naval warfare movies

I have to mention K-19, the Widow Maker. The interior scenes were as accurate as any and are in the same class as Das Boot (as they were shot in an old Soviet diesel boat I think) and the reactor set was pretty much on the money if a tad oversimplified. A very well executed piece. Also, the drydock scenes were dead-on, just like any winter dry docks I've been subjected to. My feet are freezing in my steel toed boots just thinking about it.

Now, in some fairness, I must disagree, Master & Commander was an awful movie for me--an egalitarian, we're all in'it t'gether Boyos, Royal Navy jsut "rang" wrong for me, as did the peculiar way the sailing sequences were set up.

I'm not entirely certain Hollywood could turn out a decent historical movie anymore (the hysterical drayma "Pearl Harbor" does rather leap to mind).

I've not seen Sahara, but that is because fellow Clive Cussler fans advised me not to, as trusted observers tell me they left half the story out, and the bits they invented to fill the gaps were not an improvement.  Now, I'll admit to being reflexively cynical about Hollywood output, since it seems to be centered on remakes of 70s tv shows.  (Hmm, does that suggest that Monitor v. Merrimack might be remade <g> . . . ?)

Now, if the Turkish cinema were to make Lepanto into a movie, that would be different.  There's a very large quantity of quality cinema coming from Asia (east & west) that is worth watching.

Jutland from the German POV would be very interesting.  But, then, IMHO, so would Leyte Gulf from the Japanese side.

But, that's just me, others differ.

I agree with Gerarddm, Master and Commander was a disapointment on may levels.. but I think it highlights the problem with naval movies, the story lines are simply too complicated for even the above average intelligence movie goer and there is not much current 'relevance'.  Prior to the 1960s (and the Lockheed Constellation and Boeing jets) anyone traveling overseas went by ship, and their were a lot of WWII and Korean war vets that could interpret shipboard life for their friends and families in the audience. Plus a lot were attracted by the "and I was there" factor. Saving Private Ryan was one of the last movies able to cash in on that factor, it was even written into the movie. The Bismarck, Pearl Harbor (Tora Tora Tora not the Disney abomination), Midway and Graf Spee stories were already in most of the public's imagination when the movies were made.... there was even a popular song  by American singer Johnny Horton in the early sixties called 'Sink the Bismarck' (he also had one on the Battle of New Orleans).  So today we will have to setttle for remakes of the Poseidon adventure.

But for current relevance, there is one naval movie that Hollywood would love to make, the true story of the Spanish Galleon San Jose and one Captain Sebastian Perez del Castillo in the late 16th century. Call it "Brokeback Galleon" or "Mutiny on the Sodomy", get Willie Nelson to write a theme song for it "Sailors, frequently, secretly" and change the name of the ship to San Francisco. The ending would even be politically correct with the 'hero' ending up like "Breaker Morant" and we get to bash the Catholic Church. And just like Master and Commander, we won't need any actresses.

And I'd love to see Russel Crowe get... uh, never mind.

   

 

I have a very poor VHS copy of "Sailor of the King" with both endings.  I was captivated by that move on a Saturday night in the early '60s and finally found a copy.  If you ignore the snow and occasional video dropouts, the movie inside is very good.

Another really good cold war flick was the Bedford Incident(US warship vs Russian sub) Richard Widmark was the the captain of the US ship,a frigate I think. The enemy below Robert Mitchem I think thats how its spelled US destroyer vs U-boat WWII was also good

Back around 1956 (I was just a lad then) I saw a picture in the theater called Battle Stations, starring Richard Boone.  I don't remember very much about it, except it was based on the story of USS Franklin, and I remember thinking how brave these guys were.  I've never seen it on TV or video since, but I'd like to view it again and see if it's any good.  It's a great story that could have been done well that soon after the fact, as the hardware would have been more authentic to the period.   Much of it was shot aboard USS Princeton. My recollection was that it concentrated on the crew and on serving (and saving) the ship, rather than on air ops.  Has anyone else seen it?

alan mozzar wrote:

Another really good cold war flick was the Bedford Incident(US warship vs Russian sub) Richard Widmark was the the captain of the US ship,a frigate I think. The enemy below Robert Mitchem I think thats how its spelled US destroyer vs U-boat WWII was also good

The Bedford Incident was a scary realistic movie. I also agree that Sink the Bismark was well made especially for 1960. I think they should have been more historically accurate and not have the Bismark sinking the destoyer, which of course never happened. Wouldn't mind a newer CGI version myself.

How we failed to mention Mission of the Shark !  One of the best movies I've ever seen about the perils of being shipwrecked and possibly the most accurate account of an historical event (USS İndianapolis) on the whitescreen.

Regards

The Bedford Incident was indeed a chilling example of wjat could have happened during the Cold War.  In the movie, the Bedford was a Forrest Sherman class destroyer and it's hard-core skipper, Richard Widmark, pulled off the role with superb acting skills.  The fact that it ended with the Soviet sub and the Bedford going up together in a nuclear blast was a classic statement of atomic overkill.

The Enemy Below was a fave of mine, too, with Bob Mitchum's Buckley Class destroyer escort pitted against Kurt Jurgen's U-Boat.  The models were well-made and filmed very realisticly, but best of all, it was a pure action flick all the way through ... two enemy vessels locked in a struggle to the death ... mano-a-mano ... good stuff.

As for a Jutland movie .... they should script it from the perspective of two main battery gunners, one Brtish and one German, following their lives from the early days before the conflict and all the way through to the German fleet scuttling at Scapa Flow.  Sure, throw in the romance with wives and girlfriends, but make it a history lesson as well and use a lot of period clothes and customs and utensils and such.  The German fellow would be posted on SMS Von der Tann, oldest of the new German dreadnaughts, but with a feature that made it deadlier than even Seydlitz ... the ability to elevate it's 11" guns to 45 degrees.  It was this anomoly that enabled it to engage and sink HMS Invincible from extreme range, covering it with glory at the outset.  The British sailor should be on Admiral Beatty's flagship, the Battlecruiser HMS Lion, pride of the fleet and a stunning contrast to Von der Tann.  You can't tell me there isn't a lot of good red meat in that story line .....