Top 10 Boating & Nautical-themed Movies to have Aboard Your Boat or Yacht

Let's face it, free-to-air television is not what it used to be. Unless your favorite movie or sport is on , it's not much chop. But what about those nights aboard when you're by yourself or have friends aboard for a weekend? Or the real cold winter's nights when the bays are too rough to take your boat out for a run or the yacht out for a sail? Times like these call for an onboard DVD collection and here's a shortlisted Top 10 of nautical-themed movies to store aboard to keep you entertained at anchor or marina.

1. Titanic (1997) - Still one of the highest-grossing films ever made and on what better topic than the 1912 sinking of perhaps the world's most famous ship, the RMS Titanic. Littered with errors - Officer Murdoch never actually shot anyone - this film is still a must-have for boaties and ship enthusiasts the world over. Director James Cameron built a single-sided 75%-scale replica Titanic and used digital imaging to reproduce the other side of the ship for 3D effect. A-grade actors including Kate Winslet, Leonardo Di Caprio, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates and Bernard Hill help hold the 3-hour blockbuster together. Won an incredible 11 Oscar awards. Lesson - make sure you keep binoculars on your boat!  Check out our eBay store for a remote control Titanic!





2. The Afican Queen (1951) - an absolute classic and the subject of collection for avid boat modellers who chase after expensive replicas of the film's namesake boat. As per IMDB; "In Africa during WW1, a gin-swilling riverboat owner/captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship." They steam "up the Ulana, brave a German fort, raging rapids, bloodthirsty parasites and the endless stream which seems to go nowhere but impenetrable swamps." Stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn and won one Oscar with a further 5 nominations. If you're a classic movie lover, then chances are, you'll have this one already. A great setting aboard the old beaten-up steamboat chuggy its way down the rivers.  Take a look at the African Queen model boat we offer at our eBay store.





3. Jaws (1975) - probably the film that set the statement 'nothing beats the origial.' The first in a series of films which scarred the daylights out of holiday-making swimmers worldwide and forever tarnished the Great White shark as a 'man-eater' and 'natural born killer.' Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss and of course, the mechanical star of the movie - the shark, who was nicknamed by crew as 'Bruce.' Boat enthusiasts will love the old workhorse used in the film. The boat used was called the 'Orca' and was apparently an old Nova Scotian lobster boat. Models of the Orca will be sold here at boatplace.com.au and also on our eBay store.



4. The Perfect Storm (2000) - based on a true story of Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts, that set sail in the Fall of 1991 in search of its bounty of fish from the North Atlantic Ocean. A storm of enormous magnitude is building as the boat sets out on what will be its final and disasterous voyage in the deep blue. Stars George Clooney as the rough and ready Captain Bill Tyne and other notable actors including Diane Lane, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly and Michael Ironside. Lesson - "Pink sky at night; sailor's delight. Pink sky in the morning; sailor's warning." And "If it's a-blowin', you ought not be goin'."  We have a fantastic ready-assembled model of the Andrea Gail in our eBay store.




5. The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - I'm talking of the classic here, not the remake. You only have to look over the cast list - Gene Hackman, Ernst Borgnine, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Eric Shea, Arthur O'Connell and more. The passenger liner Poseidon is struck mid-voyage by a freakish-sized tidal wave. Struck abeam, the ship capsizes and, filling with water, fails to right itself. The majority of the passengers and crew are killed in the disaster and a rag-tag group of survivors must avert all manner of horrors in their ensuing attempts to escape the sinking ship. Great film-making for the time and a very entertaining movie with convincing performances by all.


6. Das Boot (1981) - "The Boat" is a film that will have you on edge and make you appreciate the claustrophobic conditions endured by submariners to this day. It is a tale of the exploits of a World War 2 German U-boat and her crew, put through their paces in the everyday struggle to sink Allied ships and fight for their very survival. Directed brilliantly by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Jurgen Prochnow and Klaus Wennemann, this film will make you feel very happy about your current day job - unless you're a submariner. Scary stuff - go and check your bung!!!


7. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) - Light-hearted fun for the whole family, much unlike some of the other recommendations in this list (which may not encourage the young ones into boating, I might add). As per IMDB - "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." This is the first and questionably the best instalment in a series of three movies starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and the gorgeous Keira Knightley. If only you could buy one of the pirate ship props!


8. Crimson Tide (1995) - here's the lineup: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini amongst others. Another great submariner's tale of a young rookie First Officer (Washington) trying to build his career and reputation whilst being pitted against an old-dog veteran captain (Hackman), who is determined to launch his ballistic missiles against the former Soviet Union. Themes of mutiny and nuclear holocaust abound in this tense action thriller with an all's-well-ends-well finale.


9. Dead Calm (1989) - Not one for the young kids! This high seas tale is about a sadistic killer who kidnaps and seduces a vulnerable young woman, having left her husband to die aboard a boat whose crew he slaughtered in cold blood. The stellar cast includes Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane and Rod Mullinar and the film is set aboard a yacht sailing the Pacific Ocean. A climatic finale for what would for most directors be a difficult film to retain audience interest for the duration of the movie.


10. Captain Blood (1935) - one of my most-hated words is often used to describe this high-seas classic - swashbuckling adventure. But Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland make for a very entertaining film about Doctor Peter Blood, who is wrongly sentenced to deportation and slavery in the Caribbean. In true Errol Flynn style, he and his cohorts in chains escape and become pirates of the Robin Hood variety! So swash your buckles, or buckle your swashes - oh, whatever!

Other notable films that just missed out are - The Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery (yes, a Scottsman playing a Russian nuclear submarine captain!), and North Sea Hijack which stars my favorite James Bond of all time - Roger Moore.