Factual error: The movie was set in 1991, but there is a newspaper with a Kia advertisement. Kia's first U.S. cars arrived in 1994.
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney, John C. Reilly, Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Karen Allen
That huge wave you see on the previews kills them all. Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney have the chance to escape. Wahlberg escapes, but Billy Tyne (Clooney) is the skipper and goes down with the ship on purpose. Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg) dies at sea.
Steve Lawton
More mistakes in The Perfect Storm
Bobby Shatford: Last night was worth it. There's nothin like sleepin' with you... just sleepin'... lyin next to you... all warm and sweet... Me wishin' the mornin' would never come.
More trivia for The Perfect Storm
Question: Now I know this is based on a true story, but theoretically speaking: 1) Why did Bobby hold off gunning the engine until the very last second? If he'd have acted sooner then maybe the ship would have made it up the wave 2) Why not just slam her into reverse and wait for the wave to collapse? I mean, wouldn't that have been the safest bet?
Answer: I think you sort of answered your own question. I'd say at a guess he himself would have been wondering what the best action would be and in the end decided to go full throttle. Sadly, no-one will ever know the final moments aboard the Andrea Gail.
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Answer: Not a ship captain, but will take a shot. If a massive wave is close to cresting, as I seem to recall in this scene, the boat would have to climb a near vertical wall of water and would likely be flipped back and upside down by the advancing wave. Perhaps he was planning to gun the engine to penetrate the wall of the wave, and bob to the surface after it passed. Reversing the engine would just let the thousands of tons of water in the breaking wave smash down on the boat, crushing it.