A perilous adventure that sank with critics and failed to float at the box office keeps its head above streaming waters

Disaster-driven dramas that put sweeping emotions and archetypal characters at the center of a rousing and perilous adventure may have started to go out of fashion, but they remain engaging and entertaining in equal measure when pulled off with style, verve, and aplomb. 2006’s The Guardian shot for the stars in that regard, but ended up sinking where it really mattered.

Throwing a multitude of well-known tropes into the equation, Kevin Costner stars as a traumatized Coast Guard rescue veteran who remains haunted by the loss of his crew, and he’s kept himself away from the water by opting to train new recruits instead. Of course, once Ashton Kutcher’s cocky newcomer arrives on the scene to become his protege, things change.

Heading back out onto the open seas, the surrogate father/son duo risk life and limb to mount a daring retrieval operation, with countless spanners being thrown into the works by inclement weather and shaky interpersonal dynamics. It’s a decidedly classical setup, and that might be one of the reasons why The Guardian failed to resonate at the time.

A $95 million box office haul on a $70 million budget was disappointing, but not as crushing as a 37 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. However, an 80 percent user rating on the aggregation site highlights that audiences were keenly invested in seafaring tale, with The Guardian continuing to appeal to streaming subscribers 16 years after its release.

Per FlixPatrol, The Fugitive director Andrew Davis’ rousing epic has been making a renewed splash on the iTunes most-watched rankings, leaving a new wave of viewers on the edge of their seats. Critical and commercial success may have been hard to come by, but The Guardian‘s reputation as a fan favorite continues to hold it in good stead.