Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Jakoba
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Astro_Tom1
As my wife is the great grand daughter of Adml. Momsen this movie teaches the historical fact as to the type of person he was. I will get a copy of it. The acting was great as they showed all the emotion involved in a tragic event in the US Navy history.
ArgonautV4
I'm rating this one a 6--spoilers ahoy. I live just half an hour from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, so I've been enamoured of the story of the Squalus since I was in seventh grade. Naturally, I was very excited to hear about this movie. Then I saw it and couldn't help laughing.First of all, it is definitely not filmed on location. I've been inside the shipyard with my dad, and it looks nothing like the yard shown in the movie. But I'll be lenient on that one because the producers would be hard pressed to gain access to an active military facility. However, I will not be lenient on the unimaginable volumes of material ripped off from "U-571"! Models, sets, scenes, and musical strains, all siphoned out of "U-571" like nobody's business. If the Squalus looked that much like a U-boat, it's no wonder it sank! (Not to mention the constant mispronunciation of "Squalus" throughout the movie...)But then there's the story. It's a true story, and the movie does it great justice. There's a Squalus survivor who still lives in these parts, and I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet him on one of my visits to the shipyard. He burned his account of the sinking into my brain, and as I watched the movie, it was as true to his story as could be. Having heard the story, I knew how it would end, but somehow, the producers still managed to make it a nail-biter! The scene in which the last group of survivors is brought to the surface was excellently done. Pure chance that Sam Neill, as good an actor as he is, bears such a fine resemblance to Swede Momsen.
Story-wise, it's a great movie; that's why I'm giving it a 6. But be prepared to get a few chuckles out of it if you live in Portsmouth or have seen "U-571" before; that's why I'm deducting 4.Oh, and guys? Next time we make a submarine flick, can we remember to shut down the diesel engines BEFORE we close the main induction?
Enrique Sanchez
The one positive thing that struck me about this film effort was that it was not overly sentimental or melodramatic even though what we ARE dealing with here is the most basic emotions of pain and suffering for loved ones, whether spouses or peers.Sam Neill does a fine turn here with his well-known understated treatment. The very capable ensemble of supporting actors also brought respect to this noble and deserving tale.I am not a Navy man so if there were inconsistencies or inaccuracies, I was not the wiser. In any case, I never felt as if I were being manipulated or deceived. The telling was sober and respectful.Just honest storytelling of a long unduly forgotten act of collective heroism. We need to see more stories like this.
Ralpho
I'm a military buff and an ex-Navy man, so I'm drawn to this type of movie whether its good or a stinker. Dramatically, I thought this movie worked quite well. There's action, but the viewer isn't hit over the head with it (pun intended). There are elements of the movie that appeal to men (fishing for a submarine with a grapling hook) and elements that appeal to women (the admiral's poor daughter lost her fiance).I'm not intimately familiar with the real story of the Squalus rescue that this movie is based on, so I may be wrong about this, but I suspect liberties were taken with certain facts in the name of dramatic license. For example, the diving bell almost didn't make it back to the surface on the last of four trips. Swede Momsen, our protagonist, jumps into the water to tie a line on the contraption then proceeds to exhort the crew to "heave!" the bell to the surface by pulling on the rope. I have a hard time believing that really happened.The filmmakers did pretty well with the military courtesy, but I wonder if Momsen really got away with calling the admiral by his first name with enlisted men within earshot. There's also a scene where someone salutes the admiral indoors. (The Navy only salutes outdoors.)And lastly, the multiculturalists evidently had something to say about the casting of this movie because there is a black crewman on the submarine and one or two black crewmen in the crowd on the surface. I guess I can't blame the movie makers for doing this because the alternative is to be criticized by black activists, but that's not the way the Navy was in 1939.All in all, though, a good movie. I gave it a seven.
