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5.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. South Sea Adventures remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like documentaries that forget to have a plot, you might actually enjoy South Sea Adventures. For everyone else, this is going to be a long, humid slog through a lot of saltwater.
It’s really just Zane Grey being Zane Grey, which apparently meant dragging a camera crew to the middle of nowhere to prove he could catch big things with a rod and reel. If you have any patience for standard storytelling, you will probably hate this. It has the narrative drive of a damp sponge. 🌊
There are so many shots of fish being pulled out of the water that I started to lose count. It’s weirdly hypnotic, I guess, but after the fifth or sixth marlin, you start wishing something else would happen. Like a storm, or a mutiny, or literally anything besides another guy holding a heavy pole.
The whole thing feels like it belongs on a shelf next to The Calgary Stampede, if only because both films seem more interested in the gear than the people involved. It lacks the weird, dark energy you get from something like The Blood of a Poet, which is honestly a relief, though it also lacks, you know, excitement.
There is this one bit where they show the locals and the crew interacting, and it feels so incredibly stiff. It is like they are all reading off cue cards that were written in a language none of them fully understand. It’s painful.
The film just sort of stops for a while to look at a sunset. Then it starts again. It’s not graceful.
If you want to see a man conquer nature with a hook, sure, have at it. But if you were hoping for a movie with, like, conflict or dialogue that doesn't sound like a travel brochure, look elsewhere. Maybe try College if you want something that actually moves. This is just a souvenir that stayed in the attic too long. 🎣