Factual error: Towards the end of the movie when the hotel keys are handed out, they're IHG hotel keys for the Crowne Plaza. When the incident occurred, the cards would have been Priority Club, not IHG. (01:34:10)
Factual error: Mike would not drive down to Port Fourchon to pump gas in his truck, to drive up to Bristow heliport in Galliano (30 miles north). In actuality BP uses PHI helicopters out of Houma. That alone is close to 130 mile wasted round trip.
Factual error: The rig is continually referred to as "Deepwater" or "The Deepwater." This is incorrect, as more than one rig used "Deepwater" as part of its name (i.e. Deepwater Nautilus). It was called "Horizon" as a short version of the name.
Answer: The disaster started as a gas blow-out followed by a massive explosion on the oil rig, visible from 40 miles away. Eleven people were killed. Two days later, the burning rig collapsed into the sea, which severed the wellhead at a depth of over 4000 feet. If anything, the movie underplayed the disaster.
Charles Austin Miller
Actually, according to history vs Hollywood the real life explosion was equally as bad as what's shown in the movie.