Baltic Storm

I have to admit, I picked this movie just for the cast, and while Sutherland, Scacchi, and Prochnow were - as usual - great performers, the rest of the movie was such a let down. It feels like it was put together by a team of adolescents with low level scripts, that is, scripts lacking any depth, awful photography and editing, and hilariously lousy score! I can't believe I was able to watch this seemingly long movie until the end... the sad thing is, this could have actually been a great political thriller given the interesting plot. All the potential was there to make it a hit; that is, two main ingredients are there: a great story of national conspiracies, and a great core cast (even though many other actors are pretty much soap opera quality). But maybe I'm missing something; until then it's still not worth more than a 3 in my opinion.

As has often been remarked, on one level this is a genuinely rotten movie - story, filming, etc. Many of the German actors are really good, but hardly in this flick. However, the movie is a "good thing" because it legitimately raises the point of the "Estonia" disaster - which after all has never been satisfactorily cleared up. The movie is banned in Sweden, and that alone makes it worth watching. (Imagine a movie on an US catastrophe that would be banned in the US because it implies government involvement - such as "JFK"!) We do not know what caused the sinking of the "Estonia", but we do know it was not an accident as reported, and it is not exactly far-fetched to surmise that the Swedish government is implicated, at the very least, in the hush-up of whatever caused it. It's good that this movie reminds the audience of that. The comments on this site that such a movie shouldn't have been made because that would capitalize on the victims and their relatives is outright bizarre - if anything, this movie, rotten as it is, is one of the few monuments for the victims; not adequate, but still.

I watched the first half of this, but could not go on. It was too bad. The only thing that was interesting in it, were the real (actual) news clips from the time. And you can watch those on the internet if you like.

EVERYTHING was bad. The script, the acting (several of the main actors were clumsy and amateurish), and the idea in itself of making a disaster movie without a substantial budget and modern technical effects. I am not saying that a disaster movie with expensive technical effects necessarily has to be a good movie, but the opposite is simply not possible. It felt like filmed theatre more than a movie, but when you are watching a play you are "in it" - I mean you realize that your imagination must fill in what is not possible to realize on a scene. From a movie you expect much more.

But the worst of it was of course, that a movie like this is offensive against the families and friends of the disaster victims. One can make movies about the Titanic, but to make a movie about a disaster that happened only nine years ago (I mean when the movie was released), when memories are still fresh and almost all the grieving people are still alive, is only disgraceful.

About the spy story, I am quite sure that there is nothing in it. It has been proved that the catastrophe was caused by bad upkeep of the Estline fleet, and a lack of routines for regular overhaul. Trying to find a more "exciting" explanation is only silly and immature, and can only cause more distress for everybody.

This movie left a bad taste in my mouth.

I admire the effort of trying to reach out to the rest of the world with this tragic story. However, the movie is done SO BADLY that most people I know couldn't sit through it. The movie was relevant to me since I lived in Estonia when these events took place, but it is written horribly and fails to capture the attention of someone who knows nothing on the matter. The music choices do not flow well with the movie, it seems as if someone just turned a CD player on in the background to put the actors "in the mood". The acting... well, what acting? The only people acting are Jürgen Prochnow and Donald Sutherland, even though Prochnow seems uncomfortable in this role. As far as the relationship development goes between Erik Westermark (Jürgen Prochnow) and Julia Reuter (Greta Scacchi), it is like watching a train wreck. There is absolutely no chemistry and it is painful to witness their "sincere moments." This is not a good movie. There is a difference between trying to get a message out (could've been a documentary!) and trying to make a good movie. This is a failure and anyone here who says otherwise makes me wonder if they are trying to promote it. As a matter of fact, as a native of Estonia I am offended by this miserable effort. This tragedy deserves more than just a homemade low-budget ghost chase excuse of a movie. This could have been much more!

The Baltic Storm is a very controversial story which I think have a lot of truth in it.

It's about the big catastrophe in 1994 when the ship Estonia sank between Estonia and Sweden. Over 800 people died and only around 100 where saved.

The survivors told about explosions and the proof also told that something wasn't right in the official story about what had happen.

This movie is about that and it's quite interesting, but you should not expect any movie like Titanic. This is a movie which have been done to tell the alternative truth with a low budget.

I recommend this movie to all you out there which don't buy all the crap politicians and other high people tells us.