Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
ma-cortes
This exciting film contains cold war heroics , non stop excitement , and full of tension and intrigue . Pure entertainment from Fuller , it is set during the Cold War , a privately-financed scientist Prof. Montel (Victor Francen , though Charles Boyer was originally cast for this role) , his assistant (Bella Darvi) and colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer (Richard Widmark) to conduct an Alaskan submarine (Sub used was WW2 ex Japanese sub) expedition (including familiar faces , as sailors appear the followings : Cameron Mitchell , David Wayne and Gene Evans who helped Bella Darvi with her dialogue) in order to prevent a Red Chinese anti-American battle , as well as a deviously plotted plan that could trigger WW3 . As they fit a Japanese submarine to lead them to Arctic Circle . Along the way , they are pursued by a Chinese submarine , stalking each other , and intent on ramming the other .The intriguing premise gets to satisfy completely , as it has breathtaking moments , including an explosive climax and as when two submarines stalk each other through the depths . It mixes a twisted tale with intrigue and schoolboy science-fiction about a scheme that may lead to World War III . This sometimes little objective film lacks a sense of definitive character undermining its important message . This picture is more a submarine movie than a Warlike or Cold war film . The scene from the attack on the first island was taken from the movie ¨Crash Dive¨ (1943) , particularly the ammo exploding in the depot and the burning fuel cascading over the short cliff into the sea . Nice acting by Richard Widmark as an ex-Navy officer assigned to a dangerous mission : to find a secret Chinese atomic island base . Victor Francen plays well the obstinate scientific who designs the risked operation to prevent a Communist plot . And the gorgeous Bella Darvi , this marked the feature film debut of Darryl F. Zanuck's muse Bella Darvi, whose stage surname was a combination of the first names of Zanuck and his wife Virginia . Darvi became a 50s symbol for one of the many movie "Cinderellas" playing ¨Sinuhe the Egyptian¨ , ¨The racers¨ and whose bright and beautiful Hollywood fairy tale would come crashing down, ending in bitterness and tragedy . Bella finally committed suicide in 1971 after turning on the gas stove in her apartment, she was only 42. The movie displays a colorful cinematography in CinemaScope by Joseph MacDonald . This was Twentieth Century-Fox's fifth CinemaScope production . Thrilling and stirring musical score by the prolific Alfred Newman . In this picture Samuel Fuller proved his talent of vision and intelligence . Fuller being especially known as filmmaker of such exploitation films as ¨Shock corridor¨ and ¨The naked kiss¨ . Fuller made various Western as ¨I shot Jesse James(49)¨, ¨The baron of Arizona (50)¨, ¨Run of the arrow¨ (56) , ¨Forty guns(58)¨, and ¨The meanest men in the West (76)¨ , but his most fluid and strongest work lies in his war films as ¨Steel helmet(51)¨ , ¨Fixed bayonets(52)¨, ¨Hell and high water (55)¨, ¨China gate (57)¨ , ¨Merrill's Marauders (62)¨ and ¨The Big Red One (80)¨. Being his best films : ¨Pick up on South Street¨(53) , ¨Underworld Usa¨(60) and ¨White Dog¨(82) . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .
screenman
I actually saw this at the cinema as a young kid and it left quite an impression on me. Subsequent viewings on television have perhaps inevitably modified my enthusiasm.Widmark was such an iconic actor that it's hard not to keep watching any movie in which he features. And it's his amazing charisma, with the ambiguous mix of amoral detachment and yet ruthless determination of his character that raises this movie above the mediocre.He and a fairly passe B-movie cast are tasked with the job of spying on the (Chinese) reds. A group of dubiously patriotic wealthy businessmen have pooled their resources to buy a WW2 sub for the purpose. Off they go. It does at least look like a submarine they're in, whereas most of the set pieces appear stagy to the point of tackiness. This was not a big-budget effort. They have adventures along the way. On arrival they discover that these beastly commies are going to drop an atom-bomb from a captured American plane. That way the Yanks will get the blame.One of their number - the moral scientist - has sneaked ashore and plans to warn them of the plane's departure. They surface in time to ambush it and shoot it down, though things don't go quite according to plan.Lately I have begun to think that cinema - the big screen - is the only place to watch a movie and see what the director intended. Even a really big screen telly can never do justice to the original. It's a bit like watching wild animals in zoos instead of their natural environment. Unfortunately, you can't see these old efforts at the cinema any more, and in any case I am constantly stalked by a bloke with a big head who keeps sitting in front of me, whilst another character with a seemingly un-openable cellophane bag sits behind.Without Widmark this would be a serious bummer, answering the worst expectations of the term 'made for TV'. But he is there, and that makes all the difference. Though it's by no means particularly memorable.
joe-1035
While I was earnestly waiting for some of the moments of hilarity one of the reviewers wrote about (which I never found), I thought it would be worthwhile to point out some of the sillier criticism also made.First of all the bucket scene happened before the ramming scene - not after. Plus, submarines have buckets on them. Isn't that strange. It seems the makers of submarines sort of figured stuff like that out - sometimes subs take on water and it must be moved. And yes, they would have lots and lots of buckets. More than one sub in WWII was saved because of them. The reviewer may also not have seen the part where the buckets are being returned.He also comments on if the sub was already underwater, where were they taking the water. Again, submariners got that one figured out too. They were taking it to a place where there was a working pump to pump the water off the sub.Overall it was a decent diversion. But then I'm a fan or Richard Widmark so I may be biased.
chencinsky34
I saw this film in 1954, when opened at the Cine Mexico, the only one at the time in the city with the CinemaScope process and four tracks stereophonic sound. The opening, with the bomb blast had a tremendous impact. thanks to the big screen and the sound effects. In those days the terror about the atomic war was very real. Also I was a kid, Well, in any case, the film was bad, even has a war adventure.and its tamed for today standards but if some day comes out, it deserves a good wide screen stereo version. The only way to see if the film has some impact for today audiences.
