Poseidon

"Mayday"

2006 1h 38m EN

😐

5.9

MID

🥫

33%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.7

IMDB

★5.9TMDB · 2,419🥫33%Rotten Tomatoes●50Metacritic★5.7IMDB · 114,775

AdventureActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A packed cruise ship traveling the Atlantic is hit and overturned by a massive wave, compelling the passengers to begin a dramatic fight for their lives.

“Mayday”

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Cast

Josh Lucas
Dylan Johns
Kurt Russell
Robert Ramsey
Jacinda Barrett
Maggie James
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Nelson
Emmy Rossum
Jennifer Ramsey
Mía Maestro
Elena
Mike Vogel
Christian
Kevin Dillon
Lucky Larry

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Writers: Mark Protosevich, Darrin Denlinger
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$160M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

310+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, shot by John Seale. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell and Jacinda Barrett carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Wolfgang Petersen directs. John Seale behind the camera. Klaus Badelt scores. Peter Honess cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$160M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4310+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, shot by John Seale. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell and Jacinda Barrett carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Mayday".
10IMDB entry: tt0409182 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 21 themes, including "new year's eve", "daughter", "self-abandonment", "ship".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Seale
Original score: Klaus Badelt
Editing: Peter Honess
Production design: William Sandell
Costume design: Erica Edell Phillips
Makeup / hair: Yolanda Toussieng
VFX supervisor: Joakim Arnesson
Sound: Paul Flinchbaugh
Stunt coordinator: Rick Avery
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $160,000,000
Box office: $181,700,000
Return: 114% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Poseidon (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 33% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 50/100
IMDB rating: 5.7/10 · 114,775 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 7 nominations total

Also by

Wolfgang Petersen

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-01-12
★ 6/10
I wouldn't put a lot of faith on what the captain says. I'm an architect, and these boats weren't designed to float upside down. After playing water games with "The Perfect Storm" six years previously, director Wolfgang Petersen returns to the water to reimage 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure" (novel by Paul Gallico). Story essentially finds a cruise liner capsized by chaotic weather and survivors try to make their way out of an upside world before the boat either sinks or the inrushing water drowns them. The original is one of the highlights of the disaster genre that burst forth in the 1970s, so it really didn't need remaking, but Hollywood insists on remaking old films for cash cow purpose. As it is, this is hardly a terrible movie, it lacks character development, the plot is stripped bare without any additional depth, and ultimately it's the CGI effects (that do work handsomely enough and were Oscar Nominated) that carries the picture to just above average status. Hardly a must see disaster film but enough excitement and suspense to make it a dent time waster for fans of the genre. 6/10
JPV8522025-08-17
★ 6/10
Decided to give this one another shot, last time was probably when it came out on DVD. Didn't think much of it then and while it's nothing great and the CGI was spotty at times, I still thought it was fairly entertaining if not just another throwaway movie with not much of a lasting effect. On the one hand I can appreciate they didn't bother much with character development and giving us backstories that nobody gives two shits about, but on the other when a few eventually get killed, you really don't care either. Even so, albeit a pointless adaptation (why not just watch the 1972 classic?), it's still fine. 3.0/5