The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm is a 2000 American biographical disaster drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and based on the 1997 creative non-fiction book of the same name by Sebastian Junger. The film was adapted by William D. Wittliff, with an uncredited rewrite by Bo Goldman, and tells the story of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all hands after being caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Karen Allen, Bob Gunton, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and John C. Reilly. It was released on June 30, 2000, by Warner Bros. and grossed $328 million worldwide, despite having a mixed critical reception. Plot In October 1991, the commercial swordfishing boat Andrea Gail returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with a poor catch. Boat owner Bob Brown ridicules and taunts Captain Billy Tyne over his recent "cold streak". Desperate to redeem himself, Billy convinces the Andrea Gail crew to join him for one more late-season fishing expedition. The crew heads out past their usual fishing grounds on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, leaving a developing tropical storm behind them. Initially unsuccessful, they head to the Flemish Cap, where their luck greatly improves. After amassing thousands of pounds of fish, the ice machine breaks down; the only way to sell their catch before it spoils is to hurry back to shore. However, between Andrea Gail and Gloucester is a confluence of two powerful weather fronts and a hurricane, which the crew underestimates. As the crew of Andrea Gail battles the raging sea, a strong wind breaks the ship's radio antenna just as Hurricane Grace and the northern weather front merge with each other atop them. Rookie fisherman Bobby Shatford attempts to fix it but can only watch helplessly as the antenna breaks off and disappears into the sky. Shortly after, Captain Linda Greenlaw of sister ship Hannah Boden calls in a Mayday for the Andrea Gail. A New York Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopter responds, but after failing to perform a midair refueling with an HC-130 Hercules, the helicopter crew aborts the mission and ditches their aircraft. All but one of the Air National Guard crew members are rescued by a Coast Guard vessel, the USCGC Tamaroa.