Pioneer

Saw this recently on a DVD. Been on my radar for a long time. Knowin that its from the director of the original Insomnia n the actor from Headhunters, it aroused my curiosity. The film is about Norwegians and Americans cooperating in diving deeper than anyone previously has done to prepare for the installation of a gas pipeline. I found the movie very informative, providing knowledge about decompression sickness. Professional divers r used as guinea pigs while scientists secretly tested gas mixtures thought to counteract harmful deep sea pressures without the participant's knowledge. The film features breathless n claustrophobic underwater sequences. The bottom of the ocean as the dark side of the moon with the Norwegian flag. The scenes where the divers r going through rigorous training to prepare themselves are very tense. The claustrophobic environment of the pressure chamber n the divers' hallucinations created a sense of dread. The cinematography is gorgeous with clean blues, greens, and amber colors. The pacing was a bit letdown. Once the movie is away from the sea, it becomes a bit slow. The other issue was that the American characters, (Lang n Bentley) weren't given more footage n dialogues. The relationship between the lead character n his brother's family were a bit melodramatic at times. The angle of the greedy corporations n politics were full of clichés.

That oil and gas is the national treasure of norway, but axel hennie is for sure one of our most precious national treasures on the silver screen, its not that i like his looks and style, but act he can

its a film from the pioner era of norwegian oil industry, a very narrow but very important part of the moneybinging, namely the industrial deep sea divers and their deeds done to try to make diving on 300+ meters bsl being a safe and durabel standard operation proceedure. But crap happens when trying and failing is the only options.

The technical knowhow the grumpy old man doesnt have on diveproceedures, but its a claustrophobic divebell ride, made on a do it or die budget, well made visually, therefore a recommend.

It might feel like a TV movie of the week at times, but it does have an interesting story to tell and is far more decent than you might expect. And suspenseful for that matter. The underwater scenes look really good and the acting is up to the task as well (as the men were back when this unfolds).

Not sure how much of the things shown, actually transpired, (this is based on real events during the 80s you see?) but the movie does a good job holding any viewers attention with people trying to find out what is actually going on ... will they find out? What consequences will there be either way though? It gets political at times obviously, but in a good way if there is one

Saw this advertised on Sky Movies. The movie poster had an Abyss feel to it, which I guess did the job of getting my interest.

The info then described this as a gripping 80's thriller. Believe me, unless your idea of gripping is people sitting around in decompression chambers, jittery flashbacks announced with annoying sound effects and far too much coverage given to the lead guy's fur lined jacket, this couldn't be further from the truth.

I watched this for about 50 minutes before the boredom became more crushing than the pressure at the bottom of the Marianas trench.

The Wave wasn't bad but after this and the appalling The Last King, I think I'm gonna have to give these Norwegians films a bit of a miss.

'Pioneer' should by rights be an interesting film, inspired by true stories of commercial and governmental espionage, scientific advance, and personal bravery, as the Norwegian government was attempting to build (in the 1970s) its first pipeline to take North Sea oil ashore. But in fact, it's rather disappointing. Firstly, there's not much dramatic tension, in spite of a ostensibly vigorous plot. And secondly, that plot itself seems unlikely: large multinational companies are certainly guilty of many evils, but I find it relatively incredible to imagine they would murder Norweigian citizens to cover up ethics breaches - more normal behaviour would be to pay the fine and carry on as before. Perhaps it's because the motivation seems so preposterous that the story fails to ignite. The unvarnished truth (which we are told led to a lawsuit by disgruntled divers) would have been more interesting.