Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
sarastro7
What's so good about Water Rats? Well - the actors. The realism. The believable emotions involved. The fallible human face of the police. Years ago, when I watched a lot of television, I often noticed that most of the best TV series were Canadian or Australian. Better stories, better acting, everything just feels more real and more intelligent. Water Rats is a prime example of this. All the characters feel real. When the cops cut corners and reluctantly break the rules, you can understand it. You can sympathize. You can see it from their point of view. Once in a while the good guys have to play dirty, because all the bad guys do. And the performances of everybody involved in this show, from the actors to the directors to the production crew, are just superb.As a dyed-in-the-wool sci-fi freak, I'm actually not a big fan of realism. And certainly not of cop shows. Except when it's done really well! And Water Rats scores on this account. When Goldie died, I totally did not see it coming. Sure, I could see something ominous was building up, but I was sure it was the guy she was with that would buy the farm. How could they kill HER?! I was so upset I had to call up a friend (whom I knew to be watching it at the same time) and talk about it, despite it being close to midnight.I hear the show was produced as a kind of export product, to attract tourists to Australia. Well, lemme tell ya: It works! I haven't been there yet, but the show sure does give me the urge to go. I love the whole Aussie national atmosphere, not least of all the accent! I hope to be able to afford the complete DVD set of Water Rats someday. My life will be pretty much complete if I can slip an episode into the DVD player every night before I hit the sack. Oh yeah!9 out of 10. Only cop show I could ever even consider rating so highly.
terry-327
I'm second time around on this series now and still loving it.I do have a couple of questions and this is where the ***spoilers*** come in: 1. What happened to Sgt. Dave McCall? He was there one episode and not the next. No explanation as to his whereabouts ever after. The series was usually pretty good about explaining where people had gone; permanently or otherwise. Never a mention of the 'Diving Sgt.' 2. Also,what happened to Sr. Constable Tommy Tavita. Like McCall, he just disappeared.As I mentioned I'm going around for the second time on this series and have not seen an explanation for either of these two regulars departing.Has anyone? ***End of spoiler.*** Thanks,Terry
catorose13
When I first moved to Australia, I had very limited choices of what to watch on TV back in 1998 -- as a deaf viewer, I required captionings to be able to follow shows through. "Water Rats" and a few others had captions, so I was immediately hooked to "Water Rats" from the first episode I ever saw. I only saw a couple eps with Colin Friels and it was different once Steve Bisley came into the picture as the replacement, as Jack Christey, still he did a fantastic job. He and Catherine McClements made a wonderful team, both professionally and personally. I stopped watching "Water Rats" after the episode, "A Day At the Office" where Catherine's character, Rachel "Goldie" Goldstein was stabbed to death. :( The story lines and the basis of the show simply fell apart when Goldie departed. I did watch here and there, but it just didn't hold the same intensity as it did before Goldie went. The last ep was a bit laughable when Bisley's 'Christey' died in the ocean after being shot. Still, I reckon the show would've done better if the writers hadn't killed Goldie off and change the layout and story lines.RIP "Water Rats: - that show will always be a memorable part of my heart.
bengleson
"Water Rats" has been one of my small guilty viewing pleasures these past few years. It plays at 1500 hrs each weekday, a time I am rarely home. I don't tape it, prefering to accidentally stumble across it on the few occasions I might be home in the afternoon. Aside from the great characters and the magnificent Sydney harbour, what I most enjoy is the view, hopefully reflective of the lives of Australians, of the city, the lives of the people, and the similarity to what I imagine many Canadian lives are like. Well, without the amazing amount of crime they seem to have. This has been a very satisfying show to occasionally glimpse. Like many, the sudden passing of the Rachel Goldstein character a couple of years ago was a challenge to this soap opera patron's emotional equilibrium. As a final note, I would like to suggest that this show would do well in Canuck prime time.
