The Perfect Storm - 2000

The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger about the crew of the Andrea Gail that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, William Fichtner, John C. Reilly, Allen Payne, John Hawkes, Diane Lane, Michael Ironside, Karen Allen and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The film was released on June 30, 2000 by Warner Bros. Pictures.

In October 1991, the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts with a poor catch. Desperate for money, Captain Billy Tyne (Clooney), convinces the Andrea Gail crew to join him for one more late season fishing expedition. They head out past their usual fishing grounds, leaving a developing thunderstorm behind them. Initially unsuccessful, they head to the Flemish Cap, where their luck improves. At the height of their fishing the ice machine breaks; the only way to sell their catch before it spoils is to hurry back to shore. After debating whether to sail through the building storm or to wait it out, the crew decide to risk the storm. However, between the Andrea Gail and Gloucester is a confluence of two powerful weather fronts and a hurricane, which the Andrea Gail crew underestimate.

The film is based on Junger's non-fiction book of the same title. The book itself has sometimes been accused of factual errors (e.g., misspelling of a person's name), one-sided research (e.g., initially not interviewing the skipper and owner of the yacht Satori) and bias against the fishing industry (e.g., role of drinking among fishermen); the author and, according to him, also fishermen have defended the book. The film leaves out many of the book's technical details, like the prominent role of the Canadian Coast Guard, as well as contested parts about the stability (resistance to capsizing) of the Andrea Gail.

The film only claims to be "based on a true story." It differs in many ways from the book, starting with the fictionalization of the material into a "story." The film also continues to narrate the story of the Andrea Gail after its last radio contact. As the boat and the bodies of the crew were never found, these final events (e.g., the decision to change course, the 360° knockover, etc.) are obviously entirely speculation.