A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.
- Awards
- 6 nominations
- Hughie
- (as Edward Campbell)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn traditional Scottish mythology, 'The Water Horse' aka 'Kelpie' is a terrifying people-eating "boogeyman." This beast appears in a pleasing form to lure unsuspecting victims (usually children) to play with it. Once the unfortunate soul had mounted the Kelpie, it would trap the victim with glue excreted from its skin, and drag him or her down to a watery death. Another kind of Kelpie took the form of a handsome man who targeted young women, analogous to the Dracula and Nosferatu of Eastern Europe. Society used these legends to protect young people by teaching them to be wary of adult strangers and dangerous natural formations. Kelpie stories come from all over Scotland, and are not exclusively associated with Loch Ness. It was only in the 1930s, after the popularity of early stop-motion dinosaur films such as The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933), that the standard image of Scottish lake monsters was revised to be shaped like a dinosaur or a plesiosaur. Their nature was subsequently changed to become docile, cute and cuddly, because this image is more convenient for creating a tourist attraction. The association of these monsters with Loch Ness specifically, only came about because the first published photo of such a "creature" was made there, around 1933. After that picture (called the "Surgeon's Photo" and seen frequently in this film) became world-famous in 1934, several similar monsters were "sighted" in various locations across Canada, and given names such as Ogopogo and Cadborosaurus. During the Great Depression, happy novelties in the news were popular, so they were covered extensively. The fact that these "sightings" are so convenient for entertainment culture and the tourist industry, suggests that the phenomenon is commercial rather than biological.
- GoofsIn an early scene, Angus pulls out a first aid kit, and the bandage on top is labeled 'Telfa'. The film is set in 1942, but Telfa bandages weren't marketed by the Kendall Company/Curity until 1954.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Female Tourist: What is that?
Male Tourist: It's a famous picture of the monster. But it's fake.
Female Tourist: How do you know it's fake? It looks real.
Old Angus: Oh, it's fake alright.
Male Tourist: Of course it's fake. Everyone knows that.
Old Angus: We'd know, son. There's more to that photo than meets the eye.
Male Tourist: Oh ho, really.
Old Angus: Well, if you'd like to know the real truth.
Female Tourist: Yeah, I wanna know. Come on, it'll be fun.
Old Angus: [starts telling the story]
- Crazy creditsNo Sea Monsters were harmed during the making of this film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Starz Special: The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)
- SoundtracksBack Where You Belong (Theme from The Water Horse)
Produced by Daniel Lanois
Written and Performed by Sinéad O'Connor
As with most things, there are good and bad sides to this film. On the plus side, the acting is above-par by all the actors(the adult male leads look startlingly like a young Liam Neeson and a Gaelic Antonio Banderas), the location footage is gorgeous, the period "feels right", and the title namesake is very well executed and most believable. Major kudos to the special effects teams, they did a magnificent job.
On the downside, the denouement is telegraphed well in advance and comes as no surprise, and there are some unanswered questions and several plot lines end without resolution. I have a feeling a "directors cut" would probably restore studio-mandated cuts and resolve these issues. The Director, Jay Russell, has helmed other very successful films (including a little-known but personal favorite "End of the Line") which were also obviously "fiddled with" by studio decree. Such is the business of film-making.
In the end, I greatly enjoyed this film, and plan to add it to my vast collection when it is released for home viewing.
- doppleganger19692
- Dec 18, 2007
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,946,255
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,186,054
- Dec 30, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $103,967,384
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1