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The Impossible
Academy Award® Nominee
Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as...  View more >

Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland

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Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

Dec 31, 2012
Jan 22, 2013
Naomi Watts was really good in this. Very realistic portrayal of the Christmas 2004 Tsunami in Thailand. Uplifting story as the family survives the ordeal which is truly unbelievable.
Mar 11, 2013
"The Impossible" is like one of those disaster movies from the 1970's. But with one major difference, it's based on a incredible true story a family that was caugh up in tsunami that hit Thailand on December 26, 2004. A lot of lives were lost that day, but this family although seperated and hurt got back together. How they did it? You have to see this movie. It's a must see. Maomi Watts has righfully earned her Oscar nomination. I wish thast there were nominations for this movie. That tsunami scene should have earn the movie best special effects. Then agaim, how should I know how Oscar voters voted?
Jul 16, 2013
I had this movie from Netflix for several weeks, waiting for the right opportunity to watch it. I was interested in doing so, as I've enjoyed past movies with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in them, and Watts received a Best Actress nomination, so I knew that it would be worth watching. However, given the subject matter, one has to be in just the right frame of mind to watch such a movie.

The wait was definitely worth it! The beginning scenes set up the family dynamic of two parents and their three young sons on a Christmas vacation to Thailand very well, but you know that it's not going to stay pleasant for long.

The depiction of the tsunami was very good; showing the wall of water that came in the surges and its effect on structures, trees, and people. Watching them being thrashed around by the churning water and being injured by debris of all kinds was tense and nerve-wracking, especially when you see a mother and son desperately clinging to opposite sides of a floating mattress, just out of reach, and only to be torn apart by the current.

This isn't one of those movies where there is mass destruction, and the main characters come out of it with barely a scratch. Watts' mother character escapes the initial surge only to be overwhelmed by her injuries; depending on local villagers to transport her to a makeshift hospital that is overwhelmed with dead, dying, and wounded people, as well as other survivors desperately trying to find their loved ones.

Not being familiar with the actual family's story upon which this movie is based, I did not know if any or all of them survived. Without giving away anything, the outcome of one of the characters is not certain until the very end, which adds to the tension and heightens the desire by the viewer for an outcome that is not "happy" but rather "not tragic."

This movie had me engaged, and don't be surprised if you have an overwhelming desire to hug your kids and find yourself grateful for the simplest of pleasures and perhaps a little embarrassed for thinking that relatively minor difficulties were any big deal at all when compared to what this family and the thousands of others that were affected by this disaster.

It's well worth watching, but your impressions of it may entirely depend on your frame of mind at the time and your willingness to watch such a movie. This is more akin to the classic disaster movies, like Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure than it is the more contemporary effects-laden disaster movies that exchange stories and characters for CGI disaster scenes.

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