNING LIGHT. Fifteen rookie sailors have one goal in mind -- to be part of her crew, racing in the most revered sailing competition on Earth, the Transpac Yacht Race.

Director: Mark Monroe | Stars: Chris Branning , Kate Theisen , Chris Schubert , Graham Brant-Zawadzki

Votes: 417 | Gross: $0.28M

24. Captain James Cook (1987–2000)

480 min | Biography, Drama, History

Based on Captain James Cook's three voyages. It was on his first voyage, in 1770 (while in the South Pacific region to observe the transit of Venus), that Captain Cook discovered the east ... See full summary  »

Stars: Keith Michell , John Gregg , Erich Hallhuber , Jacques Penot

25. The Black Swan (1942)

Approved | 87 min | Adventure, Drama

An ex-pirate contends with rowdy buccaneers and a love/hate relationship with an aristocratic woman who's tougher than she seems.

Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power , Maureen O'Hara , Laird Cregar , Thomas Mitchell

Votes: 5,059 | Gross: $1.01M

26. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)

PG-13 | 154 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Gérard Depardieu , Armand Assante , Sigourney Weaver , Loren Dean

Votes: 32,680 | Gross: $7.19M

27. The Hunt for Red October (1990)

PG | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?

Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Sean Connery , Alec Baldwin , Scott Glenn , Sam Neill

Votes: 213,728 | Gross: $122.01M

28. The Sea Hawk (1940)

Approved | 127 min | Action, Adventure, History

Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn , Brenda Marshall , Claude Rains , Donald Crisp

Votes: 10,657

29. The Boat (1981)

R | 149 min | Drama, War

A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.

Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow , Herbert Grönemeyer , Klaus Wennemann , Hubertus Bengsch

Votes: 263,386 | Gross: $11.49M

30. The Vikings (1958)

Not Rated | 116 min | Action, Adventure, History

A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.

Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas , Tony Curtis , Ernest Borgnine , Janet Leigh

Votes: 15,599 | Gross: $7.00M

31. Ondine (2009)

PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

An Irish fisherman discovers a woman in his fishing net whom his precocious daughter believes to be a selkie.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Colin Farrell , Alicja Bachleda , Dervla Kirwan , Alison Barry

Votes: 22,578 | Gross: $0.55M

32. Masquerade (1988)

R | 91 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller

A recently orphaned heiress meets a young racing yacht captain in the Long Island Hamptons. He shows interest in her, but love may not be the reason.

Director: Bob Swaim | Stars: Rob Lowe , Meg Tilly , Kim Cattrall , Doug Savant

Votes: 4,338 | Gross: $15.86M

33. The Weight of Water (2000)

R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Catherine McCormack , Sean Penn , Sarah Polley , Elizabeth Hurley

Votes: 10,008 | Gross: $0.10M

34. Voyage (1993 TV Movie)

R | 86 min | Thriller

Morgan (Rutger Hauer) and Catherine "Kit" Norvell (Karen Allen) have their future plans ready. In Monte Carlo, their sailboat is stocked. From there, they are going to sail to Malta and ... See full summary  »

Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: Rutger Hauer , Eric Roberts , Karen Allen , Connie Nielsen

if you enjoyed "dead calm" you may want to watch this one also

35. Deep Water (2006)

PG | 92 min | Documentary, History, Sport

A documentary about the disastrous 1968 round-the-world yacht race.

Directors: Louise Osmond , Jerry Rothwell | Stars: Tilda Swinton , Donald Crowhurst , Ted Hynds , Robin Knox-Johnston

Votes: 3,292 | Gross: $0.27M

interesting story. if you have time and nothing else to watch...

36. Triangle (2009)

R | 99 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Five friends set sail and their yacht is overturned by a strange and sudden storm. A mysterious ship arrives to rescue them, and what happens next cannot be explained.

Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Melissa George , Joshua McIvor , Jack Taylor , Michael Dorman

Votes: 128,984

excellent start up....

37. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

R | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, Oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.

Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Bill Murray , Owen Wilson , Anjelica Huston , Cate Blanchett

Votes: 210,359 | Gross: $24.01M

should be good but very boring

38. Summer Rental (1985)

PG | 87 min | Comedy

An overworked air-traffic controller takes his family on a beach vacation but is soon beset by series of mishaps.

Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: John Candy , Richard Crenna , Rip Torn , Karen Austin

Votes: 18,284 | Gross: $24.69M

should be good but not funny enough.

39. Yellowbeard (1983)

PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

After serving two decades in prison, Yellowbeard (Graham Chapman) breaks out determined to recover the treasure that he buried so long ago, alongside his son, old crew, and the British Navy.

Director: Mel Damski | Stars: Graham Chapman , Peter Boyle , Cheech Marin , Tommy Chong

Votes: 8,514 | Gross: $4.30M

40. The World in His Arms (1952)

Approved | 104 min | Action, Adventure, History

In 1850 San Francisco, a Russian Countess runs away from an arranged marriage to a Russian Prince and falls into the arms of an American sea captain who occasionally poaches seals in Russian Alaska.

Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Gregory Peck , Ann Blyth , Anthony Quinn , John McIntire

Votes: 2,323 | Gross: $3.00M

41. Billy Budd (1962)

Approved | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, War

When a kind-hearted sailor is made to join an English vessel at war, he finds himself caught between devotion to his crew mates and obedience to their hated, cruel master-at-arms.

Director: Peter Ustinov | Stars: Robert Ryan , Peter Ustinov , Melvyn Douglas , Paul Rogers

Votes: 4,870

42. Wake of the Red Witch (1948)

Approved | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Romance

During the 1860s in the South Pacific, Capt. Ralls, skipper of the Red Witch, has a series of adventures involving sunken gold bullion, pearls, natives, an unscrupulous ship owner and a giant octopus.

Director: Edward Ludwig | Stars: John Wayne , Gail Russell , Gig Young , Adele Mara

Votes: 2,928

43. The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960)

Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, War

During WW2, Lt. Rip Crandall, who was a yachtsman before the war, takes command of the USS Echo, a sailing ship, for a secret mission in waters patrolled by Japanese warships.

Director: Richard Murphy | Stars: Jack Lemmon , Ricky Nelson , John Lund , Chips Rafferty

Votes: 2,504

44. South (1919)

TV-G | 88 min | Documentary, Adventure, History

The story of the 1914-1916 Antarctic exploration mission of Sir Ernest Shackleton . The ship sails south, breaking the ice, and ultimately getting trapped by the fast-changing weather. The ... See full summary  »

Director: Frank Hurley | Stars: Ernest Shackleton , Frank Worsley , J. Stenhouse , L. Hussey

45. Longitude (2000– )

200 min | Drama, History

In two parallel stories, the clockmaker John Harrison builds the marine chronometer for safe navigation at sea in the 18th Century and the horologist Rupert Gould becomes obsessed with restoring it in the 20th Century.

Director: Charles Sturridge | Stars: Jeremy Irons , Anna Chancellor , Emma Kay , Samuel West

Votes: 2,425

46. The Enemy Below (1957)

Approved | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

During WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.

Director: Dick Powell | Stars: Robert Mitchum , Curd Jürgens , David Hedison , Theodore Bikel

Votes: 12,209

47. The Endurance (2000)

G | 97 min | Documentary, History

A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton 's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in 1914-1916, featuring new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of key ... See full summary  »

Director: George Butler | Stars: Liam Neeson , Julian Ayer , John Blackborow , David Cale

Votes: 2,186 | Gross: $2.45M

48. Kon-Tiki (1950)

Approved | 77 min | Documentary

A documentary about the Kon-Tiki expedition of the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl .

Director: Thor Heyerdahl | Stars: Thor Heyerdahl , Herman Watzinger , Erik Hesselberg , Knut Haugland

Votes: 2,794

49. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp , Geoffrey Rush , Orlando Bloom , Keira Knightley

Votes: 1,204,235 | Gross: $305.41M

50. Poseidon (2006)

PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.

Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss , Kurt Russell , Emmy Rossum , Josh Lucas

Votes: 110,094 | Gross: $60.67M

51. Cast Away (2000)

PG-13 | 143 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

A FedEx executive undergoes a physical and emotional transformation after crash landing on a deserted island.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks , Helen Hunt , Paul Sanchez , Lari White

Votes: 635,811 | Gross: $233.63M

52. Nim's Island (2008)

PG | 96 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Imagination and reality collide when young Nim's father goes missing at sea. Fate brings to her the author of the Alex Rover series, her favorite books, and together they try to find Nim's father.

Directors: Jennifer Flackett , Mark Levin | Stars: Jodie Foster , Gerard Butler , Abigail Breslin , Michael Carman

Votes: 36,801 | Gross: $48.01M

53. Sea Wolf (2009– )

180 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

A young man is taken aboard a seal-hunting vessel helmed by the cruel captain Wolf Larsen.

Stars: Sebastian Koch , Tim Roth , Neve Campbell , Stephen Campbell Moore

Votes: 1,054

Excellent story

54. Robinson Crusoe (1997)

PG-13 | 105 min | Adventure, Drama

1703: Robinson Crusoe has to leave Scotland for a year, but after months sailing, a storm wrecks his ship. He ends up as only survivor on a desolate island.

Directors: Rod Hardy , George Miller | Stars: Pierce Brosnan , William Takaku , Polly Walker , Ian Hart

Votes: 13,178

55. Lord of the Flies (1990)

R | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller

Stranded on an island, a group of schoolboys degenerate into savagery.

Director: Harry Hook | Stars: Balthazar Getty , Chris Furrh , Danuel Pipoly , James Badge Dale

Votes: 33,443 | Gross: $13.99M

strange kids

56. Kon-Tiki (2012)

PG-13 | 118 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

Legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl's epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft in 1947, in an effort to prove that it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

Directors: Joachim Rønning , Espen Sandberg | Stars: Pål Sverre Hagen , Anders Baasmo , Gustaf Skarsgård , Odd-Magnus Williamson

Votes: 51,808 | Gross: $1.52M

57. The Dove (1974)

PG | 105 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

The true story of a 16 year old (Robin Lee Graham, played by Joseph Bottoms) who sailed alone around the world in a 23 foot sloop named "The Dove". On his journey he meets and falls in love... See full summary  »

Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Joseph Bottoms , Deborah Raffin , John McLiam , Dabney Coleman

Votes: 457 | Gross: $0.33M

58. Violets Are Blue... (1986)

PG-13 | 88 min | Drama, Romance

Young love may endure in your heart and one day re-ignite, but reality may soon dowse the flames.

Director: Jack Fisk | Stars: Sissy Spacek , Kevin Kline , Bonnie Bedelia , John Kellogg

Votes: 1,171 | Gross: $4.74M

59. Lucky Lady (1975)

PG | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A trio of rum-runners during prohibition in the 1930s engage in a menage-a-trois after business hours.

Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Gene Hackman , Liza Minnelli , Burt Reynolds , Geoffrey Lewis

Votes: 1,317 | Gross: $24.44M

60. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)

PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.

Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Ewan McGregor , Emily Blunt , Amr Waked , Kristin Scott Thomas

Votes: 66,995 | Gross: $9.03M

61. Message in a Bottle (1999)

PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Romance

A woman discovers a tragic love letter in a bottle on a beach, and is determined to track down its author.

Director: Luis Mandoki | Stars: Kevin Costner , Robin Wright , Paul Newman , John Savage

Votes: 40,237 | Gross: $52.88M

63. Charlie St. Cloud (2010)

PG-13 | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

After Charlie survives a car crash that kills his younger brother, he is given the gift of seeing the spirits of his brother and others who he has lost, and must use his powers to save the woman he loves from impending disaster.

Director: Burr Steers | Stars: Zac Efron , Kim Basinger , Charlie Tahan , Amanda Crew

Votes: 64,601 | Gross: $31.16M

where is this place?

64. Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)

R | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror

When a group of friends fail to lower the ladder of their boat, they find themselves stranded in the surrounding waters and struggle to survive.

Director: Hans Horn | Stars: Susan May Pratt , Richard Speight Jr. , Niklaus Lange , Ali Hillis

Votes: 19,879

65. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

PG-13 | 151 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Jack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp , Orlando Bloom , Keira Knightley , Jack Davenport

Votes: 764,093 | Gross: $423.32M

66. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

PG-13 | 169 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, find Jack Sparrow, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp , Orlando Bloom , Keira Knightley , Geoffrey Rush

Votes: 690,401 | Gross: $309.42M

67. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.

Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Johnny Depp , Penélope Cruz , Ian McShane , Geoffrey Rush

Votes: 561,569 | Gross: $241.06M

68. The Isle (2000)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Thriller

Working at a fishing resort in an idyllic location, but surrounded by various facets of human unpleasantness, a young mute woman falls in love with a man on the run from the law for committing murder.

Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Jung Suh , Kim Yu-seok , Cho Jae-hyun , Jang Hang-seon

Votes: 14,669 | Gross: $0.02M

is this how they fish in Korea?

69. The Endless Summer (1966)

Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary, Sport

The crown jewel to ten years of Bruce Brown surfing documentaries. Brown follows two young surfers around the world in search of the perfect wave, and ends up finding quite a few in addition to some colorful local characters.

Director: Bruce Brown | Stars: Robert August , Michael Hynson , Lord James Blears , Bruce Brown

Votes: 6,195

70. Riding Giants (2004)

PG-13 | 105 min | Documentary, Biography, History

Documentary detailing the origins and history of surf culture.

Director: Stacy Peralta | Stars: Laird Hamilton , Darrick Doerner , Dave Kalama , Jeff Clark

Votes: 4,661 | Gross: $2.28M

71. Moby Dick (1956)

Not Rated | 116 min | Adventure, Drama

The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.

Director: John Huston | Stars: Gregory Peck , Richard Basehart , Leo Genn , James Robertson Justice

Votes: 21,733 | Gross: $10.40M

72. The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

Not Rated | 86 min | Adventure, Drama

An old Cuban fisherman's dry spell is broken when he hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea.

Directors: John Sturges , Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Spencer Tracy , Felipe Pazos , Harry Bellaver , Richard Alameda

Votes: 8,603

73. Open Water (2003)

R | 79 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror

Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left.

Director: Chris Kentis | Stars: Blanchard Ryan , Daniel Travis , Saul Stein , Michael E. Williamson

Votes: 56,321 | Gross: $30.61M

74. Wild Caribbean (2007– )

50 min | Documentary

Wild Caribbean is a four-part nature documentary series exploring the natural and cultural history of the Caribbean Islands and Sea.

Star: Steve Toussaint

75. Wild Pacific (2009– )

TV-PG | 353 min | Documentary

A documentary series on life in and adapted to the conditions of the Southern part of the Pacific Ocean, a vast aquatic region with an unequaled number of islands. Both wildlife and human ... See full summary  »

Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch , Mike Rowe , Richard Wollocombe , Mark Brownlow

Votes: 2,510

76. Captain Kidd (1945)

Passed | 90 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

The unhistorical adventures of pirate Captain Kidd revolve around treasure and treachery.

Director: Rowland V. Lee | Stars: Charles Laughton , Randolph Scott , Barbara Britton , John Carradine

Votes: 2,056

77. Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island (1954)

Not Rated | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

In this sequel to Treasure Island, Long John hopes to rescue his friend Jim from a rival pirate and return for more treasure.

Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Robert Newton , Connie Gilchrist , Lloyd Berrell , Grant Taylor

Votes: 866 | Gross: $0.14M

78. The Reef (2010)

R | 94 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller

A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef.

Director: Andrew Traucki | Stars: Damian Walshe-Howling , Gyton Grantley , Adrienne Pickering , Zoe Naylor

Votes: 20,862

79. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

G | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.

Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas , James Mason , Paul Lukas , Peter Lorre

Votes: 36,988 | Gross: $28.20M

80. Uninhabited (2010)

TV-14 | 93 min | Horror, Thriller

A young couple go to a remote and deserted coral island for a camping holiday, only to find that the island is inhabited by a ghost seeking retribution for a past outrage.

Director: Bill Bennett | Stars: Geraldine Hakewill , Henry James , Bob Baines , Billy Milionis

Votes: 2,993

81. The New Swiss Family Robinson (1998)

PG | 90 min | Adventure, Family

When Angelino Jack Robinson gets a new job in Australia, he decides to take his wife Anna, sons Shane and Todd, and daughter Elisabeth 'Lizzy' by sailing yacht from Hong Kong to Sydney. The... See full summary  »

Director: Stewart Raffill | Stars: Jane Seymour , David Carradine , James Keach , John Asher

82. Cassandra's Dream (2007)

PG-13 | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go badly and the two become enemies.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Colin Farrell , Ewan McGregor , Hayley Atwell , Peter-Hugo Daly

Votes: 53,757 | Gross: $0.97M

83. The Sea Gypsies (1978)

G | 102 min | Adventure, Family

A man and a woman and 3 children start to sail around the world. They are shipwrecked near an uninhabited isle. This island is full of wild animals and it is very dangerous for them in the ... See full summary  »

Director: Stewart Raffill | Stars: Robert Logan , Mikki Jamison , Heather Rattray , Cjon Damitri Patterson

84. Big Miracle (2012)

PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

In small-town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his Greenpeace-volunteer ex-girlfriend on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly-forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Director: Ken Kwapis | Stars: Drew Barrymore , John Krasinski , John Pingayak , Ahmaogak Sweeney

Votes: 20,470 | Gross: $20.11M

85. The Ferryman (2007)

R | 100 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

The story of a group of twenty-somethings who charter a boat to Fiji for the trip of a lifetime, before stumbling upon an evil that demands vengeance at any cost.

Director: Chris Graham | Stars: John Rhys-Davies , Kerry Fox , Tamer Hassan , Amber Sainsbury

Votes: 1,970

86. Down Periscope (1996)

PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy

Lt. Cmdr. Tom Dodge is assigned as Captain to the USS Stingray, an old diesel driven submarine that has seen better days.

Director: David S. Ward | Stars: Kelsey Grammer , Lauren Holly , Rob Schneider , Harry Dean Stanton

Votes: 26,608 | Gross: $25.79M

Naval comedy

87. Mister Roberts (1955)

Passed | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, War

In the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.

Directors: John Ford , Mervyn LeRoy , Joshua Logan | Stars: Henry Fonda , James Cagney , William Powell , Jack Lemmon

Votes: 18,181 | Gross: $21.20M

Naval Comedy

88. Visitors (2003)

R | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

The story of Georgia Perry, the first woman to sail around the world solo.

Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Radha Mitchell , Susannah York , Ray Barrett , Dominic Purcell

Votes: 1,396

89. Captain Blood (1935)

Passed | 119 min | Action, Adventure, History

After treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Lionel Atwill , Basil Rathbone

Votes: 16,033 | Gross: $2.96M

90. Last of the Buccaneers (1950)

Passed | 79 min | Action, Adventure, History

Swashbuckler about the adventures of pirate Jean Lafitte after he helped save New Orleans from a British invasion during the War of 1812.

Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Paul Henreid , Jack Oakie , Karin Booth , Mary Anderson

91. Father Goose (1964)

Approved | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance

During World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.

Director: Ralph Nelson | Stars: Cary Grant , Leslie Caron , Trevor Howard , Jack Good

Votes: 12,266 | Gross: $12.50M

92. Castaway (1986)

R | 117 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

Middle-aged Gerald Kingsland advertises in a London paper for a female companion to spend a year with him on a desert island.

Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Oliver Reed , Amanda Donohoe , Georgina Hale , Frances Barber

Votes: 3,511 | Gross: $0.48M

93. Swept Away (1974)

R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.

Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini , Mariangela Melato , Riccardo Salvino , Isa Danieli

Votes: 6,760

94. Lovewrecked (2005)

PG | 87 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance

On a Caribbean cruise, Jenny is marooned on a beach with her rock and roll idol. Deliriously in love with the idea of time alone with him, she manages to hide the fact that they're a stone's throw away from their resort.

Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Amanda Bynes , Chris Carmack , Jonathan Bennett , Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Votes: 15,416 | Gross: $0.48M

95. Married... with Children (1987–1997) Episode: Ship Happens (1995)

TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy

Peg wins a cruise but decides to take Al and the Darcys along with her, leaving the kids at home with Wolfman Jack, but as always, misfortune follows.

Director: Gerry Cohen | Stars: Ed O'Neill , Katey Sagal , Amanda Bearse , Christina Applegate

96. Married... with Children (1987–1997) Episode: Ship Happens (1995)

The Bundys ocean cruise takes a turn for the worse when their ship sinks and they are stranded on a life raft in the middle of the ocean with the D'Arcys, a fat woman, and comedian Gilbert ... See full summary  »

97. The Bow (2005)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance

On a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a baby. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday, and she is 16 now. They live a quiet and secluded life, renting the boat to day fishermen and practicing strange divination rites. Their life changes when a teenage student comes aboard...

Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Han Yeo-reum , Ji-Seok Seo , Jeon Gook-hwan , Seong-hwan Jeon

Votes: 11,770

98. Step Into Liquid (2003)

PG | 88 min | Documentary, Sport

Surfers and secret spots from around the world are profiled in this documentary.

Director: Dana Brown | Stars: Laird Hamilton , Layne Beachley , Dan Malloy , Robert August

Votes: 2,771 | Gross: $3.67M

99. Billabong Odyssey (2003)

PG | 88 min | Documentary, Action, Adventure

Action sports documentary that follows the industry's best big wave surfers as they travel the world searching for the largest waves that nature has to offer. The journey spanned 18 months, 6 continents and produced up to 70 foot waves.

Director: Philip Boston | Stars: Ken Bradshaw , Ken Collins , Brian L. Keaulana , Brad Gerlach

Votes: 495 | Gross: $0.05M

100. Treasure Island (1990 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Crime

The treasure seeking adventures of young Jim Hawkins and pirate Captain Long John Silver.

Director: Fraser C. Heston | Stars: Charlton Heston , Christian Bale , Oliver Reed , Christopher Lee

Votes: 5,954

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• Best Boat and Nautical Themed Movies

From the classic film “Moby Dick” to the modern movie franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean,” boat movies have long been a staple of American culture. The stories of brave sea captains, fierce storms and mutinous first mates captivate and entertain us. We dream about joining the crew aboard the  Black Pearl  or searching for the great white whale alongside Captain Ahab. Thrilling movies about boats and sailing remind us of our love of the water and inspire us to head out on our own boating adventures.

Watching sailing movies is the perfect activity for a rainy day or when the sun sets on a long day of sailing. With your boat safely anchored for the evening, you can sit back and enjoy a swashbuckling tale with your friends and family. The next time bad weather sends you below deck, pop in one of these best nautical movies to keep you entertained until the storm passes.

1. Master and Commander

Set in the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” tells the story of British Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew as they pursue a French ship around the coast of South America. Aubrey is ordered to apprehend the French privateer ship Acheron in his vessel named  Surprise . Despite Aubrey’s determination and steadfast will, Acheron continually avoids capture and ambushes  Surprise  several times as they travel to the Galapagos Islands.

“Master and Commander” is an adaptation of the first two novels in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. Released in 2003, the film stars Russell Crowe as Captain Aubrey and Paul Bettany as the ship’s surgeon Dr. Stephen Maturin, who is Aubrey’s closest companion. The film was received well by critics and  earned several significant awards . At the 76th Academy Awards, “Master and Commander” was nominated for 10 Oscars and won in two categories. A mix of thrilling maritime battles and gripping dialogue, “Master and Commander” will keep you on the edge of your seat.

2. The Perfect Storm

Based on the  real-life Perfect Storm of 1991 , this disaster drama movie follows the crew of the  Andrea Gail  as they attempt to sail through a powerful storm building in the North Atlantic. After an unsuccessful fishing trip, Captain Billy Tyne takes his crew out for one final trip late in the season. They set sail from Gloucester, Mass., and find favorable fishing waters in the Flemish Cap.

With a bountiful catch on board, the ship’s ice machine suddenly breaks, and the crew must hasten back to shore before their catch spoils. Unfortunately, the  Andrea Gail  now faces a much more serious problem — a tropical storm brewing between the ship and the shore. Underestimating the strength of the storm, the crew decides to sail on towards Gloucester and is met with fierce winds and pounding waves that eventually take the boat under.

The Perfect Storm depicts the  Andrea Gail’s  fateful last journey and how the crew fought without avail to survive the Perfect Storm. Starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, “The Perfect Storm” will make you grateful to be watching from the comfort of your cabin on a calm night.

3. Hunt for Red October

Set in the Cold War era, “Hunt for Red October” traces a rogue Soviet submarine captain who violates orders and sets course for the U.S. in one of the Soviet Navy’s newest and most advanced submarines. The submarine, named  Red October , is a nuclear missile submarine equipped with a newly developed stealth drive that renders the vessel undetectable by passive sonar.

Captain Marko Ramius is given command of  Red October  and sent out with another Soviet attack submarine to conduct exercises. However, once at sea, Ramius murders the captain of his companion submarine and heads towards the U.S. The plot thickens as American forces must determine if Ramius is trying to defect or instigate a war before things get ugly.

Starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, “Hunt for Red October” is a thrilling spy movie full of action and intrigue. The 1990 film is an adaptation of the 1984 bestselling novel of the same name by Tom Clancy.

4. Das Boot

Another exhilarating film about war and submarines, “Das Boot” is a 1981 German film set during World War II. “Das Boot” follows the crew of  U-96 , a German U-boat on a patrol during the Battle of the Atlantic. The film captures the reality of life on a U-boat — depicting days of boredom, exciting battles and the relationships built among the men on the submarine. Offering a new perspective of WWII, “Das Boot” shows the crew of  U-96  as ordinary men seeking to serve their country.

“Das Boot” was originally produced in German, with an English dubbed version available in the U.S. The film received positive reviews and received  several awards and nominations , both in the U.S. and abroad. “Das Boot” is among the best nautical movies for a cozy night spent below deck.

5. Captain Ron

This 1992 American comedy begins when a Chicago family inherits a yacht that was once owned by Clark Gable. The father, Martin Harvey, played by Martin Short, decides to take his whole family to the fictional Caribbean island of St. Pomme de Terre to retrieve the boat and sail it back to Miami. When they arrive, they realize that the boat is in terrible condition. Instead of sending a professional captain to escort the Harvey family, the yacht broker instead hires a local sailor named Captain Ron Rico.

Captain Ron, played by Kurt Russell, is a one-eyed Navy veteran with a colorful personality and equally colorful past. As they cross the Caribbean together, the Harveys experience various mishaps caused by Captain Ron and encounter a little more adventure than they bargained for. This hilarious ship movie will have the whole family laughing — and feeling grateful that you have a steady captain at the helm.

No list of the best nautical movies would be complete without the famous Steven Spielberg film “Jaws.” Based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, “Jaws” was released in the summer of 1975 and quickly became a blockbuster hit. Since then, the “Jaws” franchise has expanded to include three sequels that continue to scare beachgoers out of the ocean the minute they see that ominous fin.

In this classic thriller, a great white shark begins terrorizing the fictional summer resort town of Amity Island. Rather than closing the beaches and ruining the local tourist economy, the town council decides to hunt and kill the vicious shark instead. To complete this mission, Amity Island police chief Martin Brody recruits a local shark hunter named Quint and a marine biologist named Matt Hooper.

The three men set sail in Quint’s boat  Orca  to track down the shark. After a grueling battle at sea, the shark kills Quint, and the  Orca  begins to sink. Hooper and Brody finally manage to kill the shark by wedging a pressurized scuba tank into its mouth and shooting the tank with a rifle. The victorious men are seen swimming back to shore just before the final credits roll.

7. Moby Dick

Another classic seafaring movie, “Moby Dick” tells the tale of Captain Ahab and his hunt for the white whale Moby Dick. Based on the 1851 novel by Herman Melville, “Moby Dick” captures the epic journey of a man dead-set on revenge. After a massive white whale almost kills Ahab and bites off most of his left leg, Ahab gathers a crew and sets sail to kill the whale.

Driven by his obsession to defeat Moby Dick, Ahab cannot turn back even when the chance of success seems dangerously slim. The hunt for revenge eventually becomes fatal for Ahab and nearly all of his crew. The lone survivor is Ishmael, who serves as the story’s narrator.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean

If you share your love of boating with your kids, this film is a perfect sailing movie to watch during your next family movie night. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise traces the adventures of the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and his infamous ship the  Black Pearl . In the original film, released in 2003, Sparrow teams up with a blacksmith named Will Turner and an ill-fated adventure ensues. Turner aims to rescue a woman he loves who was captured by Sparrow’s mutinous former first mate Barbossa, while Sparrow seeks revenge against Barbossa.

When boating with children, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies are perfect to carry onboard in case the weather turns sour. With five films in the series so far, you can stay entertained no matter how long the storm endures. Your family will stay in the nautical mood while enjoying rip-roaring adventures, daring sea battles and a hefty dose of humor.

9. The African Queen

Set during World War I in Africa, “The African Queen” tells the story of riverboat captain Charlie Allnut, who is persuaded by a missionary named Rose Sayer to destroy an enemy gunboat. After the war breaks out between Britain and Germany, German soldiers burn down the village where Rose is living and kill her brother. Charlie, who delivers their supplies in the eponymous riverboat, offers to transport Rose out of the region safely. Rose instead convinces Charlie to seek revenge by attacking the gunboat  Königin Luise  with improvised torpedos.

Starring Katharine Hepburn as Rose and Humphrey Bogart as Charlie, the 1951 film was well-received and remains a classic boat movie. In 1994, “The African Queen” was added to  the National Film Registry  of the U.S. Library of Congress due to its cultural and historical significance.

10. Titanic

One of the most well-known movies about boats, “Titanic” recounts the true story of the  R.M.S. Titanic  that sank during its maiden voyage in 1912. The  Titanic  set sail from England on April 10th and sank just five days later when it struck an iceberg off the coast of Canada. More than 1,500 lives were lost when the  Titanic  sank, and the sunken vessel still remains at the bottom of the ocean.

The film adaptation of the famous shipwreck spins a fictional tale of romance, betrayal and disaster. A wealthy young woman named Rose Bukater meets a poor artist named Jack Dawson while on a cruise with her equally wealthy fiance Cal Hockley. Rose and Jack meet when Rose is contemplating suicide to escape her unhappy engagement. The two begin to spend time together and soon fall in love. However, fate is not on their side, and Cal discovers the affair just before the  Titanic  starts to sink.

11. Dead Calm

This 1989 psychological thriller is not for the faint-hearted. Set on two boats in the middle of the Pacific, “Dead Calm” tells the chilling tale of an innocent couple caught in a deadly situation with a not-so-innocent man.

After the death of their son, Rae and John Ingram take a vacation on their yacht to help process their grief. While cruising across the Pacific, they discover a damaged boat that appears to be sinking. A man named Hughie Warriner rows over to the Ingrams’ yacht for help, claiming that his crew had died from food poisoning. However, when John investigates the ship, he discovers bloody carnage that tells a different story.

John rushes back to warn Rae, but Hughie is already piloting their yacht away with Rae on board. With his wife now in the hands of a killer, John must attempt to stay afloat to rescue her while Rae fights to stay alive.

12. All Is Lost

An epic story of survival, “All Is Lost” tells the tale of a man lost at sea with his boat taking on water. The man, played by Robert Redford, takes every measure to repair his damaged vessel and broken marine radio to regain communications. Instead, he is greeted by a tropical storm that tears apart his vessel. Left on a small inflatable life raft, the man struggles to survive as his minimal supplies dwindle and there is no sign of rescue.

This 2013 sailing movie has only one cast member and almost no dialogue. The film relies on carefully crafted music and sound effects along with striking visuals to capture the terror and despair of being lost at sea. “All Is Lost”  won a Golden Globe  for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture in 2014 and was nominated for an Oscar for sound editing the same year.

13. Jungle Cruise

Strap in for an adventure down the Amazon with Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson. Watch the characters on their journey in a boat down the river and all of the situations they face on their journey for an ancient tree. The “Jungle Cruise” movie is based on the well-known Disney Parks ride and came out in 2021.

The 2016 Disney animated movie “Moana” is a fan favorite and a wonderful maritime movie to watch on your boat. The story follows Moana and the people on her island. When the fishermen aren’t catching any fish, and the crops fail, Moana sets off on a journey sailing through the ocean to find the heart of Te Fiti, a goddess from Polynesian mythology. You can watch Moana and her new friends sail on their adventure while relaxing on your boat.

The 2018 survival drama “Adrift” is a boating story that will keep your attention throughout the entire film. Starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, this movie shows the journey between their two characters meeting, falling in love and setting sail on the journey of a lifetime. Their journey takes a sharp turn when they sail directly into one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded.

16. Charlie St. Cloud

The 2010 movie “Charlie St. Cloud” starring Zac Efron is based on the Ben Sherwood novel “The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.” The movie follows the story of a boy named Charlie St. Cloud as he loses his brother and continues to visit him every day after his passing. The sailing, setting and boats throughout the story make this one of the best nautical films.

17. Life of Pi

Another seafaring film that is great for your next movie night on the boat is the 2012 movie “Life of Pi,” which is based on the Canadian novel by Yann Martel. Pi Patel and his family make their way from India to Canada with some of their zoo animals on a cargo ship. When they encounter a bad storm, there are only two survivors —  Pi Patel and a Bengal tiger.

18. Overboard

If you want to enjoy a funny romantic comedy on your boat movie night, watch the 2018 remake of “Overboard” with Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez. The story follows single mom Kate Sullivan working on a yacht for Leonardo “Leo” Montenegro. After an accident causes Leo to have amnesia, Kate pretends to be his wife and teaches him how to work on the yacht.

Live Your Ship Movie Fantasy on Your Formula Boat

Whether you want to race across the ocean like the crew of  Surprise  or enjoy a romantic evening on your yacht like Rose and Jack, your boat movie fantasy can come true with a Formula boat. Our line of luxury powerboats includes popular day boats like the  fast and powerful Sun Sport , as well as spacious yachts and cruisers for overnight expeditions, so you can find the perfect boat for you at Formula Boats. When you  build the boat of your dreams  with Formula Boats, you can even customize nearly every feature to suit your boating style.

Formula Boats strives to build the very best boats on the water — right down to the durable deck flooring and stylish cabin curtains. With advanced engineering and aesthetically pleasing designs, Formula boats provide a thrilling, entertaining and relaxing recreational boating experience. When you choose Formula Boats, you will enjoy a comfortable and roomy seating area that is perfect for watching your favorite boat movies with your whole family. Some of our powerboats are even available with an onboard television and satellite TV system for an even better viewing experience.

If you are ready to hit the water in a powerboat that is worthy of the silver screen,  contact Formula Boats today .

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Best sailing films on Netflix, Prime and more

• June 29, 2023

Fancy sitting back and enjoying some dramatic sailing footage from the comfort of your sofa? We pick the best sailing films on Netflix, Prime and more

Recent years have seen a proliferation of sailing films arriving on streaming platforms, with Netflix taking the lead on producing original content but there are many other sailing films on offer on the streaming services that can fulfil your sailing addiction from the couch.

So if you are looking for a documentary about the America’s Cup , thrilling dramas based on true life events then look no further (And just because I was banned from mentioning it in full, here by my fellow staff, you can find Waterworld for rent on Amazon , or on Netflix in some territories… just sayin’)

Best sailing films on Netflix

Untold: The Race of the Century

Another big Netflix production to be released last year, this documentary on the 1983 America’s Cup is bursting with iconic footage and up-close interviews with major players. The story of the 1983 America’s Cup is legendary to those with even a passing interest in sailing, seeing John Bertrand’s Australia II crew beating Dennis Connor’s American Liberty crew to wrest the America’s Cup from the New York Yacht Clubs grasp for the first time in 132 years – the longest winning streak in sporting history. 

Even though we all know what happens, it’s still edge of the seat stuff and you can’t help but be reminded (or introduced to) the dizzying drama, which so captured the world and the Australian nation that it led the then Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke to claim: “Any boss who sacks someone for not turning up to work today is a bum,” following the famous victory.  

This unflinching documentary film tells the story of Tracy Edwards ’ all-female Whitbread Round the World Race campaign, through raw interviews telling of the personality clashes and huge pressures the team were placed under.

It’s an emotional watch, with fantastic footage from the maxi fleets racing mid-ocean: highly recommended.

True Spirit

The latest sailing film from the streaming giant, True Spirit , takes a look at the story of Jessica Watson one of the the most famous sailors from the late Noughties and early 2010’s phenomenon of multiple teenagers bidding to become the youngest sailor to sail around the world.  Jessica Watson, who set off from Sydney in 2009 aged 16, completed her loop of Antarctica – and a dip north across the Equator in the Pacific Ocean – to return an all-Australian hero after 210 days at sea.

The film is a dramatic retelling of Watson’s story and attempts to tread the fine line between staying true to her story and picking drama out of the narrative. Watson’s story is undoubtedly intriguing and any film taking on the challenge of conveying he long, slow, and arduous experience of the solo adventurer is always going to struggle to weigh realism with drama. But for the most par this stays true enough to the story to make for a satisfying viewing experience.

Adrift  is based on the book  Red Sky in Mourning  – Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s true account of sailing into a Pacific hurricane, dismasting, and then sailing solo under jury rig for 41 days alone to Hawaii.

The true story is astounding but the film plays pretty fast and lose with the facts. For pure entertainment it is still well worth hunting out and the terror of the extreme conditions does come across on the screen. You get to marvel as Tami manages to solve the catalogue of near voyage-ending disasters – no matter how implausible some of it might seem.

Pure escapism, and a reminder that when the chips are down there is usually a way out.

Best sailing films on Prime

This critically acclaimed documentary, by the makers of Touching the Void , tells the tale of the 1968 Golden Globe Race and how Donald Crowhurst falsified his position before mysteriously disappearing. There are impressive amounts of original footage to enjoy over 50 years later.

The 2017 cinematic telling of the 1968 Golden Globe Race , in which Colin Firth delivers a stand-out performance as the complex maverick entrant Donald Crowhurst. There’s a strong emphasis on the family narrative to draw in non-sailing viewers, but the yachting scenes were carefully researched and convincing.

It stands above many other sailing films as a pure viewing experience – helped along by Firth’s considerable talents. For those of us who already know the tragic story of Crowhurst there nothing here to fill in any of the gaps, as you’d expect from a broad-appeal drama, but you cannot help but be moved to relive the story once again.

Morning light

This was a real revelation when it came out and remains a solid documentary.

Fifteen young sailors embark on six months of training with the ultimate aim to sail a TP52 across the Pacific Ocean taking part in the TRANSPAC.

The premise is that this young, inexperienced crew (made up of 18-23 year olds) sailing  Morning Light  race the 2,300 miles against some of sailing’s top professionals.

The whole thing was funded by Roy Disney and remains a stunning testament to the rigours of racing and sailing offshore, and how much can be achieved by young sailors give a chance.

Best sailing films elsewhere

Chasing tokyo.

Chasing Tokyo is available to stream from the RYA and is an emotional watch. Filmed over a full year, it follows the British Sailing Team athletes as they readied themselves for the strangest Olympic Games in history – and the parents and partners who were left behind when the sailors headed out to Tokyo.

The film crews had unprecedented access to the sailors as they navigated lockdowns, covid testing, and disrupted preparations, and the medal hopefuls candidly shared their dreams and fears. It’s an insightful view of the strange balance of tension and monotony, life-changing highs and soul-crushing lows, of life as an Olympic athlete.

The documentary gives an intriguing glimpse inside the ‘medal factory’, the machinery of the British Sailing Team which has made it consistently the most successful Olympic sailing team in the world. The legacy of London 2012, and the importance of the team’s home base in Portland – with all its quirks and characters – stands out.

Must watch viewing for anyone with an interest in the physical and mental toll the Olympics can take on professional athletes.

This one takes a bit of detective work to find, but the full documentary is hosted online and well worth a watch. In contrast to True Spirit , it’s made up of real videos shot by teen Laura Dekker as she sailed around the world in 2010.

Without cinematic production and following Dekker’s stopping route it’s a much less dramatic view of sailing around the world, though no less gripping for it, and a fascinating insight into a remarkable teen. Those who came away from True Spirit frustrated by some of the dramatic license taken may well want to watch this.

It’s impossible to watch  the Untold: The Race of the Century story – or indeed any America’s Cup film – without referring back to Wind , the 1992 movie telling of how America lost, and won back the Cup.

Like any Hollywood interpretation there are a few cringeworthy moments, and I wouldn’t recommend watching it with a sailmaker, but it’s a warm-hearted film with some great 12-Metre race scenes, and the memorable catchphrase “Hoist the Whomper!”.

If you enjoyed this….

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The Best Boat Movies of All Time

Looking for the best boat movies of all time for movie night? We round up the best movies about sailing, including adaptions of our favourite boat books , to watch in your home cinema or the outdoor cinema on board your superyacht.

Titanic (1997)

It’s evident from this film's setting that director James Cameron has long been a fan of boats. Based on the true story of the sunken RMS Titanic , Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet portray young lovers travelling aboard the ill-fated ship.

Adrift (2018)

Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin star as a couple who sail from Tahiti to Hawaii aboard a sailing yacht named Hazaña . Based on a true story, the film shows how the characters deal with life at sea after a hurricane passes through their path.

Wind (1992)

Inspired by the events leading up to the 1987 Americas Cup, this yachting film features several of the 12-metre class yachts that participated in the actual races held off the coast of Western Australia. Need to brush up on your America's Cup knowledge first? Head over to our dedicated America’s Cup page .

Life of Pi (2012)

Adapted from the book by Yann Martel, the film follows the adventures of Pi Patel who must survive at sea after a shipwreck. Floating in the Pacific Ocean with a raft full of animals, Pi encounters some of the natural wonders only experienced by sailors such as bioluminescent plankton and flying fish.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Marlon Brando plays the infamous Lieutenant Fletcher Christian in this classic film inspired by true events. The film follows the crew of HMS Bounty as they travel to French Polynesia and then mutiny against their Captain, William Bligh.

Captain Phillips (2013)

Tom Hanks stars as the eponymous hero in this thriller based on a real-life hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama by Somali Pirates.

Maiden (2019)

This insightful documentary tells the story of the all-female crew of the 18 metre racing yacht Maiden , as they compete in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race.

Pirates of the Caribbean Series (2003-2017)

Captain Jack Sparrow's swashbuckling tales should lift the mood and keep family members of all ages entertained during a period of social-distancing. From the Black Pearl to the Flying Dutchman , each movie brings to life some of the spookiest ghost ships stories in maritime culture.

Jaws (1975)

This well-known Spielberg classic tells the story of a man-eating shark that is hunted down by the team on board the  Orca . Although the coastal town terrorised by the shark is fictional, filming largely took place in Martha’s Vineyard. The scenic summer colony is one of the best movie locations to visit by superyacht .

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

This Oscar-winning film offers a faithful a representation of life on board a 19th century Royal Navy frigate. Starring Russell Crowe, the film portrays a voyage around Cape Horn and the Galapagos Islands during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

An all-star cast including Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland and Ben Whishaw play the crew of a whaling ship called the Essex . The plot is inspired by the true sinking of the ship in 1820 and the story is suggested to be the basis for Herman Melville's book Moby-Dick .

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Best Boat Movies: Top 20 Best Boating Movies Of All Time!

Many massive blockbusters focus on epic space ship battles. With special effects showing us crafts capable of time travel across different realities, it’s no wonder we love a good space movie. With this in mind, it’s easy to forget the more humble vessels here down on earth.

Let’s take the unpresuming “boat” as an example. Except this is not a modest vessel and has indeed played the center of some truly awe-inspiring tales over the years. The importance of “the boat” as a means of transportation, is historic in itself. Without boats, how would we have discovered new lands?

The time has come to celebrate this indispensable craft. A vessel that carries people over thousands of miles of wild ocean.

In honor of “the boat,” we give you a collection of some great movies set on, or around, boats of all shapes and sizes.

In in our unbiased opinion, the best boat movies from 20 to 1:

20) Under Siege

Arguably Steven Seagal’s best. Under Siege had everything you could want from a 90’s action movie, set on a boat.

• Terrorist attack: Check.
• Missing nuclear warheads: Check.
• Only one man can stop them: Check.

Add to this mix some iconic actors, such as Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. Their eccentric and explosive villainous performances are well worth the price of admission. But, can only add to the result of a solid action story.

The USS Missouri is an iconic ship. It saw combat during World War II, again in the Korean War, and yet again in the 1991 Iraq War. Finally, the battleship retired. Only to become a boat museum in the infamous Pearl Harbor. At the time of the film, the Missouri was not yet decommissioned. This resulted in all shots, other than the opening scene, to be filmed upon the USS Alabama. Don’t worry, you won’t notice the difference.

19) Juggernaut

A movie inspired by a real-life bomb threat to the Elizabeth II ship, in 1972. This tense and explosive thriller did a great job of keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. It’s a classic ransom demand scenario. A team of crack bomb disposal experts must find and disarm several bombs hidden on the SS Britannic.

The onboard suspense is matched neatly with dry-land detectives. These roles come in the form of Anthony Hopkins and John McLeod. Their job is to unravel the mystery of who’s behind it all.

A fast-paced thriller that is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

18) Pirate Radio

Pirate radio broadcasts were all the rage in 1966, Great Britain. Some took the concept literally and broadcast from way out at sea. These were the rebels who played rock music that no BBC radio station would touch. With liberated speech, they announced things that you’d never hear from any respectable DJ on air. That’s exactly what made them so wildly popular.

In this vein, the movie features a ragtag bunch of DJs and their staffers. This is a team that follows no rules but their own. As they swear on the radio, get drunk and generally have a good time, you will be riveted.

So, why were they so successful?

Their soundtracks were amazing, just as they are in this movie.

17) The Caine Mutiny

The movie that gave Michael Caine his stage name.

The Caine Mutiny; is still recognized as having one of the best courtroom scenes of all time. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, by Herman Wouk, it depicts a mutiny aboard the fictional World War II vessel, The USS Caine.

Other actors of fame also influence the movie. Try the infamous Humphrey Bogart who plays Lieutenant Commander Phillip Francis Queeg. His role is considered one of the best villains in American movie history. Queeg’s paranoid delusions and bullying demeanor, inspire his men to remove him from power.

Thanks to the all-round incredible performances, this is a screenplay that will keep you on your toes.

The Caine Mutiny is as thrilling as any movie set out at sea.

16) Houseboat

Houseboat, is a story of romance and intrigue. A widower and his three children live in a dilapidated houseboat. Along with the family is their new nanny. Nanny comes in the form of an Italian socialite, in disguise, trying to escape an overbearing father.

This is a movie that manages to juggle the themes of loss, and a child’s reaction to divorce. Though, it never loses its warmth or its comedic value.

The kids are delightful and Cary Grant is, as always, utterly charming. For those of you who have always dreamt of living on a boat, probably don’t want to pick a boat like this one.

15) Dunkirk

If you ask ten people what Great Britain’s finest military hour is, you’ll get ten different answers. What you can be sure of is, that at least one of them will be the “Miracle of Dunkirk.”

This is a story of 338,000 soldiers rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk. As that is happening, the German armies advance on their position. It’s a feat that could never have been achieved without the courage and willingness of sacrifice. With 850 civilian boats that sailed to the rescue, The Little Ships of Dunkirk won the day.

Christopher Nolan gives us an epic performance. He encapsulates the desperation of the British and French soldiers trapped on the Beach. Exhausted and hungry, they were also terrified they would never see home again. This is a tale of bravery from the hundreds of volunteer captains willing to risk everything for their compatriots.

What makes this so amazing, is that it’s real!

14) Life of Pi

Heart-breaking and uplifting, all at once. A movie that tells the story of an Indian man named “Pi,” and his faithful friend, Richard Parker. Their ship to Canada sinks in the Mariana Trench. And, so begins their struggle to survive on a lifeboat drifting upon the vast ocean. It’s also a tale with a twist: Richard Parker is, in fact, a Bengal tiger.

Along their arduous journey of survival, they face many hardships and difficulties together. The result is an unbreakable bond that is as beautiful as it is unexpected.

Ang Lee won the Academy Award for Best Director in Life of Pi, and it was well deserved. This is a movie that allows you to enjoy a powerful experience of friendship and life, out in a boat upon the high seas.

13) Dead Calm

Is there a better setting for a psychological thriller than out on the open seas?

Isolated and alone with no help for miles around, is not an ideal situation for running into a deranged serial killer!

This is what befalls John and Rae Ingram, a married couple trying to escape a tragic truth. They hope to experience the calmness and serenity of life on the open waters. Instead, they’re confronted by a vicious killer who takes over their yacht. The couple must use every ounce of their cunning and survival instincts to overcome him.

Let’s hope it doesn’t put you off owning your own yacht!

12) All is Lost

Robert Redford gives a powerhouse performance in a role with very little dialogue. Like many great films set on boats, “All is Lost” is about the will to survive. One must use one’s own ingenuity in utilizing every available resource to overcome the fatal situation. Along with the constant need to keep your head above water (pun intended).

Redford is credited simply as “Our Man.” Watching him scramble about his stricken yacht as he fights to keep it seaworthy, is, frankly, exhausting.

A unique viewing experience, and one that any lover of the oceans should take the time to watch.

11) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

What a cultural phenomenon this movie was when released in 2003. The series went on to span six films that grossed over 4.5 billion dollars worldwide. Sure, they went downhill as the sequels kept coming, but the first few films are outstanding.

It’s hard to imagine that all this came from a theme park ride!

A swashbuckling tale that contains everything you could want from a Pirates’ movie. It gives you a leering pantomime villain, a beautiful and capable damsel, and a hero with a heart of gold. And, of course, there’s the indefinable Captain Jack Sparrow. A role widely regarded as one of the best movie characters of all time.

The Black Pearl itself is a beautifully rendered ship. A ship that will have any pirate aficionados cooing.

10) Captain Phillips

Captain Richard Phillip’s cargo ship, the “MV Maersk Alabama,” was hijacked by Somalian pirates in April 2009. This is the incredible tale of real-life bravery in a dangerous situation.

Captain Phillips finds himself held hostage by pirates. They are trying to escape the US Navy in his hijacked ship. Paul Greengrass brings his distinctive directing style to this movie. He pairs a heart-stopping thriller with an interesting take on globalization.

The excellent Tom Hanks brings a real vulnerability to his role. Newcomer, Barkhad Abdi’s performance, as the pirate leader Muse, earned him an Oscar nomination. A movie with outstanding acting.

9) The Poseidon Adventure

Disaster flicks are a much-enjoyed genre in Hollywood. The movie, The Poseidon Adventure, does not disappoint.

A nightmare scenario that drives the ship’s passengers and crew, as they find themselves trapped in an upside ship.

The S.S. Poseidon is an ocean liner on a New Year’s Eve party cruise. As passengers celebrate they are oblivious to a tsunami causing an undersea earthquake. That is until it hits the ship, turning it the wrong way around. A group of survivors make their way through the capsized ship, in a mission to escape through the “hull.”

Braving terrors, such as flooding corridors and raging infernos hit them around every corner. The cast does a remarkable job of conveying such terror. Gene Hackman received a Bafta for his role. Shelley Winters earned a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

The cinematography convinces the audience to feel the claustrophobia on a sinking ship. Best of all, it works a treat.

8) African Queen

Set in Africa at the onset of World War I, The African Queen is a steam-powered boat sailing down the Ulanga River. In an attempt to escape the German forces, the captain is inspired by a passenger to attack a German warship.

This is one of those, “against the odds,” kinda mission.

This is exactly the kind of underdog story that inspired so many to victory during the two world wars.

Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn are at the height of their Hollywood careers in this dramatic war story.

7) The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway’s final fictional masterpiece, before he died in 1961.

A story of a Cuban fisherman, who’s caught nothing for 84 days. On the 85th day, he manages to hook the largest Marlin he’s ever seen. Unable to control the beast, it drags him out to sea and there the adventure begins. As he leaves behind the land, the Old Man reminisces upon his life.

Man vs Nature is often depicted as an epic battle, but this is far more nuanced, and a take on the power of the sea. Spencer Tracy is excellent in the leading role, being nominated for an Oscar.

6) The Perfect Storm

Based on a real event, this is a combination of several storms that hit the East Coast of the US, killing thirteen people. The terrible deaths include six fishermen on their boat, the Andrea Gail. The fishermen and their boat form the focal point of the movie.

It depicts a chillingly, realistic version of life on a fishing boat during a horrific storm. The unique special effects make you feel as if you’re there, right inside the eye of the storm.

The cast performs admirably, with raw emotions displayed for all to see. George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg contribute to the inevitable ending. Which makes it all the more devastating for knowing such brave characters.

5) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Russel Crowe plays Jack Aubrey, a real-life captain of the HMS Surprise. The corvette is in service during the Napoleonic Wars. Aubrey has the seemingly impossible task of sinking the Archeron, a far bigger and faster vessel. The tale plays out in the Atlantic Ocean, off South America.

This movie is praised as a near-perfect portrayal of sea life, and British Naval protocol. Be prepared for spectacular battle sequences. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in naval warfare.

4) The Bounty

The third movie to depict the real-life mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty in 1789, but this one is regarded as the best.

Anthony Hopkins brings a level of flair and complexity to the role of William Bligh. His unyielding commitment to duty is highlighted above all else. Hopkins heads an all-round brilliant cast. You will experience strong performances from Mel Gibson, Bernard Hill, Liam Neeson, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

A beautifully shot movie with stunning cinematography. You can practically feel the warmth of the sunlight on your skin.

3) Battleship Potemkin

Shot by Soviet director, Sergei Eisenstein. Battleship Potemkin is a masterpiece of International Cinema.

Depicted, in five parts, it is about a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship, Potemkin, in 1905. When a serviceman complains of maggots in his soup, he is promptly executed. This leads to an uprising in nearby Odessa, against the Tsarist government.

A movie about revolutionary spirit. Top that off with fighting against unjust and corrupt systems, and overcoming a centuries-old corrupt regime.

This is one of the most celebrated pieces of historical cinema in history. Truly, a stunning piece of work.

A suspense-filled blockbuster by Steven Spielberg.

A monster movie that is so much more.

A move that changed the face of cinema forever, and made many think twice before swimming in the sea.

When a huge great white shark roams the sea around Amity Island, it appears to indiscriminately kill and eat humans. The local sheriff leads three men on a Fishing boat, called Orca, to capture and kill the beast.

Jaws was so terrifying that it was credited with creating an irrational fear of sharks. A panicked terror, that has lingered on for decades after its release.

The Titanic was an absolute mammoth of a ship. It seems only fitting that a movie adaptation is also done on such a huge scale. A movie that earned over 2 billion dollars in cinemas worldwide. The Titanic is still is the third-highest box office movie of all time.

The story of the RMS Titanic is indisputably the most notorious of any ship that has sailed. It includes a love tale as epic as Romeo and Juliet. Though the two lovers are doomed from the beginning. It turns out that they have more than their secret love for one another to worry about.

James Cameron expertly recreates the Titanic in all its elegance. From the majestic ballrooms to the luxurious cabins. Moving down to the less glamorous decks for the underclasses. Finishing deep down in the underbelly, where coal trimmers toiled in unbearable heat. These workers powered the gargantuan vessel.

Titanic is an emotionally powerful depiction that pulls no punches. A movie that left many in tears, but also in awe.

Conclusion: The Best Boat Movies

And there you have it…

From real-life tales of inspiring resilience. To horror stories where the protagonist faces insurmountable odds.

There have been many powerful movies set on boats drifting on the tides of emotion as they set out upon the high sea. In many such movies, the boat can easily be mistaken as the protagonist itself. A vessel sailing out into the vast ocean sets a scene that is unlike no other. Such a powerful panorama stimulates feelings of freedom and wonder, while simultaneously creating an atmosphere of terror and isolation.

Needless to say, if you’re looking for a movie set on a boat, there are plenty of quality options to choose from.

Happy sailing!

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The 18 Best Sailing Movies to Watch on Netflix & Amazon

Watching one of these best sailing movies, you can sail into the ocean from the comfort of your couch.

Watching movies is a great way to take a trip without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. So, if you’re longing to take a voyage on the sea, a sailing movie is a great option!

Our favorite sailing movies include a great story and amazing views! All of the films on our list are available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, or Netflix at this time. So you can watch a great film about setting sail without ever leaving your house!

Most of these options also lend them selves to be a great outdoor movie night or pool party movie choice !

The 18 Best Sailing Movies

From action-packed thrillers set on a boat to inspiring documentaries about real-life sailors, you’re going to love each of the sailing movies in this comprehensive list.

Rated PG-13

A young couple sets sail on an adventure of a lifetime across the open sea together. But as they’re sailing across the ocean, one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in history capsizes their boat, leaving them to fight for their lives in the ocean, in this sailing thriller based on a true story.

2. Life of Pi

After surviving a shipwreck, the young son of a zookeeper is trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger in this Oscar winning sailing movie directed by Ang Lee.

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3. deep water (2006).

This sailing documentary tells the true story of the first solo, non-stop boat race around the world. As the film progresses, the filmmakers work to uncover the toll the grueling sea trip took on the race’s participants. The documetary features Simon and Clare Crowhurst.

4. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

In this historical drama, Russell Crowe plays a 19th century British ship captain who struggles as he prepares rag-tag team of crew members to attack a French ship.

5. Captain Ron

After a man finds out he’s inherited a yacht, he takes his family on a trip to the Caribbean to bring the ship home in this sailing comedy. When they arrive, the family hires a shady captain to help repair the ship and sail them back to Miami, leading to plenty of trouble on the trip home.

Kurt Russell and Martin Short star in this sailing film.

A group of sailors come together to reclaim the America’s Cup for the American team after a defeat the year before in this action-packed sailing movie starring Matthew Modine and Jennifer Grey.

7. White Squall

An educational sailing trip turns into a larger life lesson for a group of prep school students when their boat gets caught in a white squall storm in this Ridley Scott sailing movie classic featuring Jeff Bridges and John Savage.

8. Dead Calm

When a seasoned sailor and his wife, played by Nicole Kidman, take their yacht out on a long vacation trip across the ocean, they come upon a sinking boat in the middle of a calm sea. After rescuing the distressed sailor, the couple uncovers a horrifying sight and works to uncover the mystery behind the capsized vessel.

9. Kon Tiki

This Academy Award winning classic sailing documentary tells the story of a group of sailors who took a 4,300 nautical mile trip across the Pacific ocean on a raft. 

10. Maidentrip

Follow 14-year-old Laura Dekker as she achieves her dream of becoming the youngest person to set sail around the world alone in this riveting sailing documentary.

11. The Old Man and the Sea

Based on the classic novel by Ernest Hemingway, this sailing movie follows Santiago on a fishing trip that ends with the biggest catch of his life. But when sharks attack his catch, he must fight to keep his fish and save himself.

12. Morning Light

Watch as 15 young sailors compete to join the crew of the Morning Light, a sleek racing boat bound for the Transpac LA to Hawaii open ocean race in this Disney sailing documentary.

13. The Perfect Storm

To help tide his crew over for the winter, a fishing boat captain insists the group go out for one more fishing trip before the cold weather arrives. But as the crew sets sail, a storm begins to brew directly in their boat’s path in this sailing movie starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

14. Red Dot on the Ocean

Hoping to become the first person to sail around North and South America alone, Matt Rutherford goes on a death-defying ocean journey in this popular sailing documentary.

15. The Mercy

Leaving behind a loving wife (Rachel Weisz), an amateur sailor named Donald Crowhurst (played by Colin Firth) competes in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race around the world. This movie has some of the prettiest sailing scenes and is based on a true story.

An overworked doctor takes her dream trip sailing alone across the Atlantic. But when she comes across a boat filled with refugees, she jumps in to organize the group and get them to safety.

17. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Famous Steve Zissou sets sail with this crew to find a (possibly nonexistent) Jaguar Shark. This quirky comedy stars Bill Murrary, Owen Wilson, and Cate Blanchett.

18. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow in this popular Disney franchise about the days of pirates and treasure hunts.

You can also save this picture to have the list of best sailing movies easily on your phone!

Whether you’re an experienced sailor or you get sea sick at the sight of water, you can enjoy a vicarious trip across the ocean with the help of a good movie. And these amazing sailing movies won’t disappoint!

If you loved this list of best sailing movies, you may also like:

• 25 Comedy Travel Movies for Family Movie Night
• 17 Best Movies About Greece to Watch Tonight

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17 Best Sailing Movies & Documentaries

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Not much beats a good movie binge – so I’ve compiled a list of some of the best sailing movies and documentaries to inspire and humble even the saltiest sailors.

The best movies about sailing tug at the lines in our hearts and leave us yearning for life on the water. They also remind us of the power of the ocean.

I’ve personally watched the 17 movies on this list to give you a movie overview from a sailor’s perspective and my thoughts on why you should watch them!

I’ve also included links to the great sailing movies below if they are available on a streaming service such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, and more. Let’s get started!

Sailing Adventure Movies

These films about sailing tell stories of true adventure on the high seas. Packed with action and the occasional twists and turns, you will definitely be in for hours of entertainment.

1. All is Lost (2013)

With only one cast member and just 51 spoken words, this Robert Redford sailing movie represents what managing a crisis alone on the open ocean looks like.

A survival sailing film, the plot of All is Lost follows a solo sailor as he manages the fallout after a collision with a shipping container damages his sailboat.

You’ll see everything unfold step-by-step as this resourceful sailor handles the growing damage to his boat. Whether or not he makes the correct choices or if the situations are accurate is somewhat criticized by the sailing community. 

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:  Even if you find the sailor’s circumstances less than accurate, the portrayal of a silent character as he faces his mortality is a very unique approach for a sailing film. The emotional performance by Redford is surprisingly relatable, and the plot will leave you unsure of the character’s fate until the very end.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON TUBI

2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

A sailing film based on a series of 19th-century navel novels, it’s one of the most underrated and historically accurate films of its era.

Master and Commander is set during the Napoleonic Wars and follows the Royal Navy Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew aboard the HMS Suprise.

The film’s incredible casting includes Russell Crowe as the ship’s confident and respected captain and Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin, the onboard surgeon and captain’s confidant.

Rather than retreat to England, the captain opts for an ocean chase around South America as the Surprise seeks to repair damages while also outmaneuvering the superior French vessel to complete its mission.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: From start to finish, you feel like one of the crew. All scenes follow the vessel, giving an especially real depiction of the aftermath of battles, factors in the decision-making, and the incredible loyalty and patriotism of the crew as they sail thousands of miles from home, fighting for their country.

The plot begins as the Surprise is given the order to capture a French privateer. The initial battle leaves the Surprise at a disadvantage when it’s revealed that the French ship is both bigger and faster than the Royal Navy vessel.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME

3. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 – 2017)

This popular movie series based on the ride at Walt Disney World has had an incredible run starting with the first movie in 2003,  The Curse of the Black Pearl .

The film stars Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. True to Depp’s style, the actor defined the character from day one, and the uniqueness has made the series what it is.

From pirate curses to Davy Jones’ locker – this is a wild ride you want to be on. Get ready to binge! 

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:  Even though Pirates of the Caribbean has become a pop culture series, we love the thrill of this sailing adventure and still get chills when Jack Sparrow delivers the line, “Now… bring me that horizon”.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON DISNEY+

Sailing Comedy Movies

These adventure comedy sailing films are great movie night choices for a fun time and a few good laughs.

4. Captain Ron (1992)

Thirty years after its debut, Captain Ron is still a popular cult classic. This film has to be one of the top sailing movies on this list. The hilariously wild plot makes it enjoyable whether or not you are a skilled sailor.

This sailing comedy starring Kurt Russell is about a carefree captain for hire and a Chicago suburban father (Martin Short) seeking a real adventure for his family.

When the father inherits a sailing yacht in the Caribbean, he decides his family should sail it back to Florida to sell it. They hire the incompetent Captain Ron to help them sail the boat to Miami.

A slew of crazy mishaps follows, including the consequences of the captain’s questionable past and pursuit by pirates through the Caribbean.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Although this is one of Kurt Russell’s only comedic roles, after watching the film, you can’t imagine anyone else as the easygoing Captain Ron. This movie not only makes you laugh but also includes plenty of sailing nostalgia that will have you planning your next Caribbean Charter.

5. the life aquatic with steve zissou (2004).

This Wes Andersen film features an oceanographer who is a washed-up documentary filmmaker, Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray), and his search for revenge on a rare shark that killed his friend and crewmate. 

Zissou sets out on his voyage with a quirky crew, including a pregnant oceanic reporter (Cate Blanchett), his estranged wife (Anjelica Huston), and a man who he recently discovered might be his son (Owen Wilson).

As the story unfolds, a series of unfortunate events lead to unexpected developments with the characters and ultimately bring them together for a spectacular ending that will delight ocean lovers.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:   The Life Aquatic is a Wes Andersen film for marine lovers. If you’re a sailor who likes Wes Andersen’s style, you’ll be left completely satisfied at the end of this wet and wild story.

True story sailing movies.

These sailing movies based on true stories take you on a journey with the sailboat crews that experienced extraordinary situations on the ocean.

6. Adrift (2018)

As far as sailing survival films go, this film is one of our favorites.

Adrift is the true story of Tami Ashcraft and Richard Sharp. Two adventurous people who find love on their travels and then face a deadly hurricane on a sailing yacht delivery across the Pacific.

The movie opens with Tami, played by Shailene Woodley, waking up in the hull of a very damaged sailboat. As she frantically searches for Richard, she goes on deck to realize that his tether has broken.

Cut to five years earlier, where we meet Tami getting off a charter vessel. As the movie progresses, we bounce back and forth between the story of the couple’s meeting and Tami trying desperately to stay alive.

You can find the highly recommended book on this story (and many other books on which these movies were based) on our list of books for sailors .

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Although the book of this tale (authored by Tami) is arguably better – our sailing soul still relates to the romanticized parts of this sailing survival movie, as well as the pain and loss that come with the tragedy at sea.

7. white squall (1996).

White Squall is a sailing movie based on the true story of a group of college-age boys in the 1960s who spent a semester on a tall ship in the Ocean Academy sailing halfway around the world. 

This movie starring Jeff Bridges, is about an old salt captain whose job is to build the character of this group of boys. Some were sent to him for discipline, some an escape, and various other reasons.

We follow the young men as they come together as a crew and ultimately face a terrible unpredicted storm on the sea.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Sailors will love the nostalgia that comes with a tall ship as the primary setting for the film. More than that, this story is about a group of misfits coming together to achieve a goal that bonds them for life.

8. the perfect storm (2000).

This movie is based on a non-fiction book that recounts the “Perfect Storm” or “No-Name Storm” that hit North America in the fall of 1991.

The Perfect Storm is somewhat loosely based on the book but follows the events of the swordfishing vessel Andrea Gail and her crew.

George Clooney plays Billy Tyne, the vessel’s captain with something to prove. The film also stars Mark Wahlberg as Tyne’s right-hand man.

After coming back to port with a disappointing catch, the crew heads back out late in the season only to be caught in one of the most devastating storms in history.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Sailors will find Captain Tyne’s passion and love for the sea completely relatable. You’ll also get a rarely portrayed image of what it’s like for the people who work on the ocean for weeks or months at a time – often risking their lives for their work.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON HULU (Also on MAX)

9. Captain Phillips (2013)

Captain Phillips is the true story of a 2009 hijacking of a U.S. container ship off the coast of Africa by Somalian pirates.

The movie follows the decisions of Captain Phillips and his crew leading up to the hijacking and the intense series of events that unfold after the ship is under the pirates’ control.

It’s reported that although Hollywood’s version of the story casts Phillips as a hero, in reality, it was a more straightforward hostage situation. Even so, we love watching Tom Hanks in the role of Captain Phillips.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:  This is an action thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the captain, crew, and U.S. navy work to resolve an intense situation. 

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON NETFLIX

10. True Spirit (2023)

This Netflix original movie is based on the true story of an Australian teen, Jessica Watson, who in 2009 set out to be the youngest person to sail unassisted and nonstop around the globe.

True Spirit follows the sixteen-year-old girl’s journey and her family and coach as they monitor her circumnavigation back home in Sydney.

We see the struggles unfold for everyone involved during the 23,000 nautical mile sail, as well as the challenges Jess and her family face with the doubting views of the local media.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Despite some of the cringe-worthy visual effects in this film, the story holds up and does a great job of communicating the emotional aspect of this young sailor’s journey. You really feel the moments of solitude and intensity during the storms, and you’ll be rooting for Jess the whole way.

WATCH ON NETFLIX

11. In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

In the Heart of the Sea is an adventure film directed by Ron Howard based on the story of the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820, which inspired the novel “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville.

The film follows the crew of the Essex, led by Captain George Pollard Jr. and first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), as they set out from Nantucket, Massachusetts on a perilous voyage hunting whales for their oil.

After venturing to remote whaling grounds off South America, they encounter a massive and vengeful white sperm whale. The crew is stranded at sea for 90 days, facing hunger, dehydration, and extreme weather conditions.

The film is framed as a flashback, with Melville interviewing Thomas Nickerson, the last surviving member of the Essex crew, about the events that took place. 

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:   In the Heart of the Sea is a gripping tale of maritime survival, exploring the complexities of human nature under extreme circumstances. The film also highlights the brutality of the whaling industry and its devastating impact on the sailors and the whales.

12. kon-tiki (2012).

Kon-Tiki is the true story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s daring 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a balsawood raft.

This film takes audiences on a thrilling journey as Heyerdahl and his small crew set out on a balsawood raft from Peru to prove his theory that ancient South American civilizations could have reached Polynesia by sea and settled the area.

The film beautifully captures the awe-inspiring vastness of the ocean and the camaraderie of the crew as they battle against treacherous storms, sharks, and their own doubts about the expedition.

Kon-Tiki  delves into the complexities of Heyerdahl’s determination, faith, and the audacity of his scientific pursuit, making it a thought-provoking cinematic experience.

This movie is based on the 1950 Oscar-winning documentary Kon-Tiki, directed by Thor Heyerdahl himself.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: With its gripping narrative and meticulous attention to historical accuracy,  Kon-Tiki  immerses you in the harrowing challenges Heyerdahl and his crew faced during their 101-day journey of 4,300 miles across the Pacific. I personally really enjoyed this film.

13. the mercy (2018).

The Mercy is a drama film that brings to life the remarkable true story of British amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated attempt to compete in the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.

Directed by James Marsh, the film delves into the complexities of ambition, moral dilemma, and the fear of failure. 

Crowhurst’s desperate voyage, driven by the desire for fame and fortune, takes a dark and tragic turn as he faces isolation and the harsh realities of the open sea.

Colin Firth delivers a compelling performance, capturing the gradual unraveling of Crowhurst’s sanity and the inner turmoil of a man caught between his family’s well-being and his own obsession for adventure.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:   The Mercy  explores the emotional and ethical challenges accompanying extended solitary voyages as dreams clash with the brutal forces of nature. It’s a compelling narrative if you’ve never heard the story. However, it’s similar to witnessing a captivating but tragic event unfold.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON PLEX

Best Sailing Documentaries

These are a few of our favorite sailing documentaries about some of the most memorable sailboat races and adventures.

14. Maiden (2018)

This sailing documentary is the story of 26-year-old Tracy Edwards and an all-female crew that entered the Whitbread Round the World yacht race in 1989.

A former charter boat cook, Tracy defied the odds when she fixed up a second-hand boat and put together a team to enter a race no female boat skipper had ever entered before.

Not only is this an extraordinary story of overcoming inequality, but it’s a reminder of how courageous, determined, and resourceful the women’s sailing community can be.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:   Maiden is an inspirational story of a group of incredible women who overcame tremendous odds and doubts to complete a nine-month, 33,000-mile sailing race.

WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME | WATCH ON HULU

15. Maidentrip (2013)

Maidentrip is a documentary that follows Laura Dekker, a 14-year-old Dutch girl, as she becomes the youngest person to sail alone around the world. 

The film depicts how Laura faced not only opposition from nature, but resistance from the Dutch government and child welfare organizations who tried to prevent her solo trip.

The film recounts her two-year journey as she navigates through rough seas and equipment failures and experiences the beauty and isolation of being at sea. 

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: During this true coming-of-age story, you’ll be inspired by Laura’s strength and determination to pursue her dreams. We also love how the film reminds us of the spirit of adventure that drives people to explore it.

16. chasing bubbles (2016).

This sailing movie documentary is about a young man named Alex Rust, who quit his office job in Chicago, bought a small sailboat, and jumped headfirst into adventure.

The documentary recounts Alex’s experience as he teaches himself to sail, meets new people, and sets out on what would be a four-year sailing trip over thousands of miles.

Alex’s wild adventures take him to some of the most remote places on the planet. Chasing Bubbles shows the unexpected impacts he has on the many people that sail with him and the communities he visits along the way.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:  Alex’s appetite for adventure will nudge that little piece inside you that tells you to forget everything and sail away into the great unknown. 

WATCH ON VIMEO

17. Deep Water (2006)

This documentary, narrated by Tilda Swinton, recounts the 1968 Golden Globe Race from the perspective of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst.

Crowhurst enters this non-stop solo sail race with an unseaworthy boat and much financial pressure. What follows is a series of events that lead to a hopeless situation.

The Deep Water documentary includes images, interviews, and other media pieces from the era, including audio from Crowhurst himself.

In addition to this documentary, a movie was released in 2018 titled  The Mercy  starring Colin Firth as Donald Crowhurst.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH:  This story is not just about the events or happenings of one man’s experience but a dive into the psychological impacts of a nine-month solo sail in some of the deadliest waters on the planet.

Wrapping up the best sailing films.

We hope you found some good sailing movies to fill your passion and desire for cruising on the open sea! If you didn’t find what you were looking for, we’ve listed a few more of our favorite sailor movies below. Fair winds and happy watching!

More of the Best Movies About Sailing

• Dead Calm (1989)
• Moana (2016)
• Waterworld (1995)
• Styx (2018)
• Moby Dick (1956)
• The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

More Sailing Movies Inspired by True Stories

• Wind (1992)
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

More Documentaries About Sailing

• Morning Light (2008)
• Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World (2017)
• Losing Sight of Shore (2017)
• 180° South (2010)
• Kon-Tiki documentary (1950)

YouTuber Documentaries About Sailing

• Untie the Lines (2018), a documentary from White Spot Pirates, watch on Vimeo
• 80 North: Sailing on Top of the World (2020), documentary from SV Delos, 80northseries.com
• After watching this list of movies, head over to our Sailing YouTube Channels list for more binge-worthy sailing videos.
• You may also like our post, Ultimate Sailing Songs for Inspiration and Life on the Water .
• Or check out our sailing-inspired post 50 of the Best Sailing Quotes to Live By .

Want to find more sailing inspiration?

Check out our lists of sailing quotes, songs, books, and more that inspire this lifestyle.

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Morgan, the founder of The Home That Roams, has been living nomadically for over five years. She began her journey traveling across the U.S. in a motorhome and cruising on a liveaboard sailing catamaran. Currently, she lives full-time in a travel trailer, sharing resources on RV living and boat life to help others downsize their lives and thrive in an alternative lifestyle.

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10 Best Sailing Movies of All Time

• By Cruising World Staff
• March 19, 2024

Making a list of the 10 Best Sailing Movies of All Time is kind of like making a list of the 10 best ways to eat chocolate. Some people prefer the chomp of a candy bar. Other people love the miniature chips baked into cookies. Still other people go for temperature, reaching for ice cream or for a bomb to drop into a hot mug of milk.

For us, the 10 Best Sailing Movies of All Time are the ones we’re happy to go back and watch again and again. Each of them captures something special about being out on the water, and gives us a memorable insight into the human spirit that sailing brings alive.

Here’s a list of our favorites. We look forward to hearing from you in the comments about your favorites, too.

10. White Squall

Ridley Scott, more recently known for the hits Napoleon and The Martian , directed this 1996 movie about teenage boys who discover discipline and camaraderie after facing a severe storm while training aboard a brigantine. The story is based on real events aboard the Albatross , which sank in 1961. Jeff Bridges stars as “Skipper,” teaching the boys through tough love and discipline.

9. Morning Light

This 2008 documentary focuses on the sloop Morning Light and 15 rookie sailors who want to crew in the Transpac Yacht Race. All the crew members were between 18 and 23 years old. Filming took place during training and the actual sailing of the race aboard Morning Light in 2007. Roy E. Disney held a private screening for US Sailing prior to the film’s release.

8. Kon-Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl’s epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft in 1947 is the subject of this 2012 film—which was 2012’s highest-grossing film in Norway. It was an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, and for a Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe, marking the first time a Norwegian film was nominated for both major Hollywood prizes.

Released in 2018, Adrift focuses on a couple facing a catastrophic hurricane. The story is based on the 2002 book Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft, and is set in 1983, during Hurricane Raymond. The film stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, who end up adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, trying to get to Hawaii with a damaged boat and no radio.

6. True Spirit

This 2023 drama is about Australian teenager Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo nonstop around the world. As the reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald wrote: “This is a family-friendly picture, wholesome and tailored for the American market—although I suspect that director Sarah Spillane also shaped it to inspire teenage girls, in particular.”

This 2018 documentary tells the story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats who became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. They finished second in Maiden ’s class, winning two out of six individual legs of the race. In 1990, Edwards detailed her story in the book Maiden , co-written by Tim Madge.

4. Captain Ron

You know you love this 1992 comedy just as much as we do. Kurt Russell stars as a quirky sailor with a questionable past who takes Martin Short and his family through the Caribbean on an inherited sailboat. We know it’s fiction, but we see a lot of reality in this film. If you’ve spent even a little bit of time on boats in the islands, then we’re guessing you see it, too.

3. All Is Lost

Robert Redford stars in this 2013 film about a resourceful sailor who collides with a shipping container at sea, and ends up face-to-face with his own mortality. Redford is the only cast member in the entire film, which includes just fifty-one spoken words. The title of the film is a nod to E. W. Hornung’s observation that when courage is lost, all is lost.

2. The Mercy

The story of amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst and his solo attempt to circumnavigate the globe are at the heart of this 2018 film. The struggles he confronted on the journey while his family awaited his return are one of the most enduring mysteries of recent times. Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz star as Donald and Clare Crowhurst.

1. In the Heart of the Sea

This 2015 film recounts how a whale sank a New England whaling ship in 1820, later inspiring the novel Moby-Dick . It’s directed and produced by Ron Howard, based on the book In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex . The film’s stars include Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland, a who’s who of today’s biggest Hollywood names.

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Movies about yachts

In the top there are new films of 2019, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

In a moving portrait of resilience, Alex Holmes chronicles the unprecedented journey of 24-year-old Tracy Edwards and the first all-female sailing crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race.

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

When a wounded Christian Grey tries to entice a cautious Ana Steele back into his life, she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian’s past start to circle the couple, determined to destroy their hopes for a future together.

Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean under suspicious circumstances.

An Australian couple take a sailing trip in the Pacific to forget about a terrible accident. While on the open sea, in dead calm weather conditions, they come across a ship with one survivor who is not at all what he seems.

A weekend cruise on a luxurious party yacht goes horribly wrong for a group of old high-school friends. They forget to let the ladder down before they jump into the ocean for a swim. The boat proves impossible to climb. They are stuck in the water many miles from shore, with baby Sara left alone on board. Sara's mother Amy must contend with her aqua-phobia as well as the group's increasing desperation, as the friends begin to turn on each other. Soon the exhaustion of keeping afloat and the struggle to get back on board begin to take a terrible toll. The happy reunion turns into a fight for survival...

Heiress, Joanna Stayton hires carpenter, Dean Proffitt to build a closet on her yacht -- and refuses to pay him for the project when it's done. But after Joanna accidentally falls overboard and loses her memory, Dean sees an opportunity to get even.

Baker Dill is a fishing boat captain leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island. His quiet life is shattered, however, when his ex-wife Karen tracks him down with a desperate plea for help.

A struggling family buys an old ship at auction with high hopes of starting a charter business, only to discover her horrifying secrets on the isolated open waters.

Single-camera comedy centering on a diverse group of survivors adjusting to being stranded on an uninhabited island, a dangerous new world where they must face many threats – mostly brought on by themselves. No longer plugged into the rest of the world, the group struggles to navigate their makeshift society while also learning to live without such modern comforts as indoor plumbing, Wi-Fi, social media and Chipotle.

A sudden loss disrupts Carol’s orderly life, propelling her into the dating world for the first time in 20 years. Finally living in the present tense, she finds herself swept up in not one, but two unexpected relationships that challenge her assumptions about what it means to grow old.

Yachtsman Donald Crowhurst's disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe Race ends up with him creating an outrageous account of traveling the world alone by sea.

Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan has sunk his marriage to Tess and his trusty boat in his obsessive quest to find the legendary Queen's Dowry. When he finds a vital clue that may finally pinpoint the treasure's whereabouts, he drags Tess and her boss, billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, along on the hunt. But Finn is not the only one interested in the gold; his former mentor-turned-enemy Moe Fitch will stop at nothing to beat him to it.

Rike is forty, a successful doctor whose job demands everything of her. She intends to use her much-needed annual holiday to fulfill her long-cherished dream of sailing alone from Gibraltar to Ascension, a small tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic. Her desire for a carefree holiday seems to be coming to pass but then, after a storm, her beautiful adventure suddenly turns into an unprecedented challenge when she spots a badly damaged, hopelessly overloaded refugee boat nearby.

Thor is on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the prophecy of destruction to his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

After faking his death, a tech billionaire recruits a team of international operatives for a bold and bloody mission to take down a brutal dictator.

Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

A spoiled, wealthy yacht owner is thrown overboard and becomes the target of revenge from his mistreated employee. A remake of the 1987 comedy.

Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.

Disaster strikes when a criminal mastermind reveals the identities of all active undercover agents in Britain. The secret service can now rely on only one man - Johnny English. Currently teaching at a minor prep school, Johnny springs back into action to find the mysterious hacker. For this mission to succeed, he’ll need all of his skills - what few he has - as the man with yesterday’s analogue methods faces off against tomorrow’s digital technology.

After attending a gathering on a billionaire's yacht during a European vacation, a New York cop and his wife become prime suspects when he's murdered.

A U.S. soccer star suffers a career-threatening injury in the run-up to the World Cup, and during his recovery, embarks on an epic romance with a Russian single mom.

When a long list of shenanigans lands Tyler in hot water, he’s forced to suit up and spend his summer training for an elite junior lifeguard program.

A young man's life is turned upside down when his violent dreams begin to blend with reality.

Semi-true story of the Hollywood murder that occurred at a star-studded gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924.

Teenage prostitute Scarlett and minor offender Tracy end up on the run together in the wake of a courtroom shoot-out.

Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.

The Most Dangerous Game formula gets a monstrous twist as the mythical Hydra turns the tables on a group of wealthy human-hunters. Kidnapped along with three ex-convicts, former Marine Tim Nolan is transported to a deserted island where the super rich pay a fortune to hunt human prey. But this island isn't exactly deserted; it's actually home to Hydra the Beast!

A year after Sheila is killed in a hit-and-run, her multimillionaire husband invites a group of friends to spend a week on his yacht playing a scavenger hunt-style mystery game. The game turns out to be all too real and all too deadly.

A lusty Greek shipping magnate courts the widow of an assassinated U.S. president.

A true story of survival, as a young couple's chance encounter leads them first to love, and then on the adventure of a lifetime as they face one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history.

Gerry and Tom Jeffers are finding married life hard. Tom is an inventor/ architect and there is little money for them to live on. They are about to be thrown out of their apartment when Gerry meets rich businessman being shown around as a prospective tenant. He gives Gerry $700 to start life afresh but Tom refuses to believe her story and they quarrel. Gerry decides the marriage is over and heads to Palm Beach for a quick divorce but Tom has plans to stop her.

Shelby Barrett (Barbara Stanwyck) rides show horses for wealthy widow "Nicko" Nicholas (Genevieve Tobin)and meets Johnny Wyatt (Gene Raymond), scion of a once-wealthy Long Island Family, but who now goes about the country riding polo ponies for "Nicko." Despite the efforts of "Nicko" and wealthy Gene Fairchild (John Eldredge), who is in love with Shelby, Johnny and Shelby are married. Shelby is treated frigidly by her snobby-but-broke in-laws, who frown even more when she and Johnny start handling the horses for wealthy neighbors on money Shelby had borrowed from Fairchild without telling her proud-but-broke husband. Matters aren't helped any when "Nicko" shows up and starts a gossip circuit directed against Shelby. When Johnny is away, Fairchild asks Shelby to help him entertain a wealthy client aboard his yacht. She tries to contact Johnny and fails but accepts the invitation...

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie Minervini has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori, a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others - as well as her own - and find a new purpose in life.

A small-time con artist and a Hawaiian real estate developer's mischievous, enterprising mistress team up for a potential $200,000 score.

The overnight stock crew of a local supermarket find themselves being stalked and slashed by a mysterious maniac.

Jessie Valiquette follows her scribe boyfriend of 3 years Dale Morrow on a search for his long lost Father last heard from on a deserted island in the Philippines. Along with a group of unwitting friends, the young couple encounters more than they bargained for when they discover not only was Dale's father part of a top-secret government project testing the depth of people's fears, but also that he had very good reason for not wanting to be found. Written by In-Motion Pictures

Kevin is a young footballer who recently made a multimillion deal by transferring to FC Barcelona. He hardly realizes what is happening to him. Too young, too rich, too beautiful. His girlfriend Elza knows how Kevin should spend his millions. She is eagerly anticipating her birthday where Kevin will ask her the most important question of all. Kevin's grandmother Karla observes it all from the sidelines with concern. Fortunately there is the down-to-earth event planner Lizzy who shows Kevin the meaning of true love.

In the middle of the Aegean Sea, six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the journey, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear on his smallest finger the victory ring: the Chevalier.

A mother's plan to find her bachelor son a match derails when a new prospect turns up and sinister schemes unfold.

An FSB officer fall in love with his agent, an American woman who works as a trader in a Russian bank.

Internationally released Director's Cut of "Loro 1" and "Loro 2", which were released separately as two movies in Italy. The film talks about the group of businessmen and politicians – the Loro (Them) from the title – who live and act near to media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi in the years between 2006 and 2009.

When two researchers discover a colossal shark's tooth off the Mexican coast their worst fears surface - the most menacing beast to ever rule the waters is still alive and mercilessly feeding on anything that crosses its path. Now they must hunt the fierce killer and destroy it... before there is no one left to stop it

While diving for sunken treasure, street-smart gumshoe Tony Rome finds the body of a gorgeous blonde, her feet stuck in a block of cement. Soon after, tough guy Waldo Gronski hires him to find a missing woman named Sandra Lomax, and Rome wonders if there's a connection. He sets about trying to locate the woman, and in no time finds himself mixed up with a beautiful party girl and a slippery racketeer.

A retail billionaire's 60th birthday party is celebrated in an exclusive hotel on the Greek island of Mykonos.

When a devastating boat crash shipwrecks a group of friends in the jungles of an uncharted island, they are savagely picked off one-by-one by a cannibalistic enemy that evolution forgot.

A young man meets his soon-to-be in-laws but discovers behind their proud and wealthy appearances some deep issues and lies.

The 20 best films about pilots

Posted: March 19, 2024 | Last updated: March 19, 2024

All we really want from a pilot is for them to get us from point A to point B in one piece, and hopefully not to make any “Lost Wages” jokes. However, from a movie standpoint that’s kind of dull. Sure, most of these movies are something we’d never want to watch on a plane, but they are worthwhile films about pilots. Here are some of our favorites.

“Top Gun” (1986)

We feel the need. The need for speed. Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and more hotshot young ‘80s actors are all in “Top Gun,” one of the quintessential films of the decade. These flyboys spend plenty of time in their planes, but also some time playing beach volleyball. Also, a shout out to the sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," which is frankly a better movie and also one of the highest-grossing films ever made.

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“Sully” (2016)

You may have heard of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and the “Miracle on the Hudson.” The pilot famously landed a plane on the water under emergency circumstances with no casualties. This act of heroism got him a biopic, where he was played by noted nice guy Tom Hanks.

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“The Aviator” (2004)

Howard Hughes did many things in his life. He made movies. He dated celebrities. And, of course, he was preoccupied with flying. Specifically, Hughes dedicated a lot of time and money toward the building of a massive aircraft known colloquially as the “Spruce Goose.” All this and more is covered in “The Aviator,” a very good film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett.

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“Independence Day” (1996)

There are a few different pilots in “Independence Day,” and we aren’t talking about the aliens piloting those spacecraft (we stuck to Earth-based flying machines here). Randy Quaid flies a crop duster but returns to a military plane to save the day. Will Smith is a pilot, of course, and even the President gets back behind the wheel of an airplane to fight off the alien invaders.

“Wings” (1927)

“Wings” is a true piece of cinema history. Specifically, the World War I film was the first movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It’s also the one true silent film to win Best Picture, as “The Artist” doesn’t really count. Fortunately, despite being almost a century old at this point, “Wings” has been preserved for posterity.

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“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944)

You have likely heard of Pearl Harbor (the Michael Bay movie on that we decided not to include because it is bad), but are you familiar with the Doolittle Raid? This was the first American airstrike on Japan after Pearl Harbor. “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is about that raid. It was also written by Dalton Trumbo before he was blacklisted from Hollywood.

“Airplane!” (1980)

“Airplane!” is beloved by fans of all-out joke factories masquerading as movies. There is a gag a second in this iconic comedy. The film is a parody of movies like “Airport” and “Zero Hour” that were popular in the ‘70s. Those aren’t really about pilots necessarily, but Ted Striker, the de facto main character of “Airplane!” is. We’re serious. And don’t call us Shirley.

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“Charley Varrick” (1973)

If you only know Walter Matthau from “Grumpy Old Men” or “Dennis the Menace,” you missed out on many gritty dramas that he excelled in. Sure, Matthau could do comedy as well, but many a grimy ‘70s film starred or costarred Matthau, including “Charley Varrick.” In the film, Matthau plays Varrick, a cropduster and former stunt pilot who now robs banks.

“Flight” (2012)

What if a pilot was a hero, but also perhaps a danger to himself and others? That’s the dilemma at the center of “Flight,” a film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Denzel Washington. It’s Washington who plays the pilot who manages to pull off an incredible flying feat, in spite of the fact he regularly abuses alcohol and drugs.

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“Catch Me If You Can” (2002)

Frank Abagnale Jr. conned and swindled his way into doing a few things in life. He pretended to be a lawyer and a doctor, but he also swindled his way into being a pilot for Pan Am, though obviously, he doesn’t know how to fly planes. He’s mostly in it for the perks and the cash, as he eventually turns the Pan Am payroll checks he has his hands on into millions in ill-gotten gains. So maybe Frank isn’t a pilot, but a lot of people believed him. Why shouldn’t we?

“Iron Eagle” (1986)

“Iron Eagle” lives in the shadow of “Top Gun.” They came out the same year, but “Top Gun” was a huge hit, and “Iron Eagle” suffered in comparison. It has a very similar plot, but not the same stardom. However, “Iron Eagle” has three sequels. “Top Gun” is only now getting its first one.

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“The Great Waldo Pepper” (1975)

George Roy Hill loved to work with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. After making “The Sting,” and before making “Slap Shot,” Hill and Redford made “The Great Waldo Pepper.” Redford stars as Pepper, a former World War I pilot who joins a flying stunt show to try and bring some excitement back into his life.

“American Made” (2017)

Tom Cruise is at it again! This Doug Liman film is as shimmering and kinetic as “Top Gun,” but it’s a more sordid film. Based on a true story, Cruise plays Barry Seal, a pilot who flew missions for the CIA, a drug cartel, and also the DEA. Yeah, he was a busy guy.

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“Captain Marvel” (2019)

You may remember Captain Marvel from the end of the movie when she is super powerful and flying through space (so powerful that it kind of renders a sequel moot, but that’s a story for another day). However, she began life, as she finds out, as a test pilot named Carol Danvers. Yes, Captain Marvel is a pilot, and so is her best friend and lost mentor.

“Bridge of Spies” (2015)

Alright, so “Bridge of Spies,” is a legal drama based on a true story, but what’s that story about. It’s about the United States and the Soviet Union exchanging spies for one another. The American spy? Francis Gary Powers, a spy plane pilot shot down over the Soviet Union. A pilot is at the center of the story, even if Tom Hanks is also in the movie and Mark Rylance won an Oscar.

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“Wonder Woman” (2017)

No, Diana is not a pilot. Well, not in the movie at least. She did fly an invisible plane in the comics and TV show. However, Steve Trevor, as played by Chris Pine in the film, is a pilot. He crashes near Diana’s homeland which is what brings her into “our” world. He may get second billing, but Trevor is enough a part of this movie to consider it about a pilot.

“Red Tails” (2012)

George Lucas’ non-“Star Wars” films are hit or miss. Well, his “Star Wars” films are also hit or miss. However, he used his capital and goodwill in order to make “Red Tails” in 2012. The movie tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, an Air Force squadron during World War II consisting entirely of African-American pilots. Lucas did not direct to be fair – other than some additional material – but he did produce it and was the face of the promotion. It was clearly a passion project for him. Alas, it was also a flop.

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“Hot Shots!” (1991)

We talked about “Top Gun” earlier. Now we get to “Hot Shots!” which is a parody of “Top Gun” and similar military films. Basically, it’s “Airplane!” or “Naked Gun” for that kind of film. Charlie Sheen stars in “Hot Shots!” and also returned for the sequel. They aren’t quite on the “Airplane!” level, but they have their laughs.

“The Rocketeer” (1991)

Well, the Rocketeer, the semi-superhero from this throwback flick, uses a jetpack to fly, so he’s kind of a pilot. However, the man in the mask, Cliff Secord, is a stunt pilot for a living before he gets his hands on the experimental flying device. “The Rocketeer” didn’t get a lot of love when it came out, but since then has been reconsidered as a fun, fresh action film.

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“The Right Stuff” (1983)

“The Right Stuff” is about the birth of the American space program. The first guys who were invited in to try their hand at becoming astronauts? They were all military test pilots. Also in the film, though he wasn’t a member of the Mercury Seven? That would be Chuck Yeager, who was the first human being to break the sound barrier in a plane.

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The 10 Best Pirate Movies, Ranked

Why couldn't the pirate get into the movie theatre? Because the movie was rated "ARRR!"

Pirates are a subject that fascinates many. They were thieves who prowled the Seven Seas during the Golden Age of Piracy, which lasted from the 1650s to the 1730s. This 80-year period was when lots of trading was going on in the Atlantic, what with the Europeans newly making land there and all. Thus, the Atlantic was ripe for the picking for anyone who wanted to plunder some loot.

Logically, pirates have been the subject of many movies , although some are better than others. There are multiple options to choose from: some offer different twists on the formula, while others prefer to stick to the status quo. While many are good in their own way, a handful of pirate movies have become iconic in the years since their release and are likely to be remembered for generations to come.

10 'Hook' (1991)

Director: steven spielberg.

Hook is a movie that, for some reason, was panned by critics but adored by audiences . Directed by Steven Spielberg , it stars Robin Williams , adored by many as the ultimate comedic icon. The movie is a sequel to J. M. Barrie 's classic play and novel Peter Pan , of which several movies have also been made. While typical adaptations of the work follow Peter as a boy who never grew up, Hook shows Peter as a middle-aged man who is returning to Neverland after spending time in the real world and aging like normal people do.

Silly but well-intentioned and unashamedly fantastical, Hook is a fitting sequel to a classic story and features some great nostalgic moments . Like many other Spielberg movies, Hook is heartwarming and relatable, telling a story about the importance of never losing one's inner child, especially considering adulthood already demands so much from everyone. So what if the critics didn't like it? Like the best pirates, Hook is subversive and unafraid to go against the norm.

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9 'The Pirate' (1948)

Director: vincente minnelli.

The Pirate is a musical film starring the iconic Gene Kelly . In this movie, he stars as Serafin, a fictional circus performer who whisks a young woman named Manuela, played by the equally legendary Judy Garland , away for a life of adventure. While initially resistant, Manuela eventually falls for Serafin. However, a man named Don Pedro ( Walter Slezak ) is determined to stop this, as Manuela is supposed to marry him instead.

While far from Kelly or Garland's best musical, The Pirate still makes for a good time for both musical and pirate fans. The two protagonists are incredible together, sharing a magnetic yet endearing chemistry that elevates what could easily be a simple love story, and Cole Porter 's songs are simply enchanting. The Pirate is innocent, comedic, and uplifting from start to finish . It might not be particularly daring, but at the end of the day, it doesn't need to be.

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8 'Castle in the Sky' (1986)

Director: hayao miyazaki.

Studio Ghibli makes masterpiece after masterpiece , and it doesn't look like they'll slow down any time soon. The beautiful, creative, boundless mind of Hayao Miyazaki has given audiences worldwide a collection of some of the most imaginative and wonderful animated films available. Like his other projects, Castle in the Sky is oozing with quality, featuring sky pirates who fly around on airships rather than regular waterborne ships.

Castle in the Sky is unique, beautifully animated, and comes with the standard whimsical adventure that many expect out of Studio Ghibli . There's a genuine sense of awe and wonder here, a ridiculously contagious and adventurous spirit that leaps from the screen and into the hearts and souls of anyone fortunate enough to allow it. This is a classic story with a cool little twist, which is what makes it one of the best and most daring pirate movies out there.

Castle in the Sky

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7 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' (2003)

Director: gore verbinski.

Pirates of the Caribbean is the pirate movie franchise. It's a go-to option for a lot of people. The franchise spans five movies, with a planned sixth on the way, and gives a fantastical twist to ordinary pirate stories. While the first three movies are often regarded as the best, none of them are as good as the original, The Curse of the Black Pearl . Disney really struck gold with this franchise, which is probably why they keep bringing it back.

The cast is huge and riddled with well-established actors, and the films explore common themes not only in history but also in pirate folklore. The action is stellar, and the characters are all so unique and fleshed out. The Curse of the Black Pearl has everything expected from a great pirate movie: exciting action, sweeping romance, and thrills at high sea . Anyone who's into pirates will have the best time with this movie, even if its successors can't quite match its disruptive energy.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

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6 'Treasure Planet' (2002)

Directors: john musker, ron clements.

This adaptation of Treasure Island decided to opt for a completely different genre and turn the seafaring pirates into space pirates. Despite this radical change, Treasure Planet remains a fantastically underrated movie . Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the voice of Jim Hawkins, this animated film inserts a whole bunch of new problems that ordinary pirates would never face, such as supernovae and space whales.

What's more, it features a ton of really creative alien species, including the adorable Morph ( Dane Davis ), who accompanies Long John Silver ( Brian Murray ) in place of his signature parrot. As the name implies, rather than an island, the treasure is located on a remote planet in the galaxy. The animation is visually stunning; every frame is drawn with so much care that it's a real shame the movie never took off as much as it could have. Treasure Planet is unabashedly wild and daring, willing to completely reinvent its beloved source material . It's a remarkable pirate movie and a truly distinctive entry into the genre that has never received the recognition it deserves.

Treasure Planet

5 'captain phillips' (2013), director: paul greengrass.

Captain Phillips is probably the only pirate movie out there based on a true story. The film follows the titular Captain Phillips ( Tom Hanks ) as his cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates. They are nothing like the fun, cutlass-wielding, peg-leg-wearing seafarers—these are pirates with automatic weapons who are out for blood. Piracy is very much still alive, although it is more common in certain regions of the world, particularly off the Horn of Africa, where the film takes place.

This movie is nothing short of a masterpiece. Tom Hanks delivers an incredible performance as Captain Phillips, expertly supported by Barkhad Abdi , who delivers quite a frightening and convincing role in his first on-screen performance. Aside from the acting achievements, Captain Phillips is tense and rewarding, with a great ending and fantastic action based primarily on using wits rather than brute force . It's a truly disruptive entry into the pirate genre, made for a modern audience with higher stakes.

Captain Phillips

4 'muppet treasure island' (1996), directed by brian henson.

Muppet Treasure Island is one of dozens of movie adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic novel Treasure Island. The catch is that this one, of course, stars the Muppets in a whimsical, musical journey across the sea. The movie features classic characters like Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, Statler and Waldorf, and Gonzo playing different roles, and a handful of new characters, too, such as the legendary Tim Curry playing Long John Silver.

Being the Muppets, there are also some hilarious moments, including Long John Silver carrying around a talking lobster rather than a talking parrot. The songs are super catchy and the movie is endlessly fun right from the get-go. With memorable tunes like "Cabin Fever" and "Shiver My Timbers," Muppet Treasure Island will make audiences laugh and sing right along with the characters . Plus, who doesn't love a good pirate story? Especially one that's been in circulation for so long.

3 'Treasure Island' (1950)

Directed by byron haskin.

Out of all the adaptations of Treasure Island , this one has got to be the best. Even though it's over 70 years old, it still holds up just as much as it did then. No other adaptation of the story has come even close to the amount of quality that this one has. The production value in this movie is honestly really impressive considering the technological limitations at the time of its production, and there isn't a single dull moment to be found throughout.

Treasure Island is the greatest adaptation of Stevenson's novel. It's a shame that people today don't seem to talk about it enough. It features all of the bells and whistles that people think of when they think of the idea of a pirate: eye patches, peg legs, mutiny, pirate booty, swords, and the freedom to do whatever one wants. This movie and the original novel are primarily where most common pirate tropes come from, regardless of how historically accurate they are. It's a must-see for any cinephile, not just for pirate fans.

2 'The Goonies' (1985)

Director: richard donner.

The Goonies features an adventurous group of kids from a small coastal town recently bought by a large corporation that intends to bulldoze their homes to make room for a golf course. Realizing that they will all have to move away and may never see each other again, they decide to search for the long-lost treasure of the infamous pirate One-Eyed Willie, which is supposedly buried nearby.

While the movie doesn't become super pirate-like until the end, it's still a wild ride and a marvelous tale of friendship and childhood. It's one of the most iconic 80s movies because it's so simple yet super effective. The Goonies themselves are all unique and memorable, played by some big names like Ke Huy Quan , Sean Astin , and Corey Feldman . Sweet and earnest, The Goonies is an ode to childhood and the wild sense of hope and excitement that comes with the greatest adventures , an excellent pirate-themed movie that stands as a timeless classic.

The Goonies

1 'the princess bride' (1987), director: rob reiner.

The Princess Bride is the perfect balance between a fairy tale and a thrilling pirate adventure. Framed as a bedtime story told by a grandfather to his sick grandson, the film follows the adventures of former farmhand Westley, who seeks to rescue his love, Princess Buttercup, from the odious Prince Humperdinck. Not much of the movie takes place at sea, but it doesn't have to because it's amazing all the same.

The romance between Westley and Buttercup is heartwarming, and the movie's message about love still holds true nearly 40 years later. The Princess Bride is not only funny and witty, but also adventurous, entertaining, sweeping, and just plain fun , a masterpiece of the fantasy genre that keeps surprising with each turn. This movie has got something for everyone, and it hasn't aged a bit. There isn't a single wasted line of dialogue, and it'll likely go down in history as perhaps one of the greatest movies of all time.

The Princess Bride

NEXT: The 10 Best Knights in Movies and TV, Ranked

A look at the most expensive superyachts at the Palm Beach yacht show and their insane features, from basketball courts on deck to ice baths and saunas

• The Palm Beach International Boat Show kicks off later this week.
• Eight megayachts are expected to be on display for would-be buyers and charter customers.
• These are the show's biggest yachts — and how many millions of dollars they are going for.

The Palm Beach International Boat Show — the yacht world's flashiest event stateside — is returning this year with over 800 boats for both deep-pocked potential owners and window shoppers to peruse.

While it's impossible to know what exactly will be on display until the show begins on Thursday, it's expected that eight megayachts — generally defined as ships over 60 meters long — will be docked at the show and at nearby marinas like the Rybovich Marina in the ritzy Florida town.

Some of these are for sale at eye-popping prices, but others are available to if in case you fancy living like a billionaire for a week or two this summer (and if you have six figures to spare on a vacation).

These are the eight biggest yachts that will be at the Palm Beach International Boat Show and nearby marinas, in size order.

Nero: 90.1 meters

Price: From $497,000 a week (charter) Standout features: Pizza ovens, beauty salon, massage room, resistance pool

Reportedly owned by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien, Nero is modeled after J.P. Morgan's 1930s ship , and was built in 2007 and updated in 2021.

She now boasts a gym on her sundeck with multiple cardio machines and a beauty salon, and has an on-board beautician for manicure, pedicure, hair, and massage needs. There's also an upgraded movie theater, two new pizza ovens, and both a pool and a jacuzzi.

For those who want to go overboard, she has more than a dozen toys, including a waterslide, Jet Ski, and flyboard.

Victorious: 85 meters

Price: From $876,600 a week in the summer and $950,000 a week in the winter Standout features: Hammam (Turkish bath), wine cellar, wood-burning fireplace, children's playroom

Victorious brings a party vibe to the yacht show. With a beach club on board, a wine cellar, a cigar clubroom , multiple bars, and a lounge with a piano, the vessel is made for entertaining. Plus, there's a playroom and movie theater to entertain the kids.

For tamer charter clients, Victorious has a suite of wellness features such as a gym, massage room, beauty salon and hammam, or Turkish bath — perhaps a custom request of her owner, Turkish businessman Vural Ak.

She also boasts a treasure trove of water toys, including Jet Skis, jetsurfs, inflatable kayaks, and scuba equipment.

Casino Royale: 72 meters

Price: TBD Special Features: Infinity pool, helipad, private jacuzzi

Purchased and refitted by car dealer magnate John Staluppi last year, Casino Royale is the latest of his James Bond-inspired yachts (he's also owned an Octopussy and a Skyfall, among others).

Casino Royale has a helipad that turns into a dancefloor, an infinity pool, and a wellness center with a gym and sauna. The owner's cabin has its own deck, which features a private bar and jacuzzi.

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However, the boat's price isn't listed, and while she's not necessarily officially for sale, that might change depending on who's prepared to buy, Mr. Bond.

Talisman C: 70.6 meters

Price: $60 million (or from $567,000 a week to charter) Special features: Massage and beauty room, private library

Likely the largest yacht for sale (not just charter) at the show, the Talisman C is a 2011 six-bedroom boat. The owner's cabin comes with an en suite bathroom, dressing room, private library, and crystal chandeliers.

Amenities include a gym, a beauty room, oversized jacuzzi, and a fully equipped bar. Her crew of 19 includes a trained masseuse, and the toy room comes equipped with a wakeboard, eFoil , and WaveRunners.

Joy: 70 meters

Price: From $650,000 a week Special features: Disco club, basketball court, onboard fitness instructor

Superyacht Joy testifies to the fact that owners want as many on-board experiences as they can get.

There's an expansive suite of fitness features, including a basketball court (don't shoot that hoop too hard!), a personal trainer on staff, boxing equipment, and a handful of machines. For post-workout winddowns, there's a spa with a steam room and onboard masseuse. And for entertainment, there's both an outdoor and indoor cinema, and a disco club.

Triumph: 65.4 meters

Price: From $707,600 a week in the summer and $650,000 a week in the winter Special features: Sauna, helipad, banana boat

This 2021 superyacht is named after Triumph motorcycles — a reported favorite of her rumored owner, British businessman Chris Dawson — and even has one on display as an art piece in the upper deck's lounge. The primary suite is 1,400 square feet and has its own study , and there's a sauna, an indoor-outdoor gym, a helipad, and a massage room spread among her six decks.

She boasts an "armada of water toys," including two kinds of Jet Skis, electric water bikes, and a banana boat.

Seanna: 64.5 meters

Price: $54,000,000 (or from $462,000 a week to charter) Special features: marble foyer, movie room, sundeck pool

The recently refurbished Seanna is available for sale and charter.

Her indoor-outdoor gym is on sea level so that passengers can take a dip after a session with the onboard personal trainer. There's also a sundeck pool, a helipad, a two-room massage facility, and, for the more cerebral guests, a library with an electric fireplace.

There are a number of toys on board, including a popular water trampoline and two WaveRunners.

Come Together: 60 meters

Price: $65,000,000 Special Features: DJ and videographer on board, ice bath, sauna

Next-to-new yacht Come Together is looking for a new owner after doing charters during the 2023 season.

The Beatles' influence is evident beyond the yacht's name, with guitars dotting the sky lounge and a crewmember who doubles as a DJ. There's also an outdoor cinema and bar for entertainment and an ice bath and sauna for the day after the party. The owner's suite has a private study and lounge, and each guest cabin has its own ensuite.

The sale includes a number of toys, like Jet Skis, kayaks, and Seabobs.

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The 10 Most-Exciting Yacht Debuts at the Palm Beach International Boat Show

Besides the debut of smaller vessels, more than 60 yachts over 100 feet will be at palm beach this week. it promises to be a banner event., howard walker, howard walker's most recent stories.

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For superyacht shoppers, the Palm Beach International Boat Show, kicking off its four-day run this week, is set to break records with more than 60 yachts over 100 feet long on display. Last year was also a banner year for superyachts at the show. 

Headliners will include the likes of the 295-foot Corsair Nero ,  the 278-foot Victorious by AKYacht, the 230-foot Turquoise-built Talisman C , and 213-foot Benetti Triumph among brokerage yachts, and in new yachts, the 113-foot Ocean Alexander Puro 35 is making its world debut.  

There are so many gleaming white vessels over 100 feet, in fact, that the fleet will be split between the Palm Harbor Marina at the main show site on the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront and the Safe Harbor Rybovich Marina two miles north. 

Now in its 42nd year, PBIBS will also showcase hundreds of models of dayboats, cruisers, and fishing boats, as well as marine accessories. Running from this Thursday through Sunday, the show coincides with the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art show, a fortuitous opportunity for yacht owners wanting to add new art to their collections.

Here are 10 must-see boats at this year’s show.

Corsair Yachts ‘Nero’

The undisputed star of this year’s Palm Beach show? That would be the 295-foot, classically styled superyacht Nero , built in 2007 and inspired by American financier J.P. Morgan’s legendary 1930s steamer Corsair IV . Nero ‘s attendance at PBIBS marks its return to the charter market after an extensive refit in 2021. Now better than new, the boat is being managed by Burgess. With weekly charter rates from $497,000, the vessel offers five-star accommodations for 12 guests in six cabins, with pampering from a crew of 20. Part of the refit included a full interior refresh by Italian interior designer Laura Pomponi, plus a major focus on wellness. That meant the construction of a new, state-of-the-art gym and spa, the assistance of a certified onboard trainer, a masseuse and beautician. After PBIBS, Nero will spend the winter in the Caribbean before returning to the Med for the summer season.

Ocean Alexander Puro 35P

Ocean Alexander is debuting the first of its new Puro superyacht series at PBIBS. The 113-foot Puro 35P comes from the drawing board of Italian designer Giorgio M. Cassetta and is a step back from the polarizing lines of OA’s recent Revolution and Explorer series with their bold, vertical bow designs. Aimed at long-distance cruising, the 35P can carry over 5,000 gallons of fuel and is powered by twin 2,000 hp MAN V12s for a 24-knot top speed. Twin 55kW Kohler generators can also keep the yacht powered at anchor for long periods. Other standout features include extensive glazing in the chiseled fiberglass hull, a forward deck plunge pool, and spacious accommodations for 10 guests. 

Think of it as the “starter” Sirena. Aimed at a younger demographic, the Turkish builder’s brand-new Sirena 48 is making its U.S. debut at PBIBS after a global reveal at last fall’s Cannes boat show. Such is its appeal that 27 hulls have already been sold, with 13 of the orders coming from North America. Looking like a scaled-down version of Sirena’s popular 58, its distinctive, trawler-style lines are from Argentinian designer Germán Frers. With more interior space than a typical 48-footer, the yacht offers three staterooms—plus a crew cabin—a spacious, light-filled salon, a large cockpit, an oversized flybridge, and a vast forward social area. Take your pick from twin 550 hp Cummins QSB, or 670 hp Volvo D11 turbo diesels. Or the builder is also offering hybrid power with twin 285 hp electric motors charged up by variable-speed generators that are good for a 30-mile battery-only range.

Feadship ‘Olympus’

Picture purchasing a classic 180-foot Feadship superyacht, and then getting a $10 million bill for a major refit. That was the case with Olympus , built by the Dutch masters at Feadship in 1996 to a design by Britain’s Andrew Winch and the celebrated naval architect Frits De Voogt. Sold in 2022, the new owner sent it to the Monaco Marine refit center in La Ciotat, France for a major makeover. It included overhauling the 2,600 hp Caterpillar engines and generators, repairs to the structure, substantial upgrades to the guest areas and crew quarters, and new paint throughout. With the work completed just last year, the vessel is said to be in mint condition. Offered jointly by brokers Fraser and Edmiston, Olympus has an asking price of $28.5 million. With accommodations for 16 guests in eight cabins, the boat’s highlights include two primary suites, tropical-spec air conditioning, and Palm Beach-chic decor.

Benetti ‘Triumph’

Italian yachting powerhouse Benetti is showing off its superyacht-building skills with the 213-foot Triumph . Delivered in 2021, this Giorgio M. Cassetta-designed steel-and-aluminum world girder features six decks, a 1,400-square-foot primary suite with outdoor terrace and adjoining lounge, a 750-square-foot beach club, and a touch-and-go helipad. What sets Triumph apart, however, is its lavish interior furnishings put together by the owner along with Benetti Interior Style and Monaco-based Green & Mingarelli Design. It includes pieces by French glassmaker Lalique, marble from Marfil, Statuario and Armani, furs, silk and wool carpets, plus a collection of cool black-and-white wildlife photographs by British fine art photographer David Yarrow. The pièce de résistance? That would be the owner’s Triumph Bonneville motorcycle displayed in the salon.

Fjord 39 XP/XL

Germany’s Fjord Yachts, part of the Hanse Group, has a new 39-foot day boat that it’s unveiling at the Palm Beach show. The 39 XP and XL keep all the bold design cues of the bigger Fjord 41 XP and XL, like a big, open cockpit, walkaround center console, vertical bow, mile-high windshield and stretched hardtop. As for the differences between the XP and XL, it’s all about power. The XL comes with a choice of twin 320hp Volvo D4 diesels, or bigger 440 hp D6 versions, both with Volvo stern drives. Likely more appealing to U.S. buyers will be the XP powered by twin 400 hp Mercury Verado V10 outboards giving a 50-knot top speed. Pricing starts at around $500,000.

Turquoise ‘Talisman C’

Chandeliers don’t come more dramatic than this. Cascading down the central spiral staircase of the Turkish-built, 231-foot superyacht Talisman C , this jaw-dropping piece of art comprises an array of multi-colored glass balls threaded on stainless-steel rods and illuminated by hanging fiber-optic strands. It’s the creation of Prague-based Crystal Caviar and is one of a number of glass installations on this sleek, low-profile superyacht. Built in 2011 by the Proteksan Turquoise shipyard, Talisman C was designed inside and out by London-based studio H2 Yacht Design, with naval architecture by Italy’s Hydro Tec. With cabins for 12 guests, one of its highlights is a huge primary suite, which boasts more crystal chandeliers and a private library. Twin 2,447 hp Caterpillar diesels give a top speed of 18 knots and a transatlantic range of 7,000 nautical miles at 12 knots. It’s listed with Burgess for $59.9 million. 

Sanlorenzo 44 ‘Kamakasa’

Delivered in 2020 and sold to a new buyer just last August, the 146-foot Sanlorenzo 44 Alloy Kamakasa will be for sale at PBIBS. The asking price, through the Italian Yacht Group, is $23.75 million. Lack of use might also be the issue here; the yacht’s twin 2,600 hp MTU V16 diesels have a mere 289 hours on the clock. Built in aluminum to a design by Rome-based Zuccon International Project, Kamakasa was the second hull in the Sanlorenzo 44 Alloy series. One of the top features is a primary suite that spans three levels and almost 1,600 square feet; it also comes with a private Jacuzzi, separate bathrooms, a walk-in closet, and a private study. The yacht’s lightweight construction and MTU power combine to deliver an impressive 20-knot top speed.

Bahama 41 GT2

As ultimate, reel-’em-in, fishing center consoles go, the Bahama 41 from West Palm Beach-based Bahama Boat Works is as hard-core as they come. But when owners kept asking for a little more comfort for the family, the builder responded. The result is the brand-new flagship 41 GT debuting at PBIBS. While the proven, wave-slicing hull stays the same, the cockpit layout is new. In place of the single bench seat, there are now three-across bucket seats with a second row behind. The wider console now has space for a pair of 22-inch Garmin screens, while the new extended hardtop features sun shades and even a rain shower. Outboard choices stay the same with either twin Mercury V12 600s, or four 400 hp Mercury V10s, good for a 65-knot-plus top speed. Pricing is from around $920,000.

Heesen ‘Book Ends’

Launched in 2022, this 164-foot Heesen is part of the Book Ends collection, owned by an American couple who have had more than 18 yachts with the same name. The exterior design of this Heesen was by Omega Architects, while Dutch studio Van Oossanen did the naval architecture. The yacht is part of Heesen’s fast cruising series, which is more efficient than other vessels its size, and can reach 23 knots at full speed with its MTU 16V 4000 M65L engines. The yacht is listed through Ocean Independence for 42 million Euro, or about $45.7 million.

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Who won Oscars for 2024? See the full list of Academy Award winners

By Jordan Freiman

Updated on: March 11, 2024 / 9:09 AM EDT / CBS News

"Oppenheimer" won big at the 2024 Oscars , coming in with 13 nominations and earning awards in major categories such as best director, best actor and best picture .

"Barbie," the other half of the dual box-office Barbenheimer sensation , earned eight nominations, but only got one win Sunday night for best song. 

Other big winners at the 96th Academy Awards were "Poor Things" — which won awards for hair and makeup, production design and costume design — and Cillian Murphy, who won best actor , continuing his winning streak after taking home comparable awards at the 2024 Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards for the title role in "Oppenheimer."

Emma Stone, in what some consider an upset win, took home best actress for her role in "Poor Things," beating out Lily Gladstone , who became the first Native American to be nominated for best actress for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon."

This year's ceremony took place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles and featured its share of both hilarious and touching moments . Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel returned to host the Oscars for the second year in a row and his fourth time overall. 

The full list of this year's Oscar winners and nominees is below.

Who won the most Oscars for 2024?

"Oppenheimer" won the most Oscars at the 96th Academy Awards with seven, including some of the most coveted awards — best picture and best director. Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy won best supporting actor and best actor for their roles in the film, while the movie also took home awards for cinematography, editing and score.

Best picture

• "Oppenheimer" — Winner
• "American Fiction"
• "Anatomy of a Fall"
• "The Holdovers"
• "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• "Past Lives"
• "Poor Things"
• "The Zone of Interest"

Best supporting actress

• Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers" — Winner
• Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer"
• Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple"
• America Ferrera, "Barbie"
• Jodie Foster, "Nyad"

Best animated short film

• "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko" — Winner
• "Letter to a Pig"
• "Ninety-Five Senses"
• "Our Uniform"
• "Pachyderm"

Best animated feature film

• "The Boy and the Heron" — Winner
• "Elemental"
• "Robot Dreams"
• "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"

Best original screenplay

• "Anatomy of a Fall" — Winner
• "May December"

Best adapted screenplay

• "American Fiction" — Winner
• "Oppenheimer"

Best makeup and hairstyling

• "Poor Things" — Winner
• "Society of the Snow"

Best production design

Best costume design, best international feature film.

• "The Zone of Interest," United Kingdom — Winner
• "Io Capitano," Italy
• "Perfect Days," Japan
• "Society of the Snow," Spain
• "The Teachers' Lounge," Germany

Best supporting actor

• Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer" — Winner
• Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction"
• Robert De Niro, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Ryan Gosling, "Barbie"
• Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"

Best visual effects

• "Godzilla Minus One" — Winner
• "The Creator"
• "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"
• "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"

Best film editing

Best documentary short film.

• "The Last Repair Shop" — Winner
• "The ABCs of Book Banning"
• "The Barber of Little Rock"
• "Island in Between"
• "Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó"

Best documentary feature film

• "20 Days in Mariupol" — Winner
• "Bobi Wine: The People's President"
• "The Eternal Memory"
• "Four Daughters"
• "To Kill a Tiger"

Best cinematography

Best live action short film.

• "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" — Winner
• "The After"
• "Invincible"
• "Knight of Fortune"
• "Red, White and Blue"
• "The Zone of Interest" — Winner

Best original score

• "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"

Best original song

• "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" — Winner
• "It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"
• "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"
• "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"
• "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
• Bradley Cooper, "Maestro"
• Colman Domingo, "Rustin"
• Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers"
• Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"

Best director

• Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
• Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"
• Yorgos Lanthimos, "Poor Things"
• Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall"

Best actress

• Emma Stone, "Poor Things" — Winner
• Annette Bening, "Nyad"
• Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall"
• Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"

Full list of Oscars 2024 winners

• Best picture: "Oppenheimer"
• Best director: Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer"
• Best actress: Emma Stone, "Poor Things."
• Best actor: Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer"
• Best supporting actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"
• Best supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer"
• Best original screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, "Anatomy of a Fall"
• Best adapted screenplay: Cord Jefferson, "American Fiction"
• Best animated feature: "The Boy and the Heron"
• Best animated short: "War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono"
• Best international feature: "The Zone of Interest" (United Kingdom)
• Best documentary feature: "20 Days in Mariupol"
• Best documentary short: "The Last Repair Shop"
• Best live action short: "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar"
• Best score: Ludwig Göransson, "Oppenheimer" 
• Best original song: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie"
• Best sound: Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn, "The Zone of Interest"
• Best production design: James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek, "Poor Things"
• Best cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, "Oppenheimer"
• Best makeup and hairstyling: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, "Poor Things"
• Best costume design: Holly Waddington, "Poor Things"
• Best editing: Jennifer Lame, "Oppenheimer"
• Best visual effects: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima, "Godzilla Minus One" 
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• Academy Awards

Jordan Freiman is an editor and writer for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.

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