The Guardian

2006
12A
2h 19m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

100K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:32

A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and ... Read allA high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

100K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,222

830

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations

Co-Pilot Wakefield
(as Lcdr. Daniel J. Molthen USCG)

Andrew Schanno

Pilot Mitchell
(as Lt. Andrew Schanno USCG)

Adam Pena

Benjamin Reyes

Joe Arquette

Co-Pilot Antunez

Gary Billburg

Julian Zankich
(as PO1 Gary Billburg USCG)

Joshua Mitcheltree

Mitcheltree
(as PO2 Joshua Mitcheltree USCG)

Rusty Tennant

Mover #1

James Barnes

Doctor #1

Stephanie Barnes

Doctor #2

Andrea Martynowski

Ops Commander
(as CPO Andrea Martynowski USCG)

Ron Fien

Wickham
(as Lt. Ron Fien USCG)

Director
- Andrew Davis
Writer
- Ron L. Brinkerhoff
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
The opening story of the helo rescue gone bad was loosely based on a real event that occurred August 7, 1981. The crew of CG1471 from Airsta Kodiak was responding to a distress call of a fishing vessel near Prince William Sound. As the crew attempted to hoist the survivors of the boat, a wave hit the tail of CG1471 causing the helo to crash into the seas. A painting named "So Others May Live" hangs on CG Airsta Kodiak depicting the rescue.

Goofs
(at around 1h 12 mins) The "Squid Bar" Hodges and Fisch go to is filled with Sailors in the utility uniforms, along with various officers and chiefs. Sailors are not allowed to drink in the utility uniform or even go into a bar.

Quotes
Ben Randall: Ya know, there never was anyone else Mag's.
Maggie McGlone: Like hell, Ben, you're a bigamist. You've been married to the coast guard all along. Now gimme that shoulder. Prolly swum it out of socket tryin to prove you was still nineteen.
Ben Randall: When the heck did we get old?
Maggie McGlone: Hell, I've always been old Ben. Ya' know what though, I don't mind. I mean if my muscles ache, it's because I've used 'em. It's hard for me to walk up them steps now, its 'cuz I walked up 'em every night to lay next to a man who loved me. I got a few wrinkles here and there, but I've layed under thousands of skies with sunny days. I look and feel this way, well cuz I drank and I smoked. I lived and I loved, danced, sang, sweat and screwed my way thorough a pretty damn good life if you ask me. Getting old ain't bad Ben. Getting old, that's earned.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Departed/Open Season/The Guardian/The Last King of Scotland/The Queen/School for Scoundrels/Beerleague (2006)

Soundtracks
Saturday Night
Written by Willy Abers, Raul Pacheco, Justin Poree, Asdru Sierra (as Asdru Sierra),
Jiro Yamaguchi, Ulises Bella and J. Smith-Freedman
Performed by Ozomatli
Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.

User reviews327

Review

Featured review

8/10

Costner's Comeback

I went to an advance screening of this movie thinking I was about to embark on 120 minutes of cheezy lines, mindless plot, and the kind of nauseous acting that made "The Postman" one of the most malignant displays of cinematic blundering of our time. But I was shocked. Shocked to find a film starring Costner that appealed to the soul of the audience. Shocked that Ashton Kutcher could act in such a serious role. Shocked that a film starring both actually engaged and captured my own emotions. Not since 'Robin Hood' have I seen this Costner: full of depth and complex emotion. Kutcher seems to have tweaked the serious acting he played with in "Butterfly Effect". These two actors came into this film with a serious, focused attitude that shone through in what I thought was one of the best films I've seen this year. No, its not an Oscar worthy movie. It's not an epic, or a profound social commentary film. Rather, its a story about a simple topic, illuminated in a way that brings that audience to a higher level of empathy than thought possible. That's what I think good film-making is and I for one am throughly impressed by this work. Bravo!