Deepwater Horizon (2006)

If made Deepwater Horizon was 10 year earlier

Directed By: Michael Bay

Plot
On April 20, 2000, Deepwater Horizon, an oil drilling rig operated by private contractor Transocean, is set to begin drilling off the southern coast of Louisiana on behalf of BP. Chief Electronics Technician Michael "Mike" Williams (Tom Cruise) and Offshore Installation Manager James "Mr. Jimmy" Harrell (Robert De Niro) are surprised to learn that the workers assigned to test the integrity of recently completed cement work are being sent home early, without conducting a cement bond log (CBL), at the insistence of BP managers Donald Vidrine (John Lithgow) and Robert Kaluza (Brad Leland). While Mike prepares the drilling team, including Caleb Holloway (Garrett Hedlund), Harrell meets with Vidrine and persuades him to conduct a test, which only serves to weaken the already poorly placed cement further. His patience thinning, and without waiting for Harrell to confirm the results, Vidrine orders the well to be flowed.

At first, the operation goes smoothly, but the cement job eventually fails completely, triggering a massive blowout that overpowers and kills the drill team members Keith Manuel, Shane Roshto, Roy Kemp, Karl Kleppinger, Adam Weise, and Gordon Jones.

A chain of equipment malfunctions, coupled with a failed attempt to seal the well, ignites the oil, killing Dewey Revette, Stephen Curtis, Jason Anderson (Steve Zahn), and Donald Clark. Andrea Fleytas (Michelle Rodriguez), the rig's Dynamic Position Operator, tries to alert the Coast Guard, only to be overruled by her superior, Captain Curt Kuchta, on the grounds that the rig is not in any imminent danger. With oil now spewing into the ocean, a frightened, oil covered pelican flies into the bridge of a nearby vessel and dies; the vessel heads towards the rig just as the workers begin a frantic evacuation. Harrell, still alive, although seriously injured in the explosion, is rescued by Mike and assumes control of the situation, only to discover that the rig cannot be saved. Aaron Dale Burkeen, a close friend of Mike's, sacrifices himself to keep a burning crane from collapsing onto the surviving crew, while Mike and Caleb are able to rescue Vidrine and Kaluza and get them to safety.

As night falls and the burning oil lights up the area, the Coast Guard becomes aware of the incident and sends a ship to collect the survivors, who are being ferried in the lifeboats to the Damon Bankston[clarification needed]. With all the lifeboats full, Mike locates the emergency life raft, but it becomes separated from the rig before he and Andrea can board, causing the latter to suffer a panic attack. Just as the oil in the well itself ignites and destroys the rig, the two jump into the water and are picked up by rescuers, who then ferry them to the Damon Bankston where the surviving crew mourn their lost crewmen and say the Lord's Prayer.

Returned home, the workers reunite with their families in a hotel lobby, during which the father of one of the dead crew members angrily confronts Mike for failing to save his son, resulting in Mike having a

panic attack himself.

The film ends with a series of clips showing the aftermath of the disaster, including testimony from the real-life Mike Williams and the revelation that Donald Vidrine and Robert Kaluza were the only two people prosecuted for their actions; both were charged with eleven cases of manslaughter. Pictures appear of the eleven men who lost their lives before the credits. The movie postscript reads: "The blowout lasted for 87 days, spilling an estimated 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the worst oil disaster in U.S. history."

Cast

 * Tom Cruise as Mike Williams
 * Robert De Niro as Jimmy Harrell (Mr. Jimmy)
 * John Lithgow as Donald Vidrine
 * Michelle Rodriguez as Andrea Fleytas
 * Garrett Hedlund as Caleb Holloway
 * Helen Hunt as Felicia Williams
 * Steve Zahn as Jason Anderson

Rating
PG-13