"Below": A movie (Merged)

[Onkel Neal]

Wow, I just watched Below. Ok, plot...nothing like what you want to see in a WWII sub film, the plot is not the reason to see this. And of course, a chick on the boat... even a Brit guy. But the special effects were great, the sets were really good, I'm trying to find out where they filmed this. The sets were a lot like a reall Gato glass boat. That's the best part of the film, the reason to watch it. Really cool exterior shots of the sub, dozens of closeups of equipment.

I give it a B just for the sub interiors and fairly authentic dialogue (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/below/).


Neal

[Torplexed]

If I remember correctly some of the movie dialogue ended up in Pacific Aces....

"Mechanical problems...we always got mechanical problems."

[goldorak]

Wow, I just watched Below. Ok, plot...nothing like what you want to see in a WWII sub film, the plot is not the reason to see this. And of course, a chick on the boat... even a Brit guy. But the special effects were great, the sets were really good, I'm trying to find out where they filmed this. The sets were a lot like a reall Gato glass boat. That's the best part of the film, the reason to watch it. Really cool exterior shots of the sub, dozens of closeups of equipment.

I give it a B just for the sub interiors and fairly authentic dialogue (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/below/).


Neal
Yeah, they showed Below on the italian tv 1 week ago at 2 am.
The film impressed me in very good way.
It could become a cult B-movie a la carpenters They Live/ 1997 Escape from NY etc....
Very nice horror movie, has a decent plot, it doesn't give away everything at the beginning, just creates little by little the right amount of tension throughout the film so that when the conclusion comes you're not expecting it.
The interior of the sub was great :rock:and even the cg effects weren't bad.

[Captain Nemo]

I bought this movie on DVD about a year or so ago. I thought it wasn't a bad film as long as you accept it for what it is, a horror flick. Historically it is inaccurate i.e. American subs in the North Atlantic, correct me if I am wrong but I don't think the Americans were active in the Atlantic during WWII in subs. Having said that, this inaccuracy doesn't affect your enjoyment of the film as the story is purely fictional.

Nemo

[Kaleun]

@Capitan nemo i'm correcting you!! some US boats, i think it was sub division 20 - but don't quote me, were based in scotland for some of the war.

I've just read Silent Victory by Clay Blair and he makes reference to this, and that one pacific commander was unhappy that he had less boats than he needed as some were sent to Scotland (and weren't all that succesful!)

kaleun

[Captain Nemo]

@Capitan nemo i'm correcting you!! some US boats, i think it was sub division 20 - but don't quote me, were based in scotland for some of the war.

I've just read Silent Victory by Clay Blair and he makes reference to this, and that one pacific commander was unhappy that he had less boats than he needed as some were sent to Scotland (and weren't all that succesful!)

kaleun

Thanks for the correction. I must admit I have never heard of US subs being based in Scotland during WWII. I know that the US had a base at Holy Loch from 1959 - 1991 but was unaware of any activity during the war. Perhaps someone else will be able to provide more information on this.

Nemo

[Kaleun]

My mistake it was SUBRON 50, it was based out of Roseneath

See:

http://www.subvetpaul.com/SAGA_6_98.htm,

Kaleun

[Captain Nemo]

Thanks for the link Kaleun, it makes interesting reading.

Nemo

[Onkel Neal]

I bought this movie on DVD about a year or so ago. I thought it wasn't a bad film as long as you accept it for what it is, a horror flick.

Nemo

Agreed. Now, if they would only take that Gato boat set, keep the same actors (the officers, get some new and much younger guys for the crew), place it in an O'Brian-quality story about WWII, and you would have a US sub Das Boot.

[Pax Melmacia]

I must admit I have never heard of US subs being based in Scotland during WWII

Ah, but remember one of the most important dicta of Hollywood WW2 films: Americans were in every theater of the war from 1939 to 1945, usually as a love interest who ends up trashing an entire enemy division. From the invasion of Poland to the evacuation of Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain all the way to the rubble of Berlin.:lol:

[Bezoomney]

I've seen it too. Interesting storyline, could have been better though.

The big star in this one was the boat! Check it!

[CB..]

have to stick my tongue in my cheek and agree with PAX...thank goodness that film with tom cruise winning the BOB for us helpless brits never saw the light of day..on the other hand the Canadians were here and very active...yet you rarely see a canadian made film about WW2..go figure
Gawd bless the commonwealth..you really do have to wonder wether the USA would have entered the war at all if we had actualy lost the BOB (with all it's history changing ramifications)....Russia may well have had to stand alone and that would have been a very close run thing i think...:nope:
what would japan have done under thos circumstances? attack the USA or attack Russia...makes far more sense to attack Russia..and then of course if russia crumbled...all of sudden the Axis powers would have able to take on the USA on a more even keel if they decided to..or if the USA decided to take the death of russia as a gift...who knows
horrible scenario ..but it was stopped at the BOB....the rest was down to the USA of course can't mistake that

[vienna]

Re: Filming location of "Below" (from www.imdb.com (http://www.imdb.com)):

"Some filming for this movie took place on an actual WW2 submarine. The USS Silversides (which is available for tours) located in Muskegon Michigan was towed out into the middle of Lake Michigan where scenes with Bruce Greenwood were filmed. The Silversides had some minor re-painting done (rust coloration), but is now back to her original gray color. The rest of the sets and models used in this movie were all based on the look and layout of the Silversides."

[Onkel Neal]

Very cool, thanks:up:

[The Noob]

The Story is Rubbish. The one who wrote it should be punished. I hate Horror movies. But it has some good camera shots, thats true. And a few good depth charge scenes, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of a sub is reflected pretty well.

on a score from 1-6 (1=Great! 6=Bullsh**) this one gets 3. The nice eye Candy saves it from begin total Crap.

[Kruger]

http://imdb.com/title/tt0276816/


Has anyone seen this movie ? It's pretty bad actually. I was wondering if those hooks that the german destroyer was dragging through the water in order to damage the us sub, are purely fictional or not. Another thing that I;ve never thought about, is that the ballast tanks of a sub really get so much debris and dead fish and all other things inside them. There is a scene at one point, when three men of the crew get out in the water (did these Balao class boats really have floodable dive chamber fitted for outside divers ?),,,totally *******(d up movie.


Any oppinions ?

[CB..]

i read a report somewhere of british destroyers dragging chain loops along the sea bed trying to find a sub that was sat on the sea bed in shallow water (near scapa flow if i remember right)..only mention i've heard that might suggest something similar..:hmm:

[Kruger]

That's something I read about too. Anyway...don;t lose your time in this movie (except if you want clear new images of a Balao).

[Torplexed]

I never understood why the movie's scriptwriters felt they had to set it in the Atlantic. Why not the Pacific? Make the American sub's German pursuers Japanese and their unexpected British passengers Australians.

Maybe they felt the grey gloomy Atlantic would give the movie a creepier atmosphere than the sun-dappled Pacific. Although the Pacific isn't always sunny. ;)

[WutWuzDat]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=97233

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/below/

[WutWuzDat]

I just saw this movie about a week ago, and I was wondering how safe would it be to fire a .45 in a submerged sub? or was that one of the many flaws?

[Torplexed]

I just saw this movie about a week ago, and I was wondering how safe would it be to fire a .45 in a submerged sub? or was that one of the many flaws?

Depends on who the bullet hits. ;) Don't forget the kaluen in Das Boot was about to put a bullet in poor Johann with his Luger.

[WutWuzDat]

I just saw this movie about a week ago, and I was wondering how safe would it be to fire a .45 in a submerged sub? or was that one of the many flaws?

Depends on who the bullet hits. ;) Don't forget the kaluen in Das Boot was about to put a bullet in poor Johann with his Luger.

Wouldn't the bullet ricoshade around the sub though?

In Das Boot, I don't think that was a Luger... it looked more like a Walther P38 to me.