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06-03-11, 06:51 PM | #1 |
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My personal top 5 submarine movies
I did my best to keep spoilers out of this list but I make no guarantees that you won't run into any. When it comes to submarine movies, you have a laundry list to choose from. While every one I've seen so far has been entertaining, some are obviously going to be better than others. Now this is all just my opinion, but since I am a god amongst men if you disagree with me then you are automatically wrong no matter what arguments you make.....sucker. With that out of the way, lets get this bloody thing over with. 5. Down Periscope (1996) {not to be confused with 'Up Periscope' from 1959} Those who take the time and effort to read my posts will know from all the badly written jokes I throw in them that I like to laugh, and this movie with it's dry American humor hits me right in the American funny bone. Yes it is a comedy, and for that reason I can't really recommend it to everyone. The plot follows Tom Dodge, who is given command of an old rusty run down diesel engine submarine called the USS Stingray. It's not for everyone, a lot of people disliked it, I did not. Moving on. 4. U-571 (2000) One of the more recent titles to make this list, this movie generally ticks people off for two reasons.
3. Das Boot (1981) I can hear you guys now. "Howard! How dare you put Das Boot at the #3 slot! Das Boot is the best movie ever made of all time in all existence!" Well calm down, I still enjoyed this movie, it wouldn't have made it on this list if I didn't. It's just a little.....long for my tastes. I had the displeasure of watching the uncut 5 hour version. Do yourself a favor, stick to the normal version, this movie was cut for a reason, uncut it moves at a snail's pace and by the end I'm exhausted and utterly bored. Luckily the Director's cut's pacing is much better and I highly suggest going with it instead. Anyway if you are looking for historical accuracy look no further, this movie (unlike the last one on my list) was not made by Hollywood, it was made by the Germans. And they did a good job telling the story of the life and crew of a typical uboat. Acting is great, action scenes are pretty good, and this movie probably has the best soundtrack out of all of them on this list. The plot follows an aging uboat captain and a typical patrol as a reporter comes along for the ride. Will he return home successfully? Will he return home at all? 2. The Hunley (1999) Talk about an overlooked gem. Why isn't this movie more popular!? For those who do not know the C.S.S Hunley was the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy ship, and this movie tells all about it. This movie has everything; action, humor, romance, sadness....all rolled into one big ball of chewy movie goodness. That's really all there is I can say about this one without giving too much away. If you like submarines (which if you are on this site I'm assuming you do.) or if you like civil war movies then give this one a go. Also I'd like to say this movie has a pretty awesome soundtrack! 1. The Enemy Below (1957) Oh boy we are getting into the classics now. Despite it's old age this movie has INCREDIBLE special effects, I mean if I didn't know any better I'd say they recorded actual war footage and just put it into the movie for the action scenes....wait what? Oh, that's what they did....heh. Moving on! Plot is simple, a uboat and a destroyer meet each other, decide they don't like each other, and then decide to start beating each other up over it. This movie is a personal favorite of mine because there is no "bad guy" you care for both the uboat captain and the captain of the destroyer in this movie. Which begins to confuse you because you don't want either of these guys to die. This began to take it's toll on me halfway through the movie, I was on the edge of my seat after every depth charge, and every torpedo. It's a little slow for the first 25 minutes (mostly to introduce you to the characters and their back-stories.) But after that You are in for a wild ride. Gotta love the trailer too.: Well if you made it to here good job, you managed to read through this entire thing (Unless you just skimmed through it, then you are a cheater.) Let's just hope that I managed to put this in the right place/there isn't a sticky on the top of this forum that says "put your top 5 submovies here."
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Last edited by Howard313; 06-16-11 at 04:31 PM. |
06-03-11, 06:58 PM | #2 |
Kaiser Bill's batman
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Something similar pops up about as often as 'SH3/4/5 - which do you think I'll like best'.
You'll be in for some flak about U571
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06-03-11, 09:05 PM | #3 |
Rear Admiral
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You lost me at "3. Das Boot"...
The Hunt For Red October and Below would be on my list, but then the number of sub movies I've actually seen probably tops out at 5, so I guess they would all have to be on it. Das Boot would be be #1 by a wide margin. |
06-04-11, 12:36 AM | #4 | |||||||||||
Eternal Patrol
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Definitely. But It's been awhile.
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I didn't like what I saw, but I haven't seen all of it, so I could be influenced to change my mind. Quote:
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You didn't like the long version? Read the book, then watch the long version in 1-hour sittings. You'll find it much easier to take and very like the book. As for historical accuracy, a lot of actual u-boatmen disagreed. I liked the attention to detail where the interior of the boat was concerned, but a lot of the plot devices were cliches taken from other movies. Johann freaks out and has to be subdued? Destination Tokyo. There are others I can't think of right now, but they are there. I love the movie, but it's far from perfect. What I love the most is the lack of real plot. It just follows the patrol, for better and for worse. Quote:
Well, in a submarine or a fighter squadron, I guess 30 is considered "aging". Quote:
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I saw it in the theater when I was a kid, and those scenes played a major part in making me choose destroyers when I joined the navy. Then again, one of my all-time favorites gets me razzed every time I mention it, so I won't. It sucked, both plot and acting, but it featured real early-war subs that just don't exist any more, and real pre-war Elco 77-footers, which even They Were Expendable didn't have, and it was supposed to be about those early boats. So here's my guilty pleasure. Watch it at your own risk. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=139820
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06-04-11, 09:54 AM | #5 | |
Rear Admiral
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Will no doubt be the primary and possibly only reason I'll ever sit through all of U-571, when it finally comes up on my Netflix queue.
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06-04-11, 11:58 AM | #6 |
Dominant Wolf
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I can't recall how many movies featuring subs I've got the opportunity to watch so far , but I'd say those I won't forget are Das Boot (for obvious reasons), the enemy below (Curd Jürgens fanatic here), and the hunt for Red October that will remain at the very top of my list (simply because it's the first sub-related movie I've been watching, and mainly because it features Sir Sean Connery in all his magnificence *joining hands in prayer*).
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06-04-11, 01:17 PM | #7 |
Eternal Patrol
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The Enemy below. ( I need to get this movie to own as I watch this movie when I was 9 or 10 on the TV late at night with my father if there was a war movie on late at night he would let me stay up and watch it. )
Das Boot K-19 The Widowmaker Below Crimsom Tide . |
06-04-11, 01:22 PM | #8 | |||||||
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This was actually one of those movies I came to with extremely low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It actually inspired me enough to do a boatload of research on The C.S.S Hunley herself. Quote:
Thanks for the correction. Didn't know that one at all, kind of makes me like this movie even more, they went out of their way to get a real destroyer to drop some depth charges. That's devotion you don't see much of anymore, what with everything moving to computer graphics and all that jazz. Quote:
I enjoyed this response immensely, good show SS, good show. (you don't mind if I call you SS do you?)
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06-04-11, 03:57 PM | #9 | ||||||
Eternal Patrol
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It's even funnier that in the book the LI was described as being 27, but looking 40, so they made a point of hiring a 40+ actor to play the role. Quote:
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At that time the navy had plenty to spare, and giving the crew some excersize at someone else's expense was all part of the fun. It's like the scene in 12 O'Clock High in which a B-17 does a long protracted belly flop. They were a dime-a-dozen in those days and they didn't blink twice about racking one up. Quote:
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06-04-11, 05:44 PM | #10 |
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Thanks Steve. I feel really old now. I saw it in college when it first came out.
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“Prejudice is blind. There will always be someone who says you aren’t welcome at the table. Stop apologizing for who you are and using all your energy trying to change their minds. Yes, you will lose friends, maybe even family. But you will gain your self-respect. You will know your worth. Once you have that, nothing can stop you.” |
06-05-11, 12:12 AM | #11 |
Eternal Patrol
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I don't want to hear it. I got out of the navy twelve years before it came out.
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06-05-11, 12:49 AM | #12 |
Rear Admiral
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06-05-11, 02:11 AM | #13 |
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You guys think you have it bad? I wasn't even born until 10 years after it came out. How do you think that feels?
Edit: Great now I feel like a child.
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Last edited by Howard313; 06-05-11 at 04:08 AM. |
06-05-11, 12:56 PM | #14 |
Eternal Patrol
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That will pass. Well, actually it won't. Sometimes I still feel like a kid in a world full of grownups. But the mirror says otherwise, and that never goes away.
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06-06-11, 05:10 PM | #15 |
The Old Man
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It is especially bad when you look in the mirror and say, "Dad?"
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“Prejudice is blind. There will always be someone who says you aren’t welcome at the table. Stop apologizing for who you are and using all your energy trying to change their minds. Yes, you will lose friends, maybe even family. But you will gain your self-respect. You will know your worth. Once you have that, nothing can stop you.” |
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