Crocodilus porosus Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) is a travel writer who has grown a little jaded by life. He is on assignment in Australia’s Kakadu National Park. He joins a party of tourists on a river cruise run by Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). Outside of a brief run in with a couple of locals, Neil (Sam Worthington) and Collin (Damien Richardson) the tour goes uneventfully.
Kate prepares to start the return trip when someone sees a distress flare in the distance. Kate investigates to see if someone needs assistance. She steers the boat down an unexplored section of river. Eventually they find what appears to be a partially sunken boat. Suddenly something rams the cruise boat. They start to take on water. Kate maneuvers it to a small mud island in the middle of the river. With the boat slowly sinking, Kate and her passengers are stranded. Out in the river is a rogue crocodile and the tourists are in the middle of his territory. One man down by the shore suddenly disappears. The only thing left is a small wake where he was previously standing.
While trying to determine their options the band of stranded tourists hear music and see a small motor boat come up the river. On board are Neil and Collin. The two slowly realize something is not right with the tour boat. Just then the motor boat is hit sending Neil and Collin into the water. Collin does not make it to the mud island.
An attempt to attach a rope to the shore ends in disaster. Their next idea is to trap the animal long enough for everyone to get to the shore before their little mud flat disappears from the rising tide. Now in full darkness, with the water still rising, a last ditch attempt is made to get to safety.
“Rogue” was released in 2007 and was directed by Greg McLean. After starting out calm it turns into a wildly intense movie. Even though the Crocodile didn’t have a lot of screen time I have to say it was actually scary. I believe what made it so scary was the fact that it could be real. Crocodiles can react the way this one did and although they normally don’t get that big, they can. And you thought sharks were nasty.
The largest crocodile on record was 28 feet in 1957, however in general the males are 14-17 feet long and range from 880 to 2,200 pounds. The females are smaller at 7 ½ to 11 feet long and range from 180-220 pounds. They have been known to ram boats that wander into its territory. ‘Sweetheart’, a large fifteen foot saltwater crocodile, attacked boats between 1974 and 1979, however, Sweetheart has never been known to kill anyone or attack people. Sweetheart accidentally drowned while being moved to a refuge center. He is on display at “The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory” in Australia.
The crocodile photos in the bar are real. Crocodiles can live to be 70 years old. They can travel in the water, at short bursts, from 15 to 18 miles an hour. They are found in India, Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and Micronesia.