Matcollis
This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Grimossfer
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Comeuppance Reviews
When a guy named Stu (Perry) invites his buddies Tommy (Cortese) and Gus (Hewlett) - as well as his girlfriend Julia (Shannon) - to the Caribbean island of St. Sebastian, he figures it will be fun, sun, and smooth sailing on the high seas. Unfortunately, Stu is strapped for cash, so he can only afford to charter a rusty old tub of a vessel, run by Captain Morgan (Harewood) (groan). Fortunately, a local lady named Charlie (D'Abo) who works as a "First Mate for Hire" is also there to keep things in line. The only problem: sensitive soul that he is, Dan Cortese - er, I mean TOMMY - is having persistent visions and nightmares of a boat-related trauma in the past. There's also some voodoo. Compounding all the supernatural evil is the fact that our shipmates are all in the general vicinity of a Bermuda-based triangle of some sort. Who will escape the trials and tribulations of THE TRIANGLE? Evidently fearing that MTV Sports was stifling his creativity, here, finally, national treasure Dan Cortese boldly steps out in a movie bearing his name. He's top-billed with Luke Perry, their two names and faces acting as the proverbial siren song, drawing video store patrons toward the DVD. Much like the Bermuda Triangle itself, once you're caught in the spell of these two magical Himbos, you can never escape. Director Lewis Teague knows a thing or two about casting - he was the man who cast Jay Leno as an action star in Collision Course (1989). We all remember how Leno shot first and asked questions later, especially as it related to brutally slaughtering Randall "Tex" Cobb's character. So now the casting acumen of Teague shines once more by shrewdly marshaling the services of one Daniel Cortese when he had so many, many other people he could have chosen. Apparently Eric Nies wasn't available.Despite looking like he's not quite comprehending what's going on around him, Cortese here is portraying a lawyer. Like any good attorney, his powers of observation, deduction, and logic come to a head when, after our heroes are plainly neck-deep in supernatural goings-on, he astutely offers, "This place is whacked!". Thank you, Mr. Cortese. Thank you for that. But, in his defense, he does bend metal piping with courage and conviction, and he also has special Cortese-powers of precognition or something. Cortese's presence can't help but remind us all of Short Fuse (1986) and its star, Art Garfunkel.Sharing the screen with Cortese is Luke Perry, who apparently was supposed to go psycho Shining-style, but it happened at the drop of a hat and wasn't set up very well (maybe he was in a rush to get back to West Beverly to attempt to complete his fourteenth year as a high school Junior). The presences of D'Abo and Shannon were welcome, but the whole outing becomes dull and routine and they can't save it. Hewlett is the token "wacky friend", though he does take what may be the first-ever selfie in cinematic history. Pros: the movie is well-lit and you can actually see what's going on. Cons: Marlin-fishing stock footage, green-screen "explosions" and CGI weather. WEATHER! That may be the lowest low since Driven's CGI quarters.Finally, there's a poster in the background of one scene that appears to be advertising for a rapper named President George Bush. Now that's a rap name. Also there's an evil voodoo spirit that we can only guess is named "Bockadoo". At least that's what it sounds like. Now you can see what we're up against here. Rather than getting released to theaters, to DVD, to VHS (they were still doing that in 2001, right?), or to HBO or other services, The Triangle was released direct-to-TBS SuperStation. Even the awesome powers of Luke Perry and Dan Cortese can't rescue the shipwreck that is The Triangle. It should be easy to avoid this slow-moving vessel.
SukkaPunch
This is one of those movies that automatically brings me back to my childhood. I was merely twelve when it came out, and being the horror obsessed preteen that I was, it was a must see every time it came on the television. Recently, I had the opportunity to re-watch this film with a more mature perspective, and I have to say, for what it is, the Triangle still impressed me. First off let's get the truth of the matter out of the way: this is a low budget made for TV movie. With that said, we are dealing with low budget effects, and less experienced actors and writers. This film, however, manages to provide an interesting story with interesting characters, and a fairly suspenseful atmosphere. The story itself revolves around four friends, and two tour guides who get trapped in a time warp in the Bermuda Triangle. While stranded they come across a ship that was lost over seventy years ago, when left with no choice to board, the triangle knocks them off one by one. While the plot sounds pretty straight forward initially, there is some complexity to it. We find out early on that one of the main characters if broke and desperate for money despite spending the remainder of his money frivolously in order to appear well to do. While on the ship, the supernatural forces at work in the triangle take advantage of this fact and make him do its evil bidding. Cheesy as it may be at times, it's difficult to argue that this film is rushed. We are allowed to learn a fairly decent amount about the personalities of each character in the story -- this allows us to care about the characters and build suspense based of empathy. This is especially true of one of the characters who is haunted by the ghost of his deceased younger brother while on the ship. With all these tongue and cheek made for TV film coming out today (Sharknado and the like) I don't understand why this film isn't getting a little bit more recognition. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it fun? Yes. Does it still manage to relieved a fun and suspenseful story? You bet!Recommended. It hasn't been shown on television in years, but if you can track down a copy, give it a shot.
dinaia
There are a few interesting things in setting up the plot of the movie: we see enough of the bad signs to understand and to expect something very mysterious and very revealing about what another experience of the Bermuda Triangle is. We see the characters, we witness all the signs that foresee something 'bad' is going to happen (the dreams, the adventurous leader of the trip, the fact that he's bringing his girlfriend along, the interest one of them has for the paranormal experience of the Bermuda Triangle). It's all well until becomes to obvious and the stereotypes prevail (the voodoo ritual they stumble across, the picture taken of the ritual and the people disappearing from it), there is no gradual suspense and almost nothing remarkable happens to the characters that could not happen in the real life). Dreams, visions and greed have been know to happen. It's true, you don't find a '39 missing ship everyday, but the extraordinary discovery does nothing to raise the interest of the story.
Eric-1226
The Triangle is an interesting but ultimately flawed movie. At first you think the picture is going to deliver an enjoyable "the Love Boat enters the Twilight Zone while stopping over at Fantasy Island" sort of escape flick, but it gradually turns out to be a much more low-key and rather clumsy affair. There are some strong sequences and reasonable acting here, and the players, whether taken individually or collectively, all seem very likable and convincing... Unfortunately the same can't be said for the island setting or the shipboard setting: these seem very contrived and scream "made for TV movie!" at you with every frame. The script seems oddly lacking in many parts. More often than not your attention wanders, potentially intriguing ideas aren't fully explored (or aren't explored at all), and the ending, while suitably eerie, nevertheless feels rushed and makes you feel somewhat cheated. Too bad a little more work wasn't put into the script. And as to the special effects puhleez! How lame can you get! This could have been so much better! It's still worth watching if you're at all interested in maritime ghost stories, or ever ponder the fate of ships lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Or just want to look at good-looking leads. However, after seeing it, you will probably spend much time mulling over lots and lots of ways in which this movie could have been improved. Exactly why the creators of the movie didn't do those things, well, that's a question the answer to which must be lost somewhere out there in the Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle.