VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
melissaleemitchell
I'm not one for NZ movies to begin with and this came in a 4 pack of DVDs containing one movie I wanted, so I wasn't aware the cast was pretty much straight out of Shortland Street - believe me, once you've seen someone on that poor excuse of a programme it's hard to take them seriously in anything else. It was ridiculous seeing the now decommissioned Arahura as a cruise ship in America with a mainly NZ cast and the name of the ship not even covered for filming - seriously, did they think people couldn't see the name and wouldn't realise that it was different to what the ship was meant to be called???? I actually laughed out loud when I saw it then turned it off! I feel sorry for the main American lead having to film with such amateurs - it must have been an excruciating experience. If they allowed you to give less than a 1-star rating I would have because it's not even good enough for 1-star.
John M Upton
Yet another Die Hard straight to video rip off with cardboard villains… How many more of these god awful cheaply (and badly) made rip off of the more popular action movies of the late 1980's and early 1990's are there still lurking out there? For the record (not that you will care really) this one is yet another blatant rip off of a combination of Die Hard, Under Siege and Speed 2 complete with a full complement of clichés and predictability.The non descript villains are the usual selection of cardboard cut out gun toting thugs who are dispatched by various means as the film progresses, the hero naturally is an ex cop or something that has family and attitude problems and of course he brings along to the party not only the usual emotional baggage but also a matching piece of eye candy and his annoying son.The supposed luxury cruise liner that is running between Florida and Mexico is carefully described as a cross between a liner and a ferry – this goes someway to explaining how come they appear to be larking around on a rusty cross channel ferry – in New Zealand! The acting is as wooden as the deck, the script woeful, the one liners predictable, the villains utterly inept and the plot has holes in it you could sail a boat through.There seems to be a never ending tide of this sort of rip off straight to video rubbish polluting the late night slots of television and the DVD bargain bins of supermarkets everywhere (although even this film is so bad it has yet to see a DVD release yet but give it time!) Is there any chance of something at least half decently made, semi believable and most important ORIGINAL?!? No, I thought not…..
RogerBorg
What a sad sight these TV stalwarts make, running out the clock on their careers stumbling about a little rusting hulk of a ship - boat might be more appropriate. The whole production feels cheap and shabby, and it's not helped by a "big name" star who is barely capable of spitting out the few lines that he's given in a credible fashion.At no time do the supporting cast rise above the material; they're clearly watching the clock here. Bang out the scenes, get the pay cheque, go home, and try to forget all about it.It's not particularly badly scripted or filmed; there are no real clangers, it's just utterly anodyne, and shot in a very limited number of cramped sets with a small cast of extras. The pacing is a little bizarre; an embarrassingly tentative romantic sub-plot is only begun after the main action starts, which makes it feel irrelevant.Maiden Voyage scores a couple of points for being competently scored, and for being a fun game of "spot the Kiwi bit parters"; most of the cast are graduates of Shortland Street or Xena: Warrior Princess. The saddest thing about this production is that this film probably constitutes their big break.
kubwasana98
The boat stayed afloat - but the movie sank. I feared the worst when I saw the opening credits... It probably is as awful as the others have said, but it was VERY late at night and I watched on TV as I lay comfortably in bed - the best thing I could find at the time! (Which tells you how appalling the competition must have been)Yes it creaked, was as weak as all get-out but it filled the time and I smiled at some of the dreadful moments of which there was no shortage. When luxury cruise liners operating out of the States are virtual cities with every luxury on board, I did wonder throughout why anybody would pay good money to go on this rusting old tub! Not a decent surface in sight! The "lounge" was so tiny it was ludicrous. It made twelve people "a crowd". It must be the world's only cruise liner without a swimming pool. The aerial shots revealed it to be a stumpy, ugly old vessel looking suspiciously like a superannuated ferry. (And as is pointed out above -it apparently WAS.) Fortunately I'm not THAT familiar with Kiwiland to have recognised any landmarks so I was spared that pain. It seems the NZ taxpayers there didn't get away so painlessly. It was so bad it was good! Casper van den Bierg is decorative. I'd never seen him before! He really must have NEEDED the work.
