Ha! No I didn't! The movie had a big cast I see....

PM me with the real ending. I am curious how it differs.

Instead of a PM, here's the book's ending so everyone can know:

After the US destroyer sinks the Russian sub, the NATO liason officer (a former German U-boat commander who has been reliving his wartime experiences while the DD was hunting the Russian sub) goes crazy, takes his pistol, and fires it into a warhead in the ship's magazine. The magazine explodes and kills everyone onboard. :x

Hmm...not so sure that I liked that ending. I think the movie ending might be better.


I watched it again the other night and it struck me how much the movie is yet another interpretation of Moby Dick. Why does every movie that deals with naval warfare feel obliged to reinterpret that great tale? Widmark had his Russian sub, Master and Commander had the French warship as the whale, Robert Mitchum had Kurt Jurgens' sub in the Enemy Below, heck, even Kirk had Khan! :D I think Crimson Tide was the only movie that didn't feel obliged to provide a white whale. Of course, that film was based on the Caine Mutiny and/or Mutiny on the Bounty.

The sea chase is the classic story...but the focus is not about the chase. Its a mechanism to put the protagonist under stress and bring out his or her character.

That's Hollywood for you. I think that "Potemkin" is easily among the best, and also one of the one's most likely to survive the transition to screen. Hollywood has its own version of the GIUK gap, which results in even decent books looking horrible on screen. So who's work is chosen to make the perilous sojourn to popcorn land? Only one book written by one of the worst and most annoying contestants in the technothriller world, an artless loudmouth with a poor record for fact checking, plotting, character development or subtle delivery. I can think of a half-dozen writers who deserve to be wined & dined in LaLa Land, and Robinson isn't one of them. My only hope is that they'll pull a "Raise the Titanic", and we'll be spared any more of his books for at least 25 years.