So we asked The Commercial Diver Network of cDiver.net “What movie would you consider to be the most badass commercial diving film of all time?” Thus far the options are limited as there have not been too many movies written and produced on this subject, but the results are in, they are entertaining, and here for your reading pleasure. With full and uncensored commentary by The Commercial Diver Network, cDiver.net is proud to bring you, the top 7 Commercial Diving Movies of all time… Or the only 7…
1.) Men of Honor-
Perhaps the most popular movie in the history of Commercial Diving, this flick follows the life of the Navy’s first African American deep-sea diver, Carl. M. Brashear (Gooding Jr.). The eventual Master Chief Diver must overcome racism and unfairness with the rest of the crew. Men of Honor had the traditional inspirational feel that rivals other U.S. military movies and is a great story on how a hero emerges from an unexpected character.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
“Master Chief Carl. M. Brashear a piece of history!”
– Giampiero L, Commercial Diver/ROV Pilot, Soverato, Italy
“Carl Brashear was one bad-ass diver! No question about it.”
– Juan M, Commercial Diver, Miami, FL
2.) Oceans of Fire
Ben, a former Navy officer now works on a rig as the guy in charge, but since a lot of crew keeps dying whilst diving and planting the rig in the sea he needs men who are willing to take the risk. He gets in touch with an old friend from the Navy who works in a prison as sort of an diving training base and there Ben selects out the best to complete the task, but with superiors breathing down his neck, a camera crew now jumping on board and a deadline to meet he wants to finish the job and make sure the men stay alive, but not all things work out as he plans.
Oceans of fire is said to be the closest thing to the real world of commercial diving in the gulf of mexico. If you want accurate gas laws watch men of honor, if you want to see what the living conditions are like for your brother, uncle, or son watch this. It should be required viewing for anyone preparing to go to dive school.
“All time favorite…”Oceans of Fire”. Top notch movie and very accurate…AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA”
– Jason L, Commercial Diver, Fresno, CA, USA
“Oceans of Fire…Bad Ass”
– Brandon H, Commercial Diver, Waterdown, ON
Oceans of Fire is actually a real life documentary of Oilfeild diving in the 70’s, and early sat diving.
– Pat M, Commercial Diver, Seattle, WA, USA
Other Votes for Oceans of Fire: Aron K, Vancouver, BC, Canada
3.) The Abyss
A U.S. missile submarine mysteriously crashes and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. An underwater mining team and the Navy SEALS team up to retrieve it before the Russians get hold of it. The crew stumbles across new forms of intelligent life unknown to the world, leading them to a world nobody knew existed.
Director: James Cameron
“Ed Harris is my hero! He made me want to become a commercial diver… ok maybe not, but the movie is pretty sweet and gives me hope that one day I will experience other lifeforms besides tenders offshore”
-Tom H, Commercial Diver, Rio, Brazil
“I liked all the pretty colors”
-Doug Newts, cDiver.net Staff, Seattle, WA, USA
4.) The Big Blue
Ok so this is probably not much of a commercial diving movie but we need a space filler and it’s better than “Into the Blue”. The Big Blue is more of a scuba movie, but is widely considered a classic so it makes it to our list. It follows two competitive rival divers. The divers rival each other as children and meet again at the world free-diving competition.
“The big blue – must see”
– Jesse S, Commercial Diver, Perth, Australia
“The big blue was brilliant.. not to be confused with into the blue..”
– Marcel M, Commercial Diver, South Africa
Other Votes for The Big Blue:
Dražen A
5.) The Deep
Vacationers discover a way into a shipwreck in the Bermuda waters. They discover what they believe is long lost treasure, unfortunately, not so nice treasures hunters/drug dealers looking for sunken morphine from a medical supply ship foil their plans as they need the vacationers to lead them to the treasure. The vacationers soon realize that they have made a much more important discovery than the morphine and set out to keep their actual treasure a secret from the treasure hunters.
Director: Peter Yates
“Ok… So no one has heard of this movie and didn’t mention it in our network, but it has Nick Nolte with a fatty mustache, and Louis Gossit Jr. Who could ask for more in a diving movie then a bunch of has been actors who wouldn’t make it on the lowest ranked celeb-reality show… I have not seen it yet either, but its on my netflix list now!!”
-Nathan J, cDiver.net Staff, Seattle, WA, USA
6.) Sphere
The U.S. Navy seeks to recover an alien spaceship at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. They believe that the ship crashed 300 years earlier. A team is sent out in a state of the art submarine to investigate the cause. They soon find that the alien vessel fell through a black hole and was actually from the future. During the investigation the find a sphere on the spaceship that can make your dreams become reality. As you can guess this is too much power for humans to possess and things inevitably go bad for the crew.
“Sphere had some equippment with DSI’s logo I think. But that’s about where it ends. Ha ha”
– Kris O, Commercial Diver, Tacoma, WA, USA
7) The Navigator
Buster Keaton revisits his familiar persona of a spoiled society dandy thrown into the surreal world. Young millionaire Rollo Treadway (the sap in the family tree, according to a title card) embarks on a long voyage to nurse his broken heart when his lady love, Kathryn McGuire, turns down his proposal of marriage. Of course he winds up on the wrong dock and boards a derelict ship, which (as luck would have it) McGuire has also boarded. Foreign spies set the ship adrift on the high seas, stranding the pampered heirs, who must now fend for themselves. Keaton indulges in his love of Rube Goldberg contraptions with an elaborate jungle of levers and hatches that turns a giant galley into a veritable automat and dives into 20th-century technology when he dons a diving suit for a hilarious underwater sequence. McGuire makes a marvelous comic partner for Keaton, a gifted physical comedian and a spunky love interest, while the ship plays straight man to their pratfalls and gags, practically coming alive like a haunted house in their first terrified night aboard. The match between man and massive machine proved so successful that Keaton returned to the concept for his two greatest comedies, The General and Steamboat Bill Jr. Also featured are a pair of appropriately aquatic shorts: The Boat, in which Buster packs his family into a leaky houseboat, and The Love Nest, which pits castaway Buster against a despotic captain. –Sean Axmaker (Amazon.com)
“The navigator, proper old school”
– Will R, Commercial Diver, Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
“We are reaching here…”
-Nathan J, cDiver.net Staff, Seattle, WA, USA
Aimless Comments that helped in the development of this article or just simply informed/entertained us:
“Deep Star Six and Leviathan. You’re shooting for accuracy, right? :)”
– Kris O, Commercial Diver, Tacoma, WA, USA
“Brokeback mountain….right up ur alley Nathan”
– Billy M, Commercial Diver, Vancouver, BC, Canada
“Thanks Billy, must be the inner broke back in me that came up with the cDiver Girls…”
-Nathan J, cDiver.net Staff, Seattle, WA, USA, http://cDiver.net/girls
“I think the james bond movie For your eyes only has some diving in it, a newt suit and some DSI hats”
– Alex F, Commercial Diver, Barrie, ON
“Dirty Dancing??”
– Will R, Commercial Diver, Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
“ps I love you?? Thatgets me everytime!!!”
– Will R, Commercial Diver, Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
“lol, ps I love you sounds intense!! Was that movie shot offshore?? If so I would guess the ratio of men to women was a bit off, in which case the movie title must have a real “special” meaning”
– Nathan J, cDiver.net Staff, Seattle, WA, USA
“There supposed to be making a movie about that Pipe lay barge that got hit by a huricane back in the 90’s near mexico. The book was called “All the men in the sea”. Dont know how much diving will be in the movie though.”
– Richard W, Commercial Diver, Houston, TX, USA
“There is a norwegian movie called dykket ”The dive” with subtitles, sat diving in the north sea. I got it on a dvd but im not sure where u can get it in the us”
– Eirik S, Commercial Diver, Haugesund, Norway
“(The Dive ) based on a true story in the North Sea..”
– Sean C, Commercial Diver, Montreal, QC, Canada
“A bit of a lame film, but its got one hell of a hot chick in it, “into the blue” not too bad, but jessica alba in a bikini. what more can i say?!”
– Marc W, Commercial Diver, Carnoustie, Scotland, UK
