It seems like it might be so easy to go mad at sea, and films are one area where this is easy to portray. In many different scenes you can watch people go mad or you can watch the fallout of the madness as it unfolds. There’s something about the open sea that can break the mind as it rests vast and terrible in all directions, a looming hopelessness that tugs at the sanity in a way that threatens to tear it apart like taffy. It takes the knowledge that a person will on some occasion find port to really keep a measure of sanity, or the knowledge that they can survive no matter how wild the ocean gets. Upon the vast expanses of ocean that the world has to offer there are mysteries that the human race has no in depth knowledge of yet, and they are more than capable of testing the human psyche in ways that haven’t been imagined yet.
Going mad on the sea isn’t the best option though.
5. Waterworld
The Mariner isn’t fazed by life on the sea largely because it is his home, his area, and he knows it intimately. This particular trader however has been out on the waves far too long it seems since his sanity seems to be hanging by a thread. In fact he’s unwise enough to pick a fight with the Mariner only a short time later when the Mariner decides to decline a trade.
4. In the Heart of the Sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd1SVVUPXBM
The story of Ahab and the great white whale is one that not even classic literature can adequately describe. The madness that has come upon Ahab upon needing to make his way into the ocean after the great whale is second to none. The inspiration for the story, as this film entails, focuses instead on First Mate Owen Chase, who is driven to the brink as he does battle with the massive sperm whale.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
The madness that is Jack Sparrow is perhaps the most iconic part of this franchise. In fact if you even say the name of the franchise people will think first and foremost of Captain Jack since he brings a level of crazy that is hard to match and cannot be ignored. Only a person like Jack Sparrow would do half of the things he does without fear of what might happen.
2. Ghost Ship
The entire crew seems crazed as they murder what amounts to a cruise ship full of people, poisoning many, shooting others, and sending a length of razor wire slicing through those on the dance floor. Only a young girl remains after the carnage, and even then it is only her spirit that remains untouched among the many spirits that haunt this derelict ship.
1. Overboard
It was hard enough to find this scene but I’ll explain anyway. After dumping his wife in a mental ward due to her loss of memory Grant Stayton causes her memory to come back when she sees him. But upon the trip home she changes her mind and desires to stay, so she turns the boat around. He doesn’t take too well to this and tries to keep her from running back to the life she prefers.
The sea is a confusing mistress.
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