Cinema about the sea: a list of the best films

From the earliest times, the sea attracted people with incomprehensible depths and unexplored secrets. Treasure hunters looked for gold from the sunken ships at its bottom, artists and writers imagined scary monsters living in the deep sea, and inventors and innovators built drawings of the first submarines. Stunning films were made about all this (and not only!).

An interesting movie about the sea can belong to any genre: from melodrama to horrors, from exciting adventures to documented exact stories. Children’s and family films are also shot about the attracting water. Below are the top 205 best films about the sea according to the FlickChart project.

1-10: Top Ten

• Jaws (1975).
• "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003).
• The Submarine (1981).
• "Lifeboat" (1944).
• The Abyss (1989).
• "The Hunt for the Red October" "(1990).
• The Titanic (1997).
• Life of Pi (2012).
• "The Adventures of Poseidon" (1972).
• "The rebellion on the Bounty" (1935).

It would be strange if the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean – 1” were not included in the top ten best films. The opinions of experts and film enthusiasts about its many sequels remain controversial, but it cannot be denied: the very first film about an unusual pirate Jack Sparrow forever entered the popular "tops".

11-20: Classic and Modern

• "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954).
• "Water Life" (2004).
• "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1989).
• "Rise of Kane" (1954).
• The Navigator (1924).
• "The Crimson Tide" (1995).
• "Master of the Seas: At the Edge of the Earth" (2003).
• "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006).
• "Brave Captains" (1937).
• Moby Dick (1956).

Classical plots borrowed from famous literary works (most often from Jules Verne’s novels) formed the basis of tens and hundreds of films. Creations of directors on marine subjects were no exception: every decade in the history of cinema is marked by new interpretations of the stories Moby Dick, Old Man and the Sea, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island. The second ten of the presented top includes the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean-2."

21-30: An unforgettable sight

• "The Swiss Robinson Family" (1960).
• Big Blue (1988).
• "The rebellion on the Bounty" (1962).
• The Bounty (1984).
• The Sea Hawk (1940).
• "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007).
• The Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
• The Titanic (1996).
• "Jaws-2" (1978).
• “Hope Will Not Fade” (2013).

The top 30 best films about the water element include relatively old paintings. The latest films here are “Hope Will Not Fade” and, of course, the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean – 3”.

31-40: Exciting Adventures

• Yu-571 (2000).
• Treasure Island (1950).
• "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1916).
• Atlantis: The Lost World (2001).
• The Perfect Storm (2000).
• The Abyss (1977).
• White Flurry (1996).
• "Death among Icebergs" (1977).
• "Pirates! Gang of Losers" (2012).
• "Water World" (1995).

It is strange that the Pirates of the Caribbean did not enter the top 40. Cinema about the water element is represented by stories in the genres of horror and action.

41-50: Undoubted hits

• "K-19" (2002).
• The Ghost Ship (1943).
• The Sphere (1998).
• "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (2011).
• The Pirates of Penzance (1983).
• "Captain Ron" (1992).
• The Sea Wolf (1941).
• The Love Nest (1923).
• The Deep Blue Sea (1999).
• "Journey to the bottom of the sea" (1961).

Continuities of films, as a rule, are perceived by critics and viewers much worse than the first pictures. So it happened with the legendary saga "Pirates of the Caribbean." The movie about the amazing Jack Sparrow and his amazing adventures is still popular, but the fourth part got into the top 50, but not in the top 10.

51-60: The Magnificence of Water

• "The Old Man and the Sea" (1958).
• "Island of the Cutthroats" (1995).
• "Captain Horatio" (1951).
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Vanquisher of the Dawn (2010).
• "Jung" (1994).
• "Welcome to Paradise!" (2005).
• "Against All Enemies" (1952).
• The Pirates (1986).
• The Black Swan (1942).
• "Find the Red Witch" (1948).

Interestingly, in this ten are mostly classic films. The children's fantasy epic “The Chronicles of Narnia” also found a place here. The movie “Pirates of the Caribbean – 3”, as well as other parts of the adventure saga, is already presented in the top according to FlickChart. Will other films continue on this impressive list?

61-70: Pages of History

• "Billy Bad" (1962).
• The Atlantic (1913).
• "The Filibuster" (1958).
• "Treasure Island" (1934).
• "The rich and strange" (1931).
• Underwater History (2004).
• The Port of Missing Girls (1928).
• "The Sea of ​​China" (1935).
• "Treasure Island" (1972).
• "The" Gray Lady "goes to the depth" (1978).

The new ten contains just two versions of the film adaptations of the immortal literary work “Treasure Island”. Not surprising, because a movie about the sea in fact often turns out to be a film about the islands.

71-80: Epic Stories

• "Kon-Tiki" (2012).
• The Sea Chase (1955).
• "The master of the island of O'Keefe" (1954).
• Nate and Hayes (1983).
• Poseidon (2006).
• "Gods of the Abyss" (1965).
• The Virus (1999).
• “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Traveler” (1989).
• Prisoners of Poseidon (1979).
• The journey continues (1962).

As it turned out, the children's book “The Chronicles of Narnia” was also awarded several adaptations filmed in different years. Some of them have the format of small series. In general, directors prefer "full meter": a movie about the sea is quite difficult to shoot in the form of a series, albeit with a small number of episodes.

81-90: Twentieth Century Stories

• "Bloody Alley" (1955).
• "Spanish Maritime possessions" (1945).
• Moby Dick (1930).
• The Wind (1992).
• "Operation" Disaster "" (1950).
• "The nuclear submarine" (1959).
• "Capture in the North Sea" (1979).
• "Captain Kidd" (1945).
• "Ruined in the Sea" (1937).
• "Around the world under water" (1966).

The new ten presents an interesting interpretation of Jules Verne's work “Around the World in 80 Days” - an original attempt to make a movie about the sea based on combining two stories of one writer (see “20,000 leagues under the sea”).

91-100: Pirates and Discoverers

• The Calling Curse (1962).
• "Captain Blood" (1950).
• "The Captain Hates the Sea" (1934).
• "Pirates of the Bloody River" (1962).
• "Beyond the Seven Waves" (1957).
• "Keep it up ... Jack" (1963).
• "Hurricane over Jamaica" (1965).
• "Christopher Columbus" (1949).
• The Crash of Mary Deere (1959).
• "Pirate's Bay" (1944).

Pirate adventures have long been of great interest: here, romance, and danger, and the struggle with the elements, and dashing freedom on indomitable waves. It is not surprising that in the twentieth century, many films were shot about pirates. In modernity, the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean-1” received the greatest recognition.

101-110: Brilliant films

• "Mara Maru" (1952).
• "Raise the Titanic" (1980).
• The Captain Pirate (1952).
• "Long John Silver" (1954).
• "Invaders of the Seven Seas" (1953).
• The Bounty (1933).
• "Plymouth Adventure" (1952).
• The Fighter (1943).
• "Spawn of the North" (1938).
• "Sea Tyrant" (1950).

It's no secret that movies about the seas were especially difficult to shoot in the first half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the directors and cameramen brilliantly coped with the task, transferring some of the scenes on deck to the land. The quality of the films did not suffer from this at all.

111-120: Famous Heroes

• "Alone through the Pacific Ocean" (1963).
• "Ferry to Hong Kong" (1959).
• "A ship that died from shame" (1955).
• "On ships by sea" (1949).
• "The Pirate Blackbeard" (1952).
• "Riot on the infernal ship" (1957).
• "The target is the underwater element" (1966).
• "The Son of Captain Blood" (1962).
• "All the brothers were brave" (1953).
• "John Paul Jones" (1959).

The top ten begins not with the English language, but with the Japanese film. Unlike quite frivolous films like the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean – 2”, the plots from the Land of the Rising Sun tell about the complexity and versatility of life, about the relationship between man and the elements, and what a person is capable of in situations that seem hopeless.

121-130: New Adventures of Old Characters

• Sanctum (2010).
• The Indomitable Angelica (1967).
• The Sea Devil (1946).
• The Rebel Spirit of Krakatoa (1953).
• "Waves Above Us" (1955).
• The Killer Shark (1950).
• "Operation" Bikini "" (1963).
• "Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl" (1954).
• "The Daughter of a Pirate" (1950).
• "Peppy in the Land of Taka-Tuka" (1970).

Captain Kidd, Angelica, Peppy Longstocking, Lieutenant Hornblower (see below) - all these are world-famous characters, about which a lot has been written and filmed. About captains, of course, only a movie about the sea tells. Angelica and Peppy briefly decorated this genre with their presence - the sea became for them only one episode from a long history.

131-140: Dangerous and Beautiful Ocean

• "Under the water!" (1955).
• "Bermuda Depths" (1978).
• "Clear the Territory" (1956).
• "Purpose: Albatross" (1965).
• The Dove (1974).
• "Seven Seas to Calais" (1962).
• The Incredible World (1957).
• "Waiting for the Goliath" (1981).
• "Revenge of the Vikings" (1965).
• The Incredible Captain Nemo (1978).

What the films weren’t about: the Caribbean, the Pacific Ocean, the Bermuda Triangle, the Pas de Calais, Java and Jamaica, the Baltic and the British Isles. In this top ten there are films about fictional geography - they are no less exciting than stories about real-life seas, oceans and islands. Fiction lovers will be especially interested in stories about unprecedented monsters living in the depths of the sea, as well as about the technologies of the future embodied in incredible models of warships and submarines.

141-150: Towards the sea winds

• Shipwreck (1990).
• "Treasures of the Jamaican Reef" (1975).
• "Treasure of the Sharks" (1975).
• "Kara Murat: Lord of the Seas" (1977).
• "Samson and Sally: A Song of the Whales" (1984).
• The Black Pearl (1977).
• "The Old Man and the Sea" (1999).
• Gulliver's Travels (2010).
• "Sea Devils" (1982).
• The Black Sea (2014).

Cinema "Black Sea" closes the impressive top 150 best films about the water element. In this list you can find stories of any genre and for every taste. For the most ardent film enthusiasts, an additional list is presented below - a total of 205 amazing films about the seas and oceans.

151-205: Unattainable Horizons

• The Floating Beacon (1985).
• Nostos: The Return (1990).
• "Evil from the Abyss" (1989).
• “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1997).
• The Journey (1993).
• "The Lords of the Depths" (1989).
• Deep Immersion (1990).
• Shark Hunter (1979).
• "The Odyssey of Captain Blood" (1991).
• The Cyclone (1978).
• Longitude (2000).
• "The Adventures of Poseidon" (2005).
• "Blue Water, White Death" (1971).
• The Eater (1969).
• "Steel Sharks" (1997).
• "Lieutenant Hornblower: Riot" (2001).
• Beyond the Boundary (2000).
• "The Creature of Peter Benchley" (1998).
• "Tentacles" (2000).
• The Baltic Storm (2003).
• The Triangle (2001).
• "Jaws of Death" (1983).
• "The open sea" (2003).
• "Horror from the Abyss" (2001).
• "2010: Moby Dick" (2010).
• U-429: Submarine Prison (2003).
• "Journey to the Edge of the Earth" (2005).
• "The Legend of the Titanic" (1999).
• Moby Dick (1998).
• "Treasure Island" (2012).
• "Valor" (2008).
• Blackbeard (2006).
• "Captain Ahab" (2007).
• "Welcome to Paradise! - 2: The Reef" (2009).
• "The Legendary Journey of Captain Drake" (2009).
• "Titanic-2" (2010).
• "Shark charmer" (2012).
• Moby Dick (2011).
• The Whale (2013).
• "Dead Water" (2003).
• "Sharks" (2006).
• "Mad Sharks" (2005).
• Jaws (1996).
• "12 days of fear" (2005).
• "Predator Instinct" (2004).
• Gidget (1959).
• "Back to the Beach" (1987).
• “Detachment” (1989).
• "Picnic by the Sea" (1967).
• "Where the guys are" (1960).
• "From Justin to Kelly" (2003).
• "Horror on the beach for revels" (1964).
• "Hot Summer" (1968).
• "On the Last Bank" (2000).

Try to set aside time to view at least a few pictures, and we are sure you will be satisfied!