Prob the worst submarine movie I've seen....

[Bubblehead1980]

Last night I was browsing the movie channels for war movies and noticed a few, mostly the usual but noticed on TCM that a movie called "Submarine Raider" was on, plot sounded ok, so I set the DVR to record it.Watched it a little while ago.

I LOL'd at parts of it, movie was very corny, story highly unrealistic.Add in things like a lone IJN carrier, no escorts or other ships.Single in line engine fighters(Japanese Navy certainly didnt deploy carrier based in line fighters in 1941 or ever.I know the IJAAF had the "Tony" but not the Nacy and esp in 41.The son of the Admiral failed to sink the ship, so he sent out a pilot who failed to, who then committed suicide in a lomost comical manner.The guy did like a joyful leap off the side of the ship, it was pretty corny.I know the movie was made in 42 and all but man, it was bad even for the time.Other comical scenes were the use of a lone 50 cal machine gun to fend off a plane attack.The manner in which the Captain ordered a "crash dive" lol The way the crew talked to one another etc lacked realism.Movie was hollywood, can tell the Navy prob had little or nothing to do with this movie.

Prob the interesting part was the sub was supposed to be an S-boat.The exterior scenes were obviously models but it looked like an S-Boat.The interior may have been real, looked like an S boat mostly.


anyone else seen this movie?


A plot description from IMDB.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035391/plotsummary

[General Tso]

I haven't seen the movie but I checked out your link with the description. This is classic Hollywood (and that isn't a compliment - they can screw anything up).

I really loved this part:
"The next morning, December 7th, the men on the sub hear the story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and devise a desperate plan to sink the Japanese carrier by letting the carrier know their position. The carrier comes in search of the submarine"

[BadSeed]

U571

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141926/

[Frying Tiger]

However, the movie right after it, "Air Force", by Howard Hawks, is one of my favorite war movies of all time. I love how you know "the Kid" is gonna get it when his mom shows up to wish the crew a tearful goodbye!

Plus, B-17D model!

Has the greatest "we can't start the engine" scene before "Flight of the Phoenix"

[Armistead]

Battle of the Coral Sea with Cliff Robertson...think 50's movie was the worse. Movie was great at the start, lot's of real footage, but based on a sub raiding Rabaul or some port.

Sub sat on the bottom to hide from attack, then all goes quite. Skipper talking and out of nowhere you hear a JP talking in English..pan, A JP scuba diver was outside the boat telling them to surrender in english, had attached explosives and they had an hour to give up. He had some mic attached to the hull. Even though it was serious, the movie became so funny I couldn't stop watching it.

Scuba gear was never used in WW2, invented later by the French I think

[Swabbie]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Scuba gear was never used in WW2, invented later by the French I think

Cousteau in 42.

[subskipper53]

Originally Posted by General Tso

I really loved this part:
"The next morning, December 7th, the men on the sub hear the story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and devise a desperate plan to sink the Japanese carrier by letting the carrier know their position. The carrier comes in search of the submarine"

Wow, Hollywood really CAN screw anything up.

A bad movie to be sure but you might wish to place it into the context of the times when it was made.

In 1942 America was still picking itself up from the kick in the gonads administered at Pearl Harbor and Hollywood's goal had become less one of entertainment and more to be an agent of national unity and instrument of propaganda.

Submarine Raider should be looked at in that light as it reinforces the USN's percieved superiority and bravery while making the enemy appear rediculous; both aims of successful propaganda. The people watching it in the theatres would have just sat through newsreels that in all likelyhood highlighted Axis victories in Russia and North Africa and so would be in the mood for some positive war news, even if only fictional.

Don't forget too that the USN's submarines were still the "Silent Service" and few Americans knew anything about them other than that U-Boats (and perhaps all submarines as well?) were evil. In 1812 and 1917 America had gone to war over freedom of the seas and had threatened to do so again in 1861 and yet now, the USN was fighting exactly the same sort of commerce war as the Nazi's. Getting the country on-side with the USN's submarine force was important and films like Submarine Raider were one way of accomplishing that important Home Front objective.

Like many wartime propaganda oriented films Submarine Raider has not aged well but don't look at it as a very bad war movie, consider it a snapshot of the sort of story that the American public was longing to see in 1942. The movie's aim was social reinforcement not technical accuracy.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

A bad movie to be sure but you might wish to place it into the context of the times when it was made.

In 1942 America was still picking itself up from the kick in the gonads administered at Pearl Harbor and Hollywood's goal had become less one of entertainment and more to be an agent of national unity and instrument of propaganda.

Submarine Raider should be looked at in that light as it reinforces the USN's percieved superiority and bravery while making the enemy appear rediculous; both aims of successful propaganda. The people watching it in the theatres would have just sat through newsreels that in all likelyhood highlighted Axis victories in Russia and North Africa and so would be in the mood for some positive war news, even if only fictional.

Don't forget too that the USN's submarines were still the "Silent Service" and few Americans knew anything about them other than that U-Boats (and perhaps all submarines as well?) were evil. In 1812 and 1917 America had gone to war over freedom of the seas and had threatened to do so again in 1861 and yet now, the USN was fighting exactly the same sort of commerce war as the Nazi's. Getting the country on-side with the USN's submarine force was important and films like Submarine Raider were one way of accomplishing that important Home Front objective.

Like many wartime propaganda oriented films Submarine Raider has not aged well but don't look at it as a very bad war movie, consider it a snapshot of the sort of story that the American public was longing to see in 1942. The movie's aim was social reinforcement not technical accuracy.

Oh very aware it was like many wartime films, propaganda basically, BUT many of the other war times films were much better done, this movie was just laughable.

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Oh very aware it was like many wartime films, propaganda basically, BUT many of the other war times films were much better done, this movie was just laughable.

To you perhaps and indeed it looks silly in many ways to the jaded 21st Century entertainment palate but I doubt that the audiances of 1942 thought it a comedy. It should be judged by what it was intended to be rather than what it seems to be today. Just one opinion.