The Shallows (2016)

[dgoswald]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's what I figured.

I think the writer/s may have modified enough of the original true life events to protect themselves from any such accusations or legal cases. I can see the similarities you posted.

[gigan72]

Lemme just point out one thing I noticed-

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Real life story: She was playng volleyball with friends, and she decided to stay out a little longer by herself to swim. She is seen by two local guys on jet skis who warn her about sharks in the area.

Movie story; She decides to stay out later than she should and surf. She is seen by two local guys in the distance who are surfing, and try to warn her about sharks.

In the movie she is never warned about sharks by anyone, but rather when she tries to tell them about a shark they told her 'there's no sharks here'.

Just a nitpick though, seeing as the rest of it matches up pretty neatly.

[imsounoriginal]

lol yeah that's kinda blatant, wonder why this hasn't been made into a bigger deal yet.

[Tony208]

Is getting bit by a shark all that original?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by gigan72

Lemme just point out one thing I noticed-


In the movie she is never warned about sharks by anyone, but rather when she tries to tell them about a shark they told her 'there's no sharks here'.

Just a nitpick though, seeing as the rest of it matches up pretty neatly.

Thanks, the details of the movie are kind of fuzzy to me at this point (saw it opening day). Just remember there being some sort of signaling by the two surfers to her, or vice versa.

[Toetke]

i kind of enjoyed the movie

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

lol yeah that's kinda blatant, wonder why this hasn't been made into a bigger deal yet.

That's how it happens. Most of the time we don't hear of a song or movie, etc..ripping off something else until the original party files suit. Plenty are frivolous, but some are valid. I think this certainly is a valid claim, but perhaps they did change enough to get them in the clear.

The real person is I believe a 39 yr old mom from Canada who was just on vacation when it happened, so who knows how aware she is of the film (which would be surprising), or how much desire she has to get in a legal battle with a big studio. My Canadian gf always reminds me that they're not as "sue-happy" up there as we are here in America (they write letters ).

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Impossible

Er you for a start

It's a very well-made film. I'm probably one of its biggest talkers, and even I don't think that I've called it a "modern day masterpiece." It's just a well-made film with excellent acting by Blake and pretty much constant tension.

Oh, and it's gorgeous.

Now, if you didn't like it, fine. But I can't remember anyone calling it a masterpiece.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's how it happens. Most of the time we don't hear of a song or movie, etc..ripping off something else until the original party files suit. Plenty are frivolous, but some are valid. I think this certainly is a valid claim, but perhaps they did change enough to get them in the clear.

The real person is I believe a 39 yr old mom from Canada who was just on vacation when it happened, so who knows how aware she is of the film (which would be surprising), or how much desire she has to get in a legal battle with a big studio. My Canadian gf always reminds me that they're not as "sue-happy" up there as we are here in America (they write letters ).

Honestly, shows like "Law & Order" or "Law & Order: SVU" would basically be out of business if they didn't rip-off true stories.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's how it happens. Most of the time we don't hear of a song or movie, etc..ripping off something else until the original party files suit. Plenty are frivolous, but some are valid. I think this certainly is a valid claim, but perhaps they did change enough to get them in the clear.

The real person is I believe a 39 yr old mom from Canada who was just on vacation when it happened, so who knows how aware she is of the film (which would be surprising), or how much desire she has to get in a legal battle with a big studio. My Canadian gf always reminds me that they're not as "sue-happy" up there as we are here in America (they write letters ).

Yeah, right.....your "Canadian girlfriend"

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

That's how it happens. Most of the time we don't hear of a song or movie, etc..ripping off something else until the original party files suit. Plenty are frivolous, but some are valid. I think this certainly is a valid claim, but perhaps they did change enough to get them in the clear.

The dumbest recent lawsuit is some guy claiming Creed was his idea. He has a proof of concept trailer with himself in the lead role where the son of Apollo Creed fights the son of Ivan Drago. Basically it's glorified fan fiction... because he doesn't own the rights to the characters!

[acroyear2]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Does anyone know if The Shallows was ever marketed as inspired by a true story? I just read a story from the latest Reader's Digest which is an excerpt from the author's book, and it's pretty clear that The Shallows is inspired by her true story. I'm not seeing any writing credits, or anything else to suggest that they're giving credit to her though. To me, it's pretty blatant.

[Show spoiler]

Purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UBXH2RA

Here are just some of the most obvious similarities

Real name: Nicole
Movie name: Nancy

Real profession: Nurse
Movie profession: Medical student

Real location of attack: beach in Cancun Mexico while on vacation
Movie location: beach in Mexico while on vacation

Real life story: She was playng volleyball with friends, and she decided to stay out a little longer by herself to swim. She is seen by two local guys on jet skis who warn her about sharks in the area.

Movie story; She decides to stay out later than she should and surf. She is seen by two local guys in the distance who are surfing, and try to warn her about sharks.

Real life attack: The shark bites into her leg, and also bites off her arm
Movie attack: The shark bites into her leg

So I can't see this being just another coincidence, yet I'm not seeing any discussions about the real life incident. Obviously the movie had to fictionalize a whole lot to make it a movie, but I have little doubt that the writers got whiff of this real story and decided to embellish it, likely without any credit or financial payments to the real life person. I would not be surprised to see a lawsuit pop up about this sooner or later.

Are you sure you're not thinking of 2011's Soul Surfer?

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

It's a very well-made film. I'm probably one of its biggest talkers, and even I don't think that I've called it a "modern day masterpiece." It's just a well-made film with excellent acting by Blake and pretty much constant tension.

Oh, and it's gorgeous.

Now, if you didn't like it, fine. But I can't remember anyone calling it a masterpiece.

I wasn't actually speaking about you, but if you wanna have a tizzy then yeah you too.

Giving a film like this a 4.5/5 or 5/5 is over hyping it and building up a false expectation and yes I would consider if someone gives it a score like that they consider it a masterpiece. You've given it a perfect/near perfect score, you don't leave yourself much room when something that is a genuine masterpiece comes along.

A lot of the reactions on this site are so hyperbolic at times (in either direction) and are based on the personal experience of viewing a film and not of the film itself, that it does build up unreasonable expectation in people who obviously then get disappointed when something isn't as amazing as these hysterics says it is.

Then when someone has the gaul to disagree they get screamed at or made look stupid for not going ape shit over a film that is essentially a perve-fest of a semi attractive womans private parts while waiting patiently for her to be eaten by a shark.

As far as 'not liking' the film, it was disappointing after all the hysterical hype, but I would still give it a 3/5 which for me is what it would consider a decent mark for a 'good' film. Its a very run of the mill thriller which looks nice because of its location, but if you don't get the added 'boner' thrill of wanting to perve on Deadpools near naked wife for 90 minutes, you are probably missing half the fun I guess.

[The Great Owl]

I got called out by several people for including The Shallows as one of my Top 10 Movies of 2016.

I'm sticking to my guns, though. I love this movie.

It's the type of B-movie summer goodness that I live for.

[VanDammage80]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I got called out by several people for including The Shallows as one of my Top 10 Movies of 2016.

I'm sticking to my guns, though. I love this movie.

It's the type of B-movie summer goodness that I live for.

It landed right outside of my top ten. I liked it even more the second time around.

[Gieferg]

Nice one time watch, but now I only remember that terrible cell phone sequences and laughable shark's demise.

[Blu Lemmy]

Originally Posted by Gieferg

Nice one time watch, but now I only remember that terrible cell phone sequences and laughable shark's demise.

The two weak points.

I would have liked her to make it to the beach alive and well, as she did, but also for the Shark to survive and vanish onto the horizon

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Blu Lemmy

The two weak points.

I would have liked her to make it to the beach alive and well, as she did, but also for the Shark to survive and vanish onto the horizon

So that it could go on terrorizing people? You're a monster!

[Blu Lemmy]

Originally Posted by civiclx

So that it could go on terrorizing people? You're a monster!

The way I see it, she was in his domain.....although he was a bit....of a dick

[Impossible]

I found it very hard to believe that he had a whole whale sitting there waiting to be eaten and yet he ditched that to try and get some skinny white girl.