The Lightship

This is one of the great movies from the eighties, however unjustly underestimated and forgotten.

Brandauer plays the captain of the lightship that's constantly anchored at the same place. It's only purpose is to warn other ships for dangerous waters. Robert Duvall enters the scene with his men and his one ambitions. It is also a generation drama about the relation between the lightships captain and his prodigal son.

A brilliantly hermetical story about the thin line between order and chaos, and about relations between people. An excitement that lies not in action but in the trial of strength and the mostly implicit violence, that sometimes breaks out in uncontrolled outbursts.

It also tells the story about the kind of courage that almost looks like cowardice.

Don't miss this one!

If you are tempted for any reason to rent this in, do not give in, as you will not be rewarded.

Duvall is interesting, as always, thought I wouldn't say GREAT.

Brandaur is... HOT (to my way of looking), and fine, but big deal.

The kid playing his son looks like a rejected member of A-Ha and acts about as well.

This is a thriller that is not remotely thrilling, and is very slow and wooden. It seems like there were a lot of ideas and subtext in the novel that they just didn't manage to get across in the film, so you're left with a curiously unemotional experience. There were precious few moments that made much of an impression at all.

I only watched this because I bought the video cheap and I'm into lighthouses and lightstations. If you are... still, trust me, avoid this.

Had potential, but... there are lots of other videos out there.

--- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com

I want to address the only comment I found on this film first. The reviewer mentions Duvall's bad performance. Well, I think he did watch the film a long ago, and does not recall well. Robert Duvall's character and performance is worth the effort of seeing the film if you ask me. By far the strongest point to make one watch it! Albeit the story line is a bit scarce and linear and stock, the character build is worth any excellent stage play. It was conceived as a stage play, so it is not so appealing to movie watchers. The diabolic, malicious calm and easy Duvall displays is the key impetus for developing all the other characters by way of their reacting to his unnerving energy. In conclusion (my battery is running out), please make this film have more echo then it does, and some worthy critic extend the wikipedia article on it please!

Indeed, as my headline says, refreshing. This movie that goes back 37 years as of today is the complete antidote to the hyped up super hero action movies of today. Heroes and villains alike are no indestructible super beings. Just a solid movie with good actors and a plausible story without any unrealistic and illogical happenings. After seeing a couple of the latest "action" movies where the lead characters would put Batman and superman to shame in their ability to survive barrages of bullets and other bone breaking events, it is refreshing to see that before people actually cared about a plausible plot when making a movie that didn't make you feel like an idiot watching it.

I served on the Columbia River lightship and I can say, without a doubt, it was the best duty I had in the Coast Guard. Sometimes monotonous, we did get plenty of fishing and managed to poach a crab pot or two. And getting two weeks off after a month aboard without touching your 30 day annual leave surely made up for the semi-isolated duty that transpired. Also, the ride back and forth to the beach across the Columbias River Bar certainly was worth the price of admission. My lightship was WLV-605 which was homeported at the Coast Guard Bouy Base inside the Ballard Locks. Little enlistedman's bar, I remember poor-boy night; the night before payday when schooners of beer were 25 cents. A Coastie with five bucks in his pocket was popular. I also remember playing a dice game, Ship Captain Crew, for beer. After refit, we would steam up Puget Sound, around Tatoosh Head and down the Washington Coast to station. Boy, I wish I cold turn back the hands of time and have just one more rotation on that Galloping Red Ghost of the Pacific Northwest Coast.