I smell copper tone, which means the voice of reason.

Amber Lewis is in my studio.

It's actually Hawaiian tropic.

Last week, on November tenth, was the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking of the SS Fitzgerald.

Amber.

Yes, on my mother's birthday.

Oh, happy, happy birthday to Nan Lewis, one of our favorite listeners.

I hope she likes.

I hope she likes today's pick because oh my gosh, loves.

Loves today's pick.

Okay, well, yes, Amber, I'd like to discuss another famous vessel.

You could say it was a hell of a boat with a hell of a crew and a hell of a skipper.

So let's talk about a film by Wolfgang Peterson, his thrilling seafaring adventure film celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary, The Perfect Story.

Hello everybody, and welcome back.

I'm Jeff Johnson, I'm Amber Lewis.

And this is a film by podcast Amber.

We've been dropping plenty of exclusive content on our Patreon, and I see we've had several new free members join us over there also.

That's exciting.

It is it is uh, you know, I you know every down then like the like when you when you're a free member.

It's like a username.

So hopefully they are liking what they are listening to, and uh, they'll convert, they'll cross over, they'll join us.

That way they can get access to every thing that we've.

Got on Patreon.

I gotta tell you, I absolutely loved spending some time with Andrew Blakeley and Patreon member Eric Dirth.

Was so good.

So I guess I could say, did you watch that one?

Because Eric was a sight to behold.

He had the NASA jacket, he's in the hab.

Yeah, we we had to do.

We had to go video for that one because it just looked fantastic.

It was.

It was an awesome time.

If you listeners, if you haven't checked it out yet, sign up for a free trial and at least go get this one because you are you're missing out.

It was.

It was a good time and Amber.

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What's surprise?

Well, you know how we we go to a lot of these various conventions throughout the year.

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Oh my gosh, we got fan Expo, Galaxy Con, Steel City Con, MotorCity Con, Scarefest, Horror Hound Amber.

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We thought, you know, we have such a good time.

We've actually met several people that follow the show at these things.

We've been recognized once or twice.

Now we just brought what if we just you know, what if we just bring someone with us?

Where do we meet someone at one of these things and you know, we'll interview that, We'll ask them about their con experience and you know, give them a little bit of the spotlight.

How about that?

Super fun?

Yeah, Well, back to the Perfect Storm and Wolfgang Peterson Amber.

I've got I got a few things about Wolfgang here, I got a quote if you will.

Born and raised in Imden, a harbor city north of the Netherlands, he was the son of a naval officer, which may account for his love and fascination with the sea in naval subjects.

Yes, that makes total sense.

Doesn't make total sense, like the guy that gave us The Perfect Storm and doss Boot and the Poseidon remake.

Like if if you're in the water, you're you're probably with.

If you're not with James Cameron, You're you're defhew with.

It was his.

His film Doss Boot in nineteen eighty one that gave him his international breakthrough.

It was nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

That movie is so intense.

Oh my gosh, Oh it's very intense.

Amber.

Let's talk about films he didn't direct.

They include the first Harry Potter film, What hold on?

Think about that though, Think about this.

This is the guy that created the never ending story.

I always forget that.

Yeah, he's so, he's got some credub is large, so it does.

Another one was the two thousand and one Batman versus Superman film that would have starred Colin Ferrell as Batman facing off against Jude Law's Superman.

I don't know.

I'd have to give that some thought.

I think I think he definitely gives Snyder's film a run for the money, no matter how you get it.

So, yes, yeah, but Peterson both projects early in pre production.

Now on the theater going experience, he was quoted as saying, theaters are always going to be around and doing fine.

With computers and technology, we're becoming more and more secluded from each other, and the movie theater is one of the last places where we can go still gather and experience something together.

I don't think the desire for that magic will ever go away.

I one hundred percent agree.

I don't know if it's true.

I hope it's true.

But I only need to look at the crowd that we were in for the sneak preview of Superman earlier this yes, to know that he has one hundred percent right about this.

Yes, I've never had a better time in a movie than I was sitting there with you and Dave and Wayne and Scott, the whole the whole team watching a sneak a sneak preview of Superman, and that crowd was just electric.

The enthusiasm.

Oh my god.

Well, speaking of the magic of movies, Amber, let's talk about The Perfect Storm.

I doubt many people have missed this one, but if you would please give us a little brief synopsis, let us know what the Perfect Storm is all about.

In October of nineteen ninety one, a confluence of weather conditions combined to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic.

Caught in the storm was the sword fishing boat, the Andrea Gale.

Magnificent foreshadowing and anticipation fill this true life drama, while minute details of the fishing boats, their gear, and the weather are juxtaposed with the sea adventure.

When this comes out, it is a box office smash.

Everyone's loving it, except for a.

Lot of critics.

Gets a lot of mixed reviews.

I got two here.

I want to drop on you.

And I'm not even gonna give the names of the publications or the critics because I just don't know what the hell movie they watched.

Quote one, when in its final scenes the movie desperately tries to churn up some of the celestial schmaltz of Titanic.

It is too little, too late.

The fuck.

Oh it gets better?

Listen to this one.

Once the digital effects commence, the perfect storm has all the impact of watching a friend play Nintendo.

What movie did they watch?

Are they talking about?

These?

These came from very well regarded publications.

That blows my mind.

Heck, how could what?

What?

What was this critic thinking?

Oh?

I mean, I have to admit we came at it a little differently.

I read the book, Yeah, lived the book.

This Sebastian Younger can write a hell of a tale.

And then my mom read it and we were like obsessed with sword fishing.

We read Linda Greenlaw's book.

We couldn't wait for the movie to come out.

We were there like opening day.

We sat so close that I ended up getting seasick in the theater.

I mean we loved this movie.

I mean, and you know, we were excited for it.

But if it hadn't been good, like we would have been devastated, but we would have acknowledged that it wasn't any good Like.

No, I don't know what these critics were thinking.

Man, And I'm usually willing like, oh, not everybody likes everything, but no, that's so Mark.

So in an age where we've got you know, you can ride the movie like we've got the motion chairs and we've got the three D.

You're telling me that you're telling me on the two thousand, you guys are.

Movie is so good.

We got seasick that premium.

I'm not playing.

I'm not paying for Amber.

When they're on the Mistral and they were eating lasagna for lunch, I leaned over to my mom and I was like, do you have a dream?

I mean, and your purses.

I'm gonna it's.

The Minstrel.

We'll get to that.

We'll get to those guys, but uh oh, I know you.

Amber.

Let's let's take a quick break and when we come back, we we got to talk about this cast.

It's a huge cast.

I don't know if we have time for everybody, but we're gonna We're gonna make time as much as we can.

We'll be ready welcome back.

We are talking about Wolfgang Peterson's The Perfect Storm.

So let's begin with the Captain Billy Time, played by George Clooney.

I love, an adore George Clooney, but I think he's the only person that should not be in this movie.

Really, yeah, okay, that's he.

I didn't see that coming.

I mean, Diane Lane a little bit but him definitely like you don't live that life.

Oh wow.

Okay, So Clooney typically can do no wrong unless it's Batman right now, now, I will give you this.

And even in that, he was a good Bruce Wayne.

Oh he's a great Bruce Wayne.

Yeah.

Okay, But when it comes to playing Billy Tyne, Clooney doesn't even have a hint of the accent, which.

That bothered me a little.

And it just I don't know, everything was too like meticulous, like he had just the right amount of stubble and just the right flannel, and I don't know, he did not look like like the rest of those guys one hundred percent could have walked off that boat.

Okay, like I believed it completely, but I just well, I was like, George has never been on a boat, I don't think, unless it was like a yacht.

Okay.

So initially he wanted Wahlberg's role of Bobby Shafford.

Uh.

But and he's thinking the studio is going to cast mel Gibson for the lead role because that's the talk going around Tinseltown.

And after Harrison Ford says no and Nicholas Cage says no, and Mel Gibson wants way too much money.

Wolfgang calls Clone back and said and talks to me into the role.

He basically he sells him on the fact that, hey, you're thirty eight years old, the same as Billy Time was.

And you know, Clooney's like, I'm getting in this movie.

So he takes the role.

So but you're you're not sold like out of that list I gave you though Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Nick Cage, would any of those done have done better than Clooney?

I mean, Clooney is a good actor, so like it's not like he ruins the movie.

I think I probably would have believed Harrison Ford a little more because Harrison for just has that vibe of like he's gotten his hands dirty in his life.

And I know George didn't always grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he just has that vibe, like that Danny Ocean like classy vibe.

You know, you could have gone for a Nick Cage Billy Tyme.

I don't know, is crazy just a little too much for it.

It's a little too crazy, I think always.

I think I think we had enough trouble with the depiction of Billy Time that we did not need that craziness to push it over the edge.

Well, it's Mark Wahlberg as Bobby Shafford who makes a handshake deal after George Clooney personally recommends him to Wolf King Peterson.

You gotta remember they worked together on Three Kings.

Yes, and as George mentions this, Wolfgang's like, wait, I loved him and Boogie Knights call him up, He's already he has the accent baked in.

He was born here.

So it's fine.

What you think?

What'd you think of Mark?

I thought it was perfect.

I think this is the best thing he's ever done.

This in The Departed, You might be right, I'm well, I mean, Boogie Knights, you know he's.

I don't have the love for that movie that everybody else does.

No love for that huh okay, okay.

I can appreciate it.

But but all right, I.

Am with you.

Though this is one of his better, his better roles.

He actually he.

Gets into character amber.

He moved into the Crow's nest in the real town.

He stayed in Bobby Shafford's actual room, and he even works the door a few nights a week.

Like that's what I mean, Like he lives that world like he just fits right in.

Yeah, now you said you mentioned Diane Lane as maybe not the best fit talking about the Christina Cotter Bobby Bobby's girlfriend.

Well, just like with George Clotney, like she doesn't.

She's a phenomenal actress, she's amazing.

I love her.

But you don't walk down the street in Gloucester and see Diane Lane like ever, No, but'smous she's too famous, she's too glamorous, she's too I mean, she's a theoryal beauty.

Like she nobody looks like that she is.

But I I give him credit, like I give her credit for playing it down like her looks like she plays down her beauty.

Yes, and she looks I think she does.

A convincing job of having that blue collar life, you know, that that look, which, like I said.

She's a great actress.

So like it's fine.

And you know, here's the thing, herd Wolfgang go way back, like when he first moved here to the United States, they met and for years and years they tried to find a project to work together on.

Never never got it the right thing lined up.

But then he's he's think she's perfect for this part and he's you know, he's especially looking that she's uh, she's age appropriate because as you know, for me in the book, you know, Christina is a little bit older than Bobby, and he wanted, you know, a woman that could could play that part convincingly and uh and have that character's emotional range.

Well, and she was so perfect as like the person you never forget about.

She's always in the back of your mind worrying about him back on shore.

I think she does phenomenal job.

I appreciate, uh, the fire that she's got.

Especially, yes, I thought she was gonna deck the boss.

Does she does at least once?

You know, he's got a shiner at one point in the movie, Well that was.

Bobby that I do that, That was Shenanian's But no, I'm talking about when she starts yelling at ah, Bob Brown, Bobby, Yeah, Michael Ironside's character, Bob Brown, when she's like you read me Goviner, I was like, oh, she's gonnack him.

Yeah, I see a lot of my ex girlfriends in this performance.

That's it's a little a little scary.

She's she's she doesn't she does it justice.

Can we talk for a minute about John c Riley playing Murph Dale Murphy.

Oh my gosh.

First off, I love the fact that we get John c Riley and Mark Wahlberg teamed up again, you know, shout out the Booie Knights one more time.

But uh, and I, you know, pardon me.

Had hoped that they're gonna be a lot more buddy buddy on the on the boat.

You know, but this is based off this is based off a true story, so we're not going to get that.

But man, his his his subplot with his with his kid, little boy.

Yeah, like, I don't know what went wrong in that marriage, but I love how they're.

Depicted, the character the parents are depicted.

Where they seem to have a very healthy relationship for the sake of their son.

You know, he didn't get a lot of money in the last boat.

He hands it to her, she takes she goes here half for you.

I was like, that's a good woman, that's a good guy.

Yeah, go parents, right, But.

That's that fisherman's life though.

I mean they're gone a.

Lot ember now.

Listen, I I'll say I experienced the book.

I didn't read it, I listened to it, which I gotta tell you, if if listeners, if you want to, if you got if you got nine hours to listen to this book, it is just extraordinary.

I listened to it on Spotify Ember it was free.

The guy doing the narration I apologize because I don't remember his name off the top of my head, but did a fantastic job.

So yeah, it's a it's a fantastic audiobook.

Uh, I don't know.

I might have missed it in the book and you can you can correct me here, because it wasn't until like the third or fourth time I watched this movie that I realized, you know, we got this rivalry between John c Riley's Murph and William Fickner Sully.

And for the longest time, I was like, what is the problem with these guys?

Why?

Why?

Why are they just at each other?

I never pieced together that there was like a little bit of something happening allegedly with Sully.

And Dale's X.

Was that more?

Was that caption more in the book?

Or did I that was just.

In the movie?

That was Sully just trying to get our eyes at of Murphy.

Okay, so not real and shit.

No, Sully was actually not a lot like he's depicted on the movie.

There were a lot of the family members of the actual crew that were kind of upset with their depictions.

But you're trying to portray this was before like anybody knew anything about this life.

There was no Deadliest Catch back then, so you're trying to show like what it's like to be on these boats and you're on top of each other and you're tired, and you know.

So they were kind of painting with broad strokes.

They weren't giving one hundred percent biographical.

I don't care if it's one hundred percent biographic or not.

Go I tell you about my favorite character.

I know it's gonna be Bugsy.

It's Bugsy John Hawkes, who is just a sensational actor.

He's playing Michael Bugsy Moron was it Moran Moran Moran, I just want to jump into I want to talk about the chemistry between him and Rusty Shwimmer's.

Actually their scenes are so beautiful.

Well, the chemistry happening between them is is just it's unreal.

And Wolfgan Peterson even talked about how they were on set.

He said, uh, he talked about how they fell in love with each other and it wasn't a physical emotional love.

It was just they could not get enough of each other's company.

They were inseparable on and off set, and and it showsdorable.

My favorite moments are are with or with Michael and uh and Irene.

Yes.

Yeah, and I love that she came to say goodbye, like.

We'll get to that.

Well we'll talk scenes.

Yeah, but just their whole their whole thing in the in the bar where you know, he looks like the typical scumbag.

He's trying to hit on her and are so bad.

Well they are?

What's he said?

You know, bout your drinks?

Like see us have two?

No, here's the crime, you know, I don't know.

If you told me they had fallen in level on set and we're a couple in real life, I believe it absolutely.

Yeah, if you said like they were married, I would totally be like, I'm not surprised.

Yeah, the way they look at each other, it was just it was just it was touching.

H One more person I definitely want to shout out Mary Elizabeth mastro Antonio as Captain Linda Greenlaw.

Now you said you read her book.

She read a book was like a fictional or nonfiction about the whole situation.

What's going on?

Yes, Linda green Law is an absolute badass, amazing woman.

She's the or was the only female swordfish boat captain.

She's spectacular.

She's written three books.

Actually I've only read the one.

She did do one season of Deadly's Catch, and she is just she is nothing like the bullshit portrayal that we get in this movie.

She is an absolutely amazing, super awesome, hard ass woman.

She is not right, So you're radio now you're not happy with her portrayal.

Not even a little bit at the beginning, okay, but no, when it gets to the end, I am just.

What was it?

Is she too?

Is she too emotional?

Yeah?

Yeah, there is no way that the real Linda green Law was screaming into the radio and hysterical and you know, I mean that was completely invented for drama, Okay, And I don't like that.

It was you know, we have to have a woman like completely loser shit like Okay, women don't.

Always do that, you know.

It was after a very difficult time filming James Cameron's The Abyss.

Oh yeah, she said she would never do a movie that had anything to do with water.

Again.

Well, no, I love that movie.

I love that movie, but boys, they went through it well.

When Peterson called her, she turns him down until he assures her that all her scenes are shot on land, and then she's like.

Okay, you got me.

I'm in.

I think you needed someone of her caliber though, to play this role.

Like, I'm not sure who else plays Linda Greenlaw.

You know, Linda Hamilton's Holly Hunter.

Okay, give me five minutes.

I should think of more, but there's three run off the top of my head.

Linda Hamilton, Yes for sure.

Uh, okay, answering.

But they just they wanted the drama.

Yeah, you gotta have it.

They they wanted to convey how serious the storm was.

Well, uh, just a just a couple quick mentions here, just just to say we we tried our best to capture most of the cast here.

Uh.

Christopher McDonell Shet McGavin himself is the meteorologist Todd gross and.

With a thankless job of like nothing but exposition, but he does it so well well.

And he also he has the dubious honor of giving us the movie title in the Yes, well.

You know, as soon as the first time we see him and he's eating the donut.

He's getting ready to go on on the news and he's like, I'm gonna need maps for you know, this place, in this place.

I'm like, oh, he's gonna say it.

He's he sees the storm coming, We're gonna get it.

So I'm excited for that.

And then I love her to pieces your girl, my girl.

Yeah, we've we've met, we've met before.

Karen Allen, the lovely Karen Allen.

Uh, she's got this very small role playing Melissa Brown.

Uh.

She's on the She's on.

The yacht, the the Mistral with Bob Guten's Alexander McNally.

Uh.

This guy, I've been selling forty years and I've never charted nothing.

And he's a country club sailor.

This guy thinks he knows everything.

Yeah, I I to be fair, it was supposed to be like an easy hop down to you know, Bermuda or wherever they were going.

So I like, I like the you know, he's like, it's my boat, and she's like, it's our it's my life.

And yeah, and Cherry Jo were amazing together.

Yeah, but Karen Allen just by existing like raises the caliber of the movie.

Like she shows up and They're like, oh really this is.

This is Marion Ravenwood, right, this is Jenny from Starman.

So how about this her and Mary Elizabeth Flip.

Yes, Now could you go with Karen Allen for for Linda?

Yes, yeah, I think that's that's the move.

I think that's what I think that would have been the choice.

Amber.

Another quick break and then we got to talk music.

Oh yes we do.

All right, we're back Amber.

I want to talk music for a minute.

Oh yes, please.

This has got just an incredible collection of amazing songs.

Bruce Springsteen which uh that happens to be my all time favorite Bruce song.

I think, oh, it's just it's just a good song.

It's just it is a very good song.

But we got zz Top, Alison Chains, Bob Marley, the Allman Brothers, Rod Stewart.

I feel like every song we hear is well placed, it fits the scene and it helps build the atmosphere.

What do you think of the selection?

Well, even before that, the opening scene when they're the Andrea Gale and the Hannah Bowden are coming back into Port from their first run.

I am always so impressed with James Horner's score because you've got this beautiful score.

But then you've got like electric guitar in the through it and it just is perfect for this movie.

But yeah, the the soundtrack is just it's what you're gonna hear in this bar.

It's what you're gonna hear the guys playing on the boat.

Absolutely, and I love during the ending credits.

I'm not a huge John Mellencamp fan, but the song that plays at the end is just beautiful.

The first time you hear it, you're like, is that is that the Cougar?

It is?

Hey, this ain't a bad song.

Ah, Yeah, you're right.

It is the music you're gonna hear in the bar at the Crow's Nest.

I love what they're all just sitting there waiting like they like when they're on the boat.

It's almost like they're trained dogs waiting so they can have.

Their their snack.

And when when Clooney comes out and says let's go fishing, all of a sudden, hits the hits.

The the the the boom.

Box tap comes on.

Yeah, touch touch blaring and they go to work and they're having a good time.

I love I love the music selections.

Uh you're talking James Horner, you know, who else happens to be a big fan of James James Horner's.

Work is that our man Wayne, our very.

Own Wayne Whited.

Let's radio to shore and see if we can get him to offer up one of his soundtrack spotlights, Wayne, Wayne, come in, Please Wayne, are you there?

By the year two thousand, James Horner was beginning to be known as the composer of disasters, given to him due to his incredible scores that he had created for many of the nineteen nineties disaster films such as Apaula thirteen, Deep Impact, and of course, the most successful disaster film of all, Titanic.

If Horner was scoring the film, you could bet something horrible was going to happen to the characters within.

But no film rightfully justifies the name as The year two thousand's Wolfgang Peterson directed The Perfect Storm, again, the story of a sinking ship based on a true story.

This would be the first time that Peterson and Horner had worked together, and for Horner it would be a perfect storm of music, creating a thundering and powerful epic score.

In true Horner's style, he reintroduces motifs and instrumentation familiar to listeners from his past works, but introduces a few new sounds to keep his compositions fresh and new.

Horner starts off with the most impressive cue of the entire score, the nine and a half minute Coming Home from the Sea, to match the director's opening shots, full of cross fades and images that introduce the main characters, Horner is composed of very electric overture, consisting of six different and distinct movements.

It's a beautiful piece with heavy symphonic orchestra, acoustic and electric guitar, introducing each of the different character themes as well as the sea theme.

Full of singing strings and horns, Horner introduces a five note motif to symbolize those that have fallen det sea, before bringing in the piano and electronics and a somber gets psychological bit of scoring.

Finally, the full orchestra comes to futation, giving us the main theme of the film, and ending with a lone horn that brings the theme back full circle.

This piece stands as one of Horner's most symphonic and varied and has been considered by some to be the one of the finest pieces composed by the meister during his career.

Corner has created two recurring themes used in the entire score.

The first is a longing string theme that captures everything inherent in the story, the nobility and bravery of the fishermen, the tranquility of Gloucester, with subtle hints of the tragedy to come.

The second theme is a six note motif to represent the sea, powerful and mysterious, performed by the brass section.

The queue, titled the Decision to Turn Around, completely changes the mood of the score, beginning with typical rising and falling strings, and then all of a sudden goes very disonanymous, beginning a sequence of music which never lets up for the rest of the score.

Finally, the music reaches a monumental point of fierce power, with the q rogue wave generating awe and terror all at once.

Through the use of frantic violins, incessant rumbling percussion, and a three note brass motif, it becomes a searing and at times frightening musical experience, with stark piano chords, tumbling strings, and harp waves screaming out in horror before falling earily silent.

The score to the Perfect Storm is an exhausting but rewarding addition to James Horner's career, one of his greatest and most celebrated of that decade.

Horner's relationship with wolf Bank Peterson would continue one more time when he would be called to replace the rejected score created by composer Gabrielle Yared for the two thousand and four film Troy.

James Horner's music for The Perfect Storm would be made available with the release of the film on June twentieth, two thousand by Sony Classical on a CD, containing nine tracks of score, totally an hour and fifteen minutes and included the song Yours Forever sung by John Mellencamp with music written by James Horner.

This CD release contains a vast amount of music heard in the film, close to eighty percent.

However, the complete release of the score that Horner fans have been yearning for has yet to happen.

The original two thousand release is still easy to obtain from the secondary market and auction sites, and recently, in September twenty twenty three, the record label Music on Vinyl released a one hundred and eighty gram LP as a limited edition of one thousand individually numbered copies on red and black marble Vinyl.

It goes without saying that most collectors of James Horner's music already have this perfect score in their collection.

But if you're new to film music and want to hear the late meisters at the height of his career, pick up a copy, put on your earphones, turn the lights off, and sit back and enjoy an incredible and emotional roller coaster of a score.

He truly was the master of scoring.

Disaster.

Well they have it.

Amber I knew he was going to be all over this episode him.

Yeah, you heard him and David did the their their James Horner episode earlier this season.

Yeah, and that's that blew up on YouTube quick and it's had plenty of plenty of downloads everywhere else.

I'm always happy.

To get Wayne, Wayne, thank you again for uh for giving us your insight on on the great James Horner.

But how about a little insight into this film's background.

Amber I got some stuff that is straight from the man himself, Wolf King Peterson.

So according to him, it was while he was working on Air Force one that a a sound mixer gave him a copy of Sebastian Younger's nineteen ninety seven non fiction book The Perfect Storm, and this guy told.

Him that it was right up his alley.

Now, coincidentally, Warner Brothers had already bought the film rights, and then they approach him several weeks later to see if he's interested in directing it, so you could kind of say it was fate, you know.

He was, yes, like the stars were just aligning.

So we talked about this being shot on location, and the town was very weary of the film production to coming into set to shoot.

Wolfgang likened his crew of two hundred and fifty people to the circus coming to town, and he said ultimately it was in fact, author Sebastian Younger who came into town, had a little press conference and like a little town hall meeting and basically told him like, hey, guys, this story is in great hands with Wolfgang Peterson and they're gonna they're gonna tell the story right.

And basically the town, you know, all the locals were like, well, if he's if Sebastian says this, then welcome, come on in.

And practically everyone you see in the background that doesn't have a speed and maybe a few people that do have speaking roles.

They're all locals.

So I love that.

I love that about this production.

I think that was really cool that they just they come to town, they take over the town, but they bring the town into the creative process and invite them to be a part of.

This so well, and they just you know, Sebastian Younger is a unique author and that he like gets into their world.

He went out on boats and did the job, like he has mad respect for these these difficult jobs that are done in the world.

And so he had gotten the respect of the town during the process of writing the book, so to get his seal of approval, and then for them to just see how much the film crew and the production just respected them because this town is tiny, Like they all knew these guys.

It's not like, you know, you live in Cincinnati and oh yeah, I kind of heard about that on the news.

You know, these are guys you saw at the grocery store, you.

Know, tight knit group, right, Yeah, it's a family.

It's a family feel in this time.

There's a couple of scenes I want to talk about, and you let me know what the pivotal moment is, you.

Know, and if we if I touch on it.

Then you just jump right in and let me know then, But can we just start with Billy's conversation with Linda.

I he gives us this monologue.

You know, I'm talking about the You're a goddamn sword boat, captain.

Fogs just lifting, throw off your battle line, throw off your starin yead out the South Channel, pass Rocky Neck, ten Pound Island, past Niles Pond are I skated as a kid beloye air horn and you throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper's kid on that's rightither the birds show up, black packs and herring gull, big dump ducks.

The sun hits you head north over up to twelve steaming now and guys are busy.

You're in charge.

You know what your goddamn short go, captain?

Is there anything better in the world?

And it's so good.

You know, that's the best line in the movie.

And it's so good.

Amber we hear it twice.

Yeah, the movie closes with him with his narration over Horner's score, and it's it's perfect.

It is perfect way to uh to let the movie fade out.

But this this moment, I don't know.

I gotta give it to him, like I feel like they convey when when she steps on board, you know, he's like he doesn't look up, he just he just smiles.

And you know, I smell copper tone and you know she correctly Yep, I get.

You get the feeling they've known each other for like a decade, right, Yes, they're like they're Gloucesters, will they won't they couple?

It feels like, you know, and I even like it.

She's like she's kind of like making a pitch.

She's like a you know, trying to find a guy to settle down with, raise a family.

And not to make a pass.

To make a pass.

Yeah, I love I love how how confident she is.

I love how how chrismatic she is.

And she's just you know, and because Party is like, well she is she just goofing off?

Or is she does?

She is?

She is she got something for him?

You know.

I like that they don't go into it.

It's just like it's it's left up to your your imagination, like they could have been a good couple or they make a good couple.

But they're also like they're just they seem like they're the best of friends.

Even though they're they got this friendly uh competition going between them.

You know, yes, I love that scene.

Yeah, that banter is great.

Irene, come, you talked about this, Irene coming to see Michael off.

You know, because the people you can watch him.

He doesn't expect anyone to come.

Ah.

Well, they have this nice they have this nice night in the crow's nest and then she's like, hey, I got I got kids at home.

I'm out of here.

You know, those upper hand as a handshake, and he I like that.

He's he takes the handshake right, and he's just say that I took a shot.

It's you know, not happening.

And you're right, he's just heading to the boat.

He doesn't he knows anyone's coming to see him, but she shows up to see him off, and it's just that that goofiness that he has, that that that comedic awkwardness where he's trying to get he's trying to like these lines that he thinks are just dynamite, and she's just seeing it for being just cheesy.

You know.

Yeah, but they're both kind of shy, and they're both you know, kind of flirtatious, and you know, it's just it's so sweet.

It's a beautiful moment because something's building, you know, and I like, you know, he's like, I wish you night so I could.

Say good night Irene, you know, as cheesy as that is.

And but then she gives it like a little bit of dramatic weight.

She's like, there'll be time for that later.

And now you're like, and he's got that smile and you know, now it's like, you.

Know what this is.

There's something something good could happen here.

Yeah, you know, and and it crushes you because you know the story.

You know what's gonna happen.

But even like later on the boat when he's like, oh, you know, they've got this massive haul and he's like, I'm gonna buy an F one fifty.

I'm gonna drive Irene up to the coat.

You know, he's making all these dates in his mind, you know, with this woman.

I love it though.

I love that.

I love that scene.

Now, Sully saving Murph absolutely unexpected and just it's fantastic.

Yeah, and that is something that actually happened.

It didn't, it didn't happen on this trip, but it did actually happen to Murph.

And I love that scene, as horrible as it is, because it shows like, you focus for one second, and these guys are only getting like two hours of sleep, you know, for days on end and working for twenty hours and it's so incredibly dangerous.

Imagine working close quarters on little sleep with someone you can't stand and and just how high your irr ability factor would be.

And the thing that makes this scene so great is that Murf goes overboard and you expect Mark Wahlberg or George Clooney to go dive it in because they're the heroes, right, yes, and it's solely solely does it like zero hesitation.

He is, he sees that he's gone, he dives in.

Yeah.

It turns around to tell him all one more time and then oh wait, the guy I want to who's asked I want to kick is not here.

If you kick, he's in trouble.

I gotta save him.

Yeah.

It's a fantastic moment.

And it's even better like the you know, the morning after, when when Murf's gotta make the like the thank you you know speech and they still have to be at odds with each other, you know, He's like, I guess it's I owe you, and he's like, yeah, I guess, you know, I'm supposed to say you do the same for me, and but I just love the.

Fact that that that moment where Johncy realizes like it's all I can manage rate it.

Yeah, but but they make peace.

Like they from there, Like the the morale of the Andrea Gale shoots up because they haven't got to catch.

It's not looking good.

Morale's down.

They're starting to get critical of Billy's sights and it's like, okay, well what are we.

Gonna do here?

So yeah, for sure, how hard is it for you not to cry during Linda's eulogy at the end.

That's a hard scene.

Man.

I just don't And I just you know, these guys, it's it's such a hard life and high risk, low reward.

Every now and then you get a good haul that keeps you going back out, you know, because you got that one big paycheck.

But it's it's a rough life.

And I can tell you honestly, every time after we read this book and then watching like Deadla's Catch, like every time we have seafood and my family, we say thank you to those guys like you may never have thought about them before, but you think about him after this.

You know, you have to I've cracked the code.

U.

Do you know what the secret is to an amazing eulogy scene in any movie, like when you do a funeral scene.

No, it's not, it's not the eulogy because if you think about Linda's eulogy, you know, Mary Elizabeth Buthntonio, she's up there, you know, she's like, hey, I didn't know Billy's crew that well, and she kind of does like almost like a sonnet type of you know, like rest easy, you know this and that.

It's not that you have to have a impactful monologue for that actor or actress.

What you have to have is the cutaway shots to the crowd, the reaction shots to the of the crowd that like, you got to have that person that is on the brink of crying, that they're barely holding it together, and then you got to cut to the person that has already lost it and you know, and it's it's those those cutaway scenes that that really hit you like a hammer, because like it makes you think when you see someone crying, like, you know, you you want to empathize, You wanna you want to you naturally you want to feel sad too, you know, or you think about it, it pulls a memory, right, you gotta have these scenes.

They're they're the ones that are you know, left behind.

And the part of her eulogy that always gets me is when she says, you know, when you lose someone at sea, there's no grave, there's no coffin, there's nothing.

They're just gone.

Like you watch them sail off and they never sailed back, Like you know that emptinesses is just gut wrenching amber.

What is the pivotal moment in the Perfect Storm?

For me?

I am in the book and then again in the movie, I am completely blown away by the Coastguard, these men that are risking their lives to save these people.

And you know, you can hear about things like this and you think like, well, what kind of freaking idiot like sailed out into a hurricane.

But when you realize, like it was just lack of imagination, Like that's how nature gets you every time.

And they thought they had a plan and it fell apart.

Nobody could have predicted the storm, And so you have these heroes going out to save these people and they get the call that the Andrea Gale is in trouble and the pilot says Glocester.

They're always from Gloster.

Yeah, we didn't talk about the dash Mehawk playing one of the y the rescue guys.

I love that dude.

But when they break off and they say this shit is too serious for us to even attempt to save these guys, like we're going to die and we're out of gas, and you know, I mean when it's too much for these guys that you've seen do all the soro stuff, like you know, it's just devastating.

It's it's a once in a lifetime storm.

So that to me is when it goes from being like, oh, it's serious, but you know we'll be okay too, Like, now these guys are screwed.

Yeah, well, even I like I like the dash he he treats it seriously but also gives you that touch of a you know, comedic levity.

You know, we're going after some fishermen have lost their way, well possibly their minds.

You know, you're right, it's like it's too crazy to be true.

But good, good call, Amber.

I'm with you on that one.

Uh, let's take one last break and when we come back, we'll start wrapping things up, all right, Amber, So if someone was unfamiliar with Wolfgang Peterson, and they asked you for some suggestions.

What three movies would you have them watch?

And three?

Try your best, just follow the rules.

Damn it, give me one.

Let's go, let's let's go back and forth here, what's what's your first pick?

Well, I love when I'm reminded.

Like I said earlier, I always forget about the Never Ending Story.

Never was never an extort that think that movie is awesome.

That movie is such a classic.

And you know, if my childhood had to be traumatized by it, then so did yours.

Well, yeah, we have the Never Story to thank for teaching us about death.

Yes, like the swamps of sadness with with our texts.

It's just that's the worst scene ever.

Like that is the saddest scene ever.

I am willing up right now starting to cry just thinking about it, because it's anger, frustration, sadness, like, oh, just plethora of emotions going through our hero tray of his mind.

For this horse and you just you got you gotta let him go.

It kills me.

Yeah, it's it's devastating.

I gotta tell you.

Neverning Story is always referenced on our road trips.

When we go to these these conventions.

Really well, it's it's because of Morla.

Anytime you like, yeah, Morla, the ancient one.

Anytime we're like, okay, we've we got to get up at three, three forty five in the morning because we're driving to Pittsburgh, you know, and then you were like, you, oh, the line to see Matthew Lillard.

There's like seven hundred people waiting and there's a line to get into line to get into the line, and immediately we're we it never fails.

At some point, you're gonna hear one of us go you can't.

It's ten thousand miles away.

Where's the food court at it on level three?

I'm not going down there.

That's ten thousand miles away.

Yeah, that is awesome.

I love the never ending story.

I'll go I'll give you one.

Nineteen eighty five.

Oh you're still in mine?

Is that your next one?

That was gonna be my next one?

Enemy?

Mine is the best movie.

We covered this one in our third season listeners, go back and check it out if you haven't.

If you haven't heard that.

One, Amber, it almost wasn't a Wolf Peterson movie.

Did you know that?

No?

Yeah, Terry Gillam was offered the job, but he turned it down because he wanted to develop his own fantasy project and that was eventually it became his dystopian sci fi film Brazil.

So I think we all won.

Everybody say that's a win win as far as I'm everybody wins there, yeah, enemy mine, so good.

All right, Well we've gone through two of your picks.

I'll give you my second pick then.

Yeah.

Nineteen ninety three in the Line of Fire.

Oh, the assassination one.

Yes, I like that one for the workaround on how he got the gun in.

Yes, that was really clever.

I like that.

Did you know that the character that Cleane Eastwood plays was inspired by a real life secret Service agent who was with in Dallas.

It was the guy that jumped on the back of the littone know.

Yeah, did you know what that guy's name was?

No, Clint, No, it was I promise Clint Hill was his name?

Clint playing a secret service agent based off of Secret Service agent Clint?

Like, how many people in the world are named Clint?

Anyways, those are the two.

If I had a son, I'll name him Clint, just because we got to keep it going.

No, this was I think Malcolvich got he got nominated for an Academy Award for his betrayal, which is just haunting.

I mean, it's so good.

I think that's Malcolm Itch's best role in my opinion.

And you know, we didn't really talk about this in like bits of Trivia, but did you know that Wolfgan Peterson has a habit of convincing his stars to do their own stunts.

No, he wants to.

They don't want you to do it.

They yeah, the studio is like hell no.

But he wants to get he wants to get the right shots, and he doesn't you know, if he can help it.

He does at one you know, someone else playing the playing the part.

Go back to in the Line of Fire.

There's that moment where Clint he's chasing Booth and he makes the jump, but he's a little short and he's hanging off that building.

That is actually sixty two year old.

Clint Eastwood hanging off that building by like a like a little rope, a little bit like it's hidden.

Obviously you can't see it, but the man was doing his own stunts because WOLFGANE.

Peterson was like, come on, how about that?

I gotta watch that movie again.

I probably haven't seen it since nineteen year.

We don't think about it like it's I know, I know the end of things.

I know the end of November.

We'll we immediately we're thinking about Thanksgiving, but you know it's the the anniversary of the assassination.

So yeah, I don't know, call me, call me wrong, but I like watching JFK and In a Line of Fire because that's.

The double feature.

Huh, yeah, that's double feature.

Good choice.

Yeah, Stone and Peterson can't can't get wrong, all right, Amember?

One last pick for you?

What do you got?

Okay?

So for this one, I went kind of out of the box a little bit from nineteen ninety one.

It's a movie called Shattered, okay, starring Tom Behringer.

And you'll remember from your favorite movie The Player, Greta Scaki.

I forget Robert Dolmans a player.

You love that movie, but she loved her.

Did that.

But yeah, it's a it's a film noir about a guy who gets in this horrible car accident and his face is all like mangled and stuff, and he's in the hospital for weeks, and he wakes up and he has amnesia.

And he has to start piecing together, like what's going on with his wife?

How did he have the car wreck?

Okay, I you're you're you're educating me here.

So I love Wolfgang Peterson, love Tom Barringer, and I love a good film noir.

So I will search for this on TB or.

I think I saw it most recently on to be all Right.

Yeah, I love to be I'm gonna I'm gonna find this because you you've convinced me.

I gotta.

I gotta check this out.

It's good.

But I got one more for you.

My third.

I know it's gonna be Oh you do, I do what?

It's gonna be air Force one.

It is not air Force one.

No, no, uh you know you you thought I was a zig.

I'm actually gonna zag.

Yeah, it's not air Force one.

And I would love for it to be Doss Boot.

For ninteen eighty one, but it's not.

Well, I've boots.

So I didn't pick that one because.

I'm going with nineteen ninety five's Outbreak.

Oh my god.

I think of that damn movie every time I go to a movie theater because there's a scene where a person sneezes and the like droplets go in somebody the.

Mauplets like, oh I got it, surf through the air, and then yeah, yeah, that was.

A good movie that was like terrifying at the time.

Well it's terrifying, but like the only one thing.

You had was the Andromeda Strain.

Yeah.

Well think about this though.

Five years ago COVID hits and in twenty twenty, Outbreak, like for the first time in twenty five years, hits Netflix Top ten.

Everyone is wanting to watch Outbreak, and I think part of us is like we're watching it as like a what do we do next type of thing?

Yeah, yeah, this Contagion are absolutely terrified.

I'm not gonna lie.

I when the pandemic hit, I wanted a good scary double feature.

I did Contagion and I did Outbreak.

Oh my god.

And then you took a silkwood shower and did not leave your house.

No.

I packed a bag and I just waited for like the trucks to roll in and the biohezard suits stay indoors.

Citizens.

I was like, nope, I'm getting the hell out of here soon as I see those guys show up.

Uh did you Okay?

So that film initially was conceived as a as a big blockbuster action adventure movie.

Did you know that?

No?

Uh yeah, so action adventure and that I don't know.

Well, originally it was supposed to be.

And after Harrison Ford turned it down and Mel Gibson turned it down, they're doing those guys are turning down a lot of things lately.

I mean, at least on the episode, and then Sylvester Stallone turns it down.

It was rewritten as a dramatic thriller once Dustin Hoffman took the role because as soon as Peterson got Dustin Hoffman, he's like, you know what, this could work, but let's change it up a little bit, like no one's gonna believe him jumping off of rooftops.

And yeah, we got to push the science we got.

Yeah, but the movie's better for it.

Yeah, yeah, definitely, I'll go again again.

Yeah.

Well, you know, it's it's funny because like you think Renee Russo, like, in what world is she looking at dust and Hoffman, who's significantly older than her and you know, not looking like an action hero.

You know, you're like, really they were a couple.

But when you think that originally she was supposed to be with Harrison or mel Or sly makes a little bit more sense, you know.

Yeah, but I'm gonna go one more layer deep in some fun facts for you think about this.

This movie was written for Harrison Ford and Dustin Hoffman was the one that got it.

If you go back in time, there was a Dustin Hoffman movie.

It was written for Dustin Hoffman.

Can see for Dustin Hoffman who turned it down and Harrison Ford took it in that movie was Blade Runner?

Oh thank god?

Well run around chasing replicants.

I mean I'm not even the biggest Blade Runner fan, and even I'm like.

Dude, Rudger howerd kicked his ass, like for sure.

All right, Amber, what's your recommendation, like for The Perfect Storm?

I mean, you read the book multiple times, You've watched the movie multiplied this, you're recommending this one right.

Yeah, one hundred percent.

And like I said, you know, put respect on the name of these men that go out and do the hard things, like this is a job that is like no other, and you know it's a true story, Like you know, put respect on their name.

This one should be in your collection and before you go download it or you buy a digital copy, keep in mind that you'll be missing out on an amazing DVD or Blu ray because the extras are as bountiful as a glossman's catch.

I'm talking about behind the scenes featurettes.

I'm talking about not one.

Amber, but three audio commentaries.

You get.

You get an audio commentary with Wolfgang Peterson, which is amazing.

You get an audio commentary with the effects team, which why do we didn't even talk about that?

But you know, we all get hung up on like the amazing wave at the end.

It's on the poster.

But when you watch the commentary track and you find out how much digital effects went into this movie, and the true sign of great work is that you don't know that it's there.

And I'm talking about little things like the boat to the Andrea Gel when it's in harbor.

They needed it to be about six to ten feet higher in the water.

They made it happen.

They digitally created it, They lifted it without you knowing it.

Oh, never kidding.

Little scenes like John c Riley driving with his little boy in the car.

They had to create that digitally, Like it's just you know, like the the shipping containers on that one vessel where they kind of dump out.

It's the stuff that you don't think about because we're waiting for like a giant Poseidon Adventro type wave to destroy this boat.

And we get that, but there's so much else that you have no idea.

You just like from like the water, the you know, the rainfall, all that, and it's it's incredible.

Definitely a fun deep dive.

Uh.

And one other audio commentary, your boy Sebastian Younger.

Uh.

He does an audio commentary for the movie, which is pretty awesome.

So, oh, I bet that's interesting.

Yeah, check it.

Check it out.

You gotta get a physical copy of this one for sure.

Listeners, what do you think of Wolfgang Peterson's The Perfect Storm?

You can let us know on social media.

You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, and x.

You can check out a film by podcast dot com for all of our film and uh TV articles.

You can uh.

Angela are very own.

Angel I was gonna say, we just got a new review.

Did you read Did you read her article on frank It was very good Patreon members amber she uh she.

Wrote in a more in depth, little little spoiler filled analysis.

I mean the looks like two hundred and fifty years old.

Like, let's.

How much I'll tell you what Angela wrote this incredible piece.

Uh like the extended version I guess you could say, is on Patreon.

But check out out yet.

Yeah, hit the hit the website.

You got you guys, if.

You're thinking about Franken Sein or uh you have questions about it, you got you gotta check out Angela's article.

It's it's pretty amazing that is on the website.

You can write to us at a film by podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns.

We may just read your response on the show and send you some of a film by swag.

And again, if you have not done so already, head over to our YouTube channel.

There'll be a link on this episode in the show notes.

Hit subscribe because if you're one of the first one hundred people to subscribe on this new relaunch that we've just done, you've got a chance at winning a weekend pass to one of the big comic con type conventions that we'll be going to in two thousd twenty six.

So Amber, I gotta say thank you for having a chat about the Andrea Gail and her crew with me and uh and definitely big thank you for an amazing job.

This month.

You hosted a few times, and I gotta tell you, I thought I thought those episodes were fantastic.

Well, thank you.

They were sure fun to do.

And to all of you listening to the show, following us on social media, and subscribing to our YouTube channel and our Patreon, we certainly thank you.

Another quick break and then we got to talk music.

Oh yes we do.

I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick.

Okay, I will cut that out.