In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mediocre TV-film that lacked a suspenseful build-up.To call this a documentary or docudrama is a mistake. Although framed in Verbeek's narrative, the portrayal of actual events is not entirely accurate; while the portrayal of the people involved is heavily fictionised and styled to suit a modern audience. Some of the script and acting was good, but most of it was bad; and far too much emphasis was placed on fictitious drama rather than the actual events. The film could have been saved by special effects, but even these seemed dated lacking the quality CGI standard we now expect. Also there was a lack of attention to detail. For example, Captain Lindemans's ship the SS Governor General Loudon was built in 1875, yet the ship portrayed in the film is clearly a product of the 1895 - 1910 period.There were one or two nice touches, such as the audio being replaced by a ringing noise to convey the temporary loss of hearing due to the loud explosion, and the scenes aboard Loudon prior to the Tsunami, but in retrospect I would say that I watched this film to the end more out of curiosity about how it was made, rather than because I found it enjoyable. I have to say that it was a wasted opportunity.

I really wish "real" disaster movies like Dante's Peak, Volcano e.t.c would be more like this - and this was supposed to be a documentary/movie combination. Awesome special effects, especially the victims being burned by the pyroclastic cloud. The acting was superb!The only thing that didn't look "good" was when the Captain saved the ship by "riding" the Tsunami. I'm quite sure that's now what really happened without the boat "falling over" or breaking in half, it just looked... unbelievable. I guess they went with a "special effects" bravery scene, since this movie was already heavy on special effects. There's also a scene where two men tie themselves to a pole to survive a tsunami flood, which also looked a bit fake.

The idea of a volcano isn't very exciting or scary, we just say ...'oh..a volcano'...But this documentary shows Krakatoa, the daddy of all volcanoes and the damage it has done to the world...The documentary shows the eruption in 1800's and a British families horrific tale of survival from the molten lava and toxic ash that fell from the skies, the after effects of the Volanco that could be seen throughout the world...The narrator did a terrific job in bringing in the audience and the acting was brilliantly done...The special effects are the key to this documentary and make the situation even more terrifying...A brilliant documentary.

A fact-based account of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait near Java, an Indonesian island. The eruption and its effects (including tsunamis and a super-hot ash cloud) took over 36,000 lives. The story follows several characters throughout the ordeal, including a Dutch official, his family, and his native clerk; a ship captain, his passengers and crew; a lighthouse keeper and his family; and a Dutch scientist in Indonesia to study the regions volcanoes. Included are narrations from diaries and journals of the survivors. The special effects are pretty good for a film of its kind, and unlike most made-for-TV fare, this docudrama actually has some good acting.