Saw "White Squall" yesterday--$.99 rental and the best bargain I've seen in a long time.

When the skipper is being tried for lack of judgment, either a witness or an attorney argues that the white squall's existence at all is probably apocryphal--something not proven to be a natural phenomenon. Does anyone know anything more about this?

The way the filmmakers showed the white squall was as a sort of huge, white rising wave of a curtain of madly falling water--it looked like a waterfall hitting the ship.

Something else that was explained that was news to me was the definition of a loose cannon--there was a boy who was causing trouble and the term was being implicitly applied to him. Anyway, here's what the skipper said about the loose cannon:

"You know what a loose cannon is? A couple of thousand pounds of pigiron crashing around on deck"...putting holes into everything.

The boy who records the story, when they arrive at the Galapagos Islands, I believe, says they "saw the bliss of nature in the absence of man," which was the single best contemporary comment made in the story. I use "contemporary" here because Shakespeare, Donne and other classic writers are also quoted throughout by an English teacher.

Finally, there's a shot of the ship going under--she appears to be completely submerged--but then she rolls back up out of the ocean.

Anyway, if you missed this one, it's worth taking a look at. I cried at the end--so, if you like tearjerkers and are sensitive, you may shed a little tear.

Best regards,
DubDub