Book/Movie Comparison: A Stormy Comparison

            My next book to movie comparison came about because of a sale at Best Buy. My friend John mentioned I should check out The Perfect Storm which was written by Sebastian Junger. He was going over an excerpt of it with his students. He also mentioned to me that the Blu-Ray of the movie directed by Wolfgang Petersen was on sale for a really good price. I am always looking for good Blu-Ray deals so it was a win win situation for me.

Sebastian Junger’s book focuses primarily on the crew of the Andrea Gail and their families. The book did a great job of describing the community and its residents in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It was very easy to picture that bars they would visit and looking out at the dock waiting to see a boat come in. The book also goes in to detail a number of other people that were trapped in the storm and those tasked with rescuing them. I’m not sure why but I always get excited with a book when they name drop somewhere I have been before. A couple of the Andrea Gail’s crew had homes in Bradenton Florida and I have been there multiple times as my Aunt and Uncle live just outside of it.

I remember when the movie version of The Perfect Storm originally came out. I didn’t know anything about the events it was based on, I just liked the cast and thought it looked interesting. The movie primarily focuses on the crew of the fishing boat. It does cut away to other parties trapped in the storm but the majority of the movie is about the fisherman and their experiences on the boat. Of course there has to be some turmoil between crew members, it wouldn’t be the Deadliest Catch I mean the Andrea Gail without it. Seeing the wall of fishermen lost at sea over the years was a very strong moment that I think drove home the point that this isn’t just a game, and numerous men have lost their lives over the years.

I enjoy both the book and movie because they both tell an interesting story. While the movie focuses more on the crew of the Andrea Gail, the book spends more time with the families of those on the ship and others trapped in the storm. I don’t think the movie would have turned out as well as it did had it been a directed adaptation from the book. The “movie quality” story was with the men on the boat and not with those back home waiting for news about their safety. One thing I wish the movie would have included was the “bad vibe” feeling that some crew members had, including one that decided to back out on the trip all together. That was a part of the book that I found to be interesting, especially when they talked about it toward the end of the book again. I would recommend both the book and movie to people but I must include as a warning, the story while the same is told in completely different ways.