Lesforan wrote:While I don't think any one movie stands out in this catagory, I think "The Hunt for Red Oktober" is as good as any.
"Flight of the Intruder" and "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" are also very good, although more aviation-orientated.
The naval warfare scenes from "Red Storm Rising" would make a great naval movie by themselves.
What I thought utterly ridiculous about the Hunt For Red October was the USN sub sailors being able to operate the Red October`s systems - utterly absurd and ridiculous! But not to the same crowds that thought Top Gun ws an excellent movie (it was entertaining - but?silly) Red Storm Rising would be lost on today`s movie goers, unless it was as badly produced and directed as Pearl Harbour.
Dave Wooley wrote:For me "The Bedford Incident" whilst just a story was made at the time of the Cuba missile crisis which gave added plausibility to the story line . A classic ASW Cold War thriller .
Dave Wooley
That was a good movie. It convinced me that when I did go in the Navy I wanted to become a Sonar Technician. And the rest is history.
I'm thinking the greatest navy movie could be one based on the Battle of Leyte Gulf. This could be done with CGI and present an incredible variety of ships. It could also present three different actions, plenty without needing stupid subplots.
I've been reading some books written by US submarine sailors in World War II, both by officers and one or two by enlisted men. The life ashore between patrols and the real action on patrol would make a wonderful movie. Real life experiences were way more wild than the junk the movie industry came up with. In fact I doubt I could watch any of the old Submarine movies now that I know more of what the real life was like.
I could say the same for the German U-Boat fleet. I've read about 10 books written by officers and enlisted U-Boat men. Again ,their real life experiences would even top Das Boot by a long way.
bengtsson wrote: ...Real life experiences were way more wild than the junk the movie industry came up with. In fact I doubt I could watch any of the old Submarine movies now that I know more of what the real life was like.
Bob B.
Writing about submarine movies, the two that really stand out, in my opinion, are "Run Silent, Run Deep" and "Torpedo Run". There has been none better after these two although the underwater scenes and the surface approach scenes in "Run Silent, Run Deep" should be re-done with computer graphics scaled to the Balao class submarine being depicted. (The underwater model for "Torpedo Run" looked much more realistic.)
However, what I really want to view (as well as to own) is the complete "Silent Service" set, originally produced by RAdm. Thomas M. Dykers, (ex-USS Jack), in the mid-1950's. Someone must have the negatives and/or prints to re-produce them on DVD.
G-Rider wrote:
Writing about submarine movies, the two that really stand out, in my opinion, are "Run Silent, Run Deep" and "Torpedo Run". There has been none better after these two...
I still like "Men of the Fighting Lady" I think a lot of people forget about that one.
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They are all decent movies some better than others but entertaining non the less. But my favorite is Action in the North Atlantic with Humphrey Bogart. Two others that I thought were good and haven't seen in years is Destroyer with Edw. G. Robinson and Glenn Ford, and Stand by for Action with Walter Brennan and Brian Donlevy. A bit dated but enjoyable entertainment. Good background when building.
I have to say the greatest Navy movie ever made had to be Tora Tora Tora, and by a huge margin. It's the only movie I can think of where navy clearly trumped movie, where accurate depiction of naval events, naval causes, and naval effects took precedence over dramatic tricks.
There are other excellent movies that also happen to have a naval setting. But for these the naval settle were more incidental. In Tora Tora Tora naval setting was the movie.
Assessing the impact of new area rug under modeling table.
Most likely we discussed "The Cruel Sea" sometime on this thread. But I have it on DVD and watched it the other night. I can't think of any movie that comes close to this one for pure athenticity. The fact that they had a Flower Class and Castle Class corvette to work with helps. But the naval life aboard the Corvette matches any first hand accounts I have read. Plus I met a guy in Britain years back whose father was a a Corvette officer for a number of years. This was no picnic. The guy got a picture of his father's Corvette and had it framed and gave it to him as a birthday present. His father rejected it because he didn't want to be reminded of the hell he went through serving on Corvettes in the North Atlantic. The movie shows this well when one of the officers fakes a medical problem to get off of the ship.
OS1880 wrote:They are all decent movies some better than others but entertaining non the less. But my favorite is Action in the North Atlantic with Humphrey Bogart. Two others that I thought were good and haven't seen in years is Destroyer with Edw. G. Robinson and Glenn Ford, and Stand by for Action with Walter Brennan and Brian Donlevy. A bit dated but enjoyable entertainment. Good background when building.
OS1880,
Very good choices! I would add "Here Comes the Navy". Some great shots the Arizona.
Anybody mention "Dive Bomber" with Errol Flynn yet? Really great shots of the colorful pre-war Naval aircraft; mainly TBD Devastators. Opening scenes show TBDs, SBCs (the biplane one), and I believe F3F biplane fighters taking off from Enterprise. And yes, they were filmed ON the ship! No crappy 1930's studio sets in this one. The whole movie has real footage. Highly recommend it to all!
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bengtsson wrote:Most likely we discussed "The Cruel Sea" sometime on this thread. But I have it on DVD and watched it the other night. I can't think of any movie that comes close to this one for pure athenticity. The fact that they had a Flower Class and Castle Class corvette to work with helps. But the naval life aboard the Corvette matches any first hand accounts I have read. Plus I met a guy in Britain years back whose father was a a Corvette officer for a number of years. This was no picnic. The guy got a picture of his father's Corvette and had it framed and gave it to him as a birthday present. His father rejected it because he didn't want to be reminded of the hell he went through serving on Corvettes in the North Atlantic. The movie shows this well when one of the officers fakes a medical problem to get off of the ship.
Bob B.
Thanks for that Bob, very interesting.
I am reading "A Hard Fought Ship" at the moment (about HMS Venomous a V&W destroyer) and it gives some idea of the difficulties of convoy work.
Regards,
Roger
In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire
I always liked Tora, Tora Tora...especially given the fact that its fine special effects could not be produced via digital shortcuts. Huge fan of The Caine Mutiny as well. So many good ones...
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Saw an old movie on Turner Classic Films the other day. From the mid 1930s. It stared Joe E. Brown as a petty officer on board USS Saratoga. Much of the movie was filmed onboard the actual carrier Saratoga. Talk about a wonderful chance to see the ship close up and also the hanger and some below decks compartments. It was worth watching for the onboard tour of Saratoga you get. What a huge ship, only when you get that onboard filming do you get an idea of just how large these two Carriers were. "Son of a Sailor" 1933. If you like the Saratoga keep an eye on Turner Classic films for another showing.
