Warner Home Video released a two disk set of the film Poseidon, and although this movie is supposed to be a remake of the 1972 classic The Poseidon Adventure, after watching it I have to say it’s a whole different animal. Loosely based on the original yes, but with acting that strayed so far from the original that it made for an entirely different film.

The Poseidon starts by quickly (too quickly in fact) introducing the main characters Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), an ex fireman and hero who also spent some time as mayor of New York City. Ramsey is accompanied by his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum) and her secret fiancé Christian (Mike Vogel). Robert soon meets fellow shipmate Dylan Johns (John Lucas) at a high stakes card game which is where he probably would have to have met Johns considering Dylan Johns is a ex navy man gone professional card player. It’s also in the first ten minutes of the film that we meet the rich engineer Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) who also happens to be gay and suicidal as his long time lover has just dumped him for a younger man. We are also introduced to the good hearted mother Maggie James (Jacinda Barrett) and her son Connor (Jimmy Bennett) who can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble. The last character we meet in the rushed first ten minutes of the film is a stowaway named Elena (Mia Maestro) who has just been refusing to stay hidden in her cabin even though the kitchen worker she's sleeping with for a free ride has been insisting on it.

These characters as well as some of the smaller parts are introduced very quickly and we are then thrown right into the action. Just seconds after midnight on New Year's Eve the ship is struck by a rouge wave almost instantly causing it to start capsizing. Because of this most of the passengers and crew on the ship are instantly killed but there are some survivors - the bulk of which are in the main ballroom. It is at this point that (against the captain's orders) a small group of determined people decide to break off from the rest of the survivors and try to take fate into their own hands. Shortly thereafter the small group meets up with a couple more people that have managed to stay alive and together they set out to get to the bottom of the ship (which is now the top) and attempt saving themselves rather than waiting for external help. This is Poseidon in a nutshell, a group of determined people trying to stay alive long enough to navigate their way to safety without getting blown up, electrocuted or worse yet - drowned.

It was pretty hard trying to figure out my feelings about this movie right after I saw it. The biggest let down we face in Poseidon is the lack of character development, though by the time the film is over we know them a little better. But the introduction is so ridiculously short that there’s very little time to relate to or even feel a lot of compassion for these people. Kurt Russell, for instance played his character to the best of his ability (like he always will) which probably helped add to the film quite a bit but there’s a bad relationship insinuated between him and his daughter and there’s not enough character build to show it which makes her out to be a snotty whiney brat who really doesn’t know what’s best for her when her father's protecting her. She goes as far as to keep her engagement to the man she loves a secret from her father but at no point does he come across as a jerk of a father (a tiny overprotective maybe but that’s what fathers do). Now the character of Richard Nelson played by Richard Dreyfuss just irritated me, and I don’t mean the actor himself because I have a lot of respect for him. No, my problem with his character is that seconds before the disaster struck he was in the process of committing suicide so I can't understand why he fought so hard all through the movie to stay alive, even going so far as too let someone else lose their own live to save his. Then there was one of the lead roles, that of Dylan Johns. Im not sure what the thought process was in creating a character that goes from being a professional gambler to one of the biggest heroes of the film. I honestly love the World Poker Tour but I can’t say that in a time of crisis that my first choice for someone to help me is going to be a person who sits down, drinks, smokes, and bluffs for a living. Then there was the young actor Jimmy Bennet who plays Connor James.. his acting was solid but the character of a child who is constantly on the brink of death and then running from his mother to put him in even more danger, is ridiculous. Which doesn’t say much for the mother who is supposed to be being painted as a great and loving mom; if stuff is blowing up and people are dying you need to control your child.

So what I'm saying for the acting in Poseidon is that it was great acting with real talent showing through but the characters they were depicting were just downright horrible, undeveloped and all around poorly written. But Poseidon really wasn’t about those characters so much as it was about the lead stand out main character, and if your wondering who I'm talking about it’s the ship itself. That’s why people are watching this film; it’s to watch the ship against the people in it. That’s where the CGI comes into play and it’s also why I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this movie because it was absolutely immaculate. The one thing that what was done perfectly with Poseidon was the special effects like the murky water and the explosions and the occasional flying body, even the color was just right so you could see shadows in the deadly water constantly flowing.

When Wolfgang Peterson directed The Perfect Storm it was really the opposite movie with very little praise going to the effects but lots of great characters and acting. It seems he did a complete 180 on this movie which leads me to believe if he directed something in between it would truly be great but unfortunately for him you can only do so many water disaster movies. But if he does, go for a third film covering this subject matter, I recommend finding different writers and keeping the CGI guys.

Now as I said this is a two disk set which I think is a horrible ploy to get extra money because the film is 99 minutes long. The extras only total bout 50 minutes and I know that will fit on one disk. As far as the extras go there's nothing really worth watching - a little cast interview and some set information and of that, the only thing worth watching is a 28 minute history channel special explaining rouge waves. So as I said this film was tough to rate but because the CGI was so good I have to settle on a C +.. I really don’t recommend you purchasing the two disk set, and it might be more prudent to rent this film or wait until it hits cable . - Dean Martell..