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https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/details/Run-Silent-Run-Deep/140674
I’m really looking forward to this. I love submarine movies, so this one should be right up my alley.
I love submarine movies too! Imagine that.
Oh hey, I thought the name Robert Wise looked familiar. (This movie’s director). He directed The Sound of Music! And perhaps less impressively, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
And The Haunting! And The Day the Earth Stood Still!
Dang, this one is proving to be a toughie to find: it’s got a very confidential weirdly named release, and no online service offer it, and dvds (that I don’t even have a mean to watch anymore) are other countries imports. There are versions on youtube… but dubbed in the way they were dubbed back then, it’s beyond horrible!
I should have voted for Kwai :O
The vudu link doesn’t work in Fromage-land?
Link works: it just won’t take my money. Xenophobia, I tell you!
I got the DVD in the player, I was all ready to watch it yesterday and then tonight, but my son really wanted my attention more than usual this last week, so no movie tonight either. I might have to watch this weekend instead. I’ve have a terribly annoying cold since Monday anyway, so it’ll be nice to see the movie with a clearer head.
I too have had a heck of a week and have been feeling poorly. I hope to watch this this weekend.
I got an email that my copy is in the mail, so should have it by the weekend too.
So, I was pretty trepidatious about this, partly because these star-studded war films can be a bit cheesy and wooden (not to mention propagandistic), and partly because it could never match up to Das Boot. And it’s certainly true that some of the shaky-cam scenes and transitions from footage of real boats to models don’t hold up well. But other than that it was pretty good! While it leaned on some pretty hoary tropes, it didn’t do so lazily, and the acting was solid.
One weird thing. I looked up the Akikaze, expecting it, if it existed, to be some sort of legendary ship in the manner of the Bismarck. Turns out to have been fairly anonymous, and supposedly obsolete by the start of the war. I’m not seeing any evidence it sank anything.
this last week was a waste with the flu. I hope to watch this tonight. I saw it once maybe 30 years ago, so its basically a first watch for me.
I’ve seen it a few times over the years. It’s not a very believable story. As @Ginger_Yellow points out, the real Akikaze didn’t amount to much and I think the name just appealed to the writers. In any case, the idea of a legendary sub-killing destroyer? Maybe it went over better in the 1950’s. In any case, the main attraction of this film is definitely the Gable/Lancaster byplay. It definitely is no Das Boot.
Wait a minute, the movie just started and our hero’s submarine has already been sunk? And then he’s at a desk job playing with toys? What kind of sadistic movie is this?
I like that Run Silent Run Deep starts us off with some great tension. The fallen Captain doesn’t stay behind a desk for long, he uses his political power behind the scenes to steal a Captainship due to someone else. There’s a great scene where his new First Officer comes to his house on the beach and asks to be reassigned to some other submarine. The Captain denies it of course. He’s not going to take anyone’s shit. He doesn’t mind a hostile relationship with his XO.
This movie, despite being released in 1958, doesn’t feel too low budget. They clearly use shots of real submarines and ships, as well as using what are clearly models, but Robert Wise always makes sure that the viewer knows exactly what’s going on. He doesn’t switch to the perspective of just the crew, trapping us inside the submarine, with only information that they have access to. Instead he gives us a god’s eye view of the situation.
My favorite aspect of how this plays out is that the crew is seen turning cranks, pulling levers, lifting torpedoes, closing hatches. As the Captain drills them again and again and again, we see them dive down the hatch as they clear the bridge, we see him physically turn the crank that sounds the alarm that indicates they’re diving and closing the hatch. He goes down and someone steps in and makes sure the hatch is secure and turns the handle to seal the hatch. All these physical actions done by the actors again and again, it really gives the movie a sense of authenticity and grounds the action and makes it feel real.
The tension between the crew and the Captain is really well done. The XO keeps things under control with the crew but voices his concern to the Captain. Even when he disobeys orders and goes into the area he was told not to go into, he has the support of his XO and through him the crew once he explains his actions. The action against the Akakazi and the secret submarine that was helping the Akakazi sink all those ships is tense and done well.
And yet, the movie feels unsatisfying to me somehow. I’m not quite sure what is missing, but I felt in my gut as they sunk their nemesis and buried the dead at sea and returned home. They needed one more scene between Captain and XO perhaps, or a speech to the crew by the XO, I don’t know exactly what, but the ending felt very vaguely unsatisfying to me. Maybe they needed better stakes, or a picture of the overall war. Heck, maybe the acknowledgment that they were at war at all. If I was just watching this movie without any knowledge of history, I’d think they were having some skirmishes with the Japanese for some reason.
Nevertheless, what will stick with me about the movie is the part where the Captain declares “Clear the bridge. Dive Dive”. And he turns the crank that sounds the siren. One more drill to get it right.
I finally watched it. Here is something funny: I actually owned the DVD for it! But the Frecnh name is so different, I had no idea until I looked it up. Then, of course, I had to track down a DVD player.
Anyway, 3 months later…
I was really surprised by this movie.
First I think it is incredibly crafted. The early shot of the submarine, shot like a future Star Destroyer, taking all its time to reveal all its details, was really great. The incredibly nervous cut of the first scene, and the unexpected demise in the first minute of the movie was as well. The special effects were absolutely great.
Yes, it isn’t Das Boot, but it’d be disingenuous to not see its seeds in there. For what I expected to a bombastic propaganda movie, what a gripping and genuine experience.
I really enjoyed it.
Totally unrelated trivia: in an early scene, we can see Clark Gable attending to his… lemon tree or something, and Burt Lancaster coming in the back out of a car. I had an overwhelming déjà-vu sentiment of the that scene. Has it been hommaged to in some other movies ? (let’s hope it wasn’t porn)
Sweet! We were just waiting on you Left_Empty. Now we can start July’s movie.
I expect no less.
Good. The new nominations page is up. :)
