I really like some submarine movies -- "Destination Tokyo" is fun and "Das Boot" is unique -- so I hate to say it but "Up Periscope" is pretty bad.
Edmond O'Brien is the skipper of the Barracuda and he's given the task of taking specialist James Garner to a remote Japanese-held island in World War II. Garner must swim ashore from 2000 yard out and steal an important code book before a coming invasion. O'Brien refuses to put his boat at risk after some earlier traumatic incidents, while Garner argues that he is being sacrificed because of O'Brien's excess of caution.
Both the leads are professionals and they're okay as far as that goes. They've each given better performances -- O'Brien in "DOA" for instance, and Garner in "Barbarians at the Gates." But then what could they, or anyone else, do with these dumb roles? The script, a rude lump of malignancy, was written by Richard Landau. It's as if someone had handed him a fistful of Benzedrine and told him to sit down and write an action/submarine script in 48 hours -- and make it exciting. Oh, and include an unnecessary love interest.
If there's a cliché missing, I missed it. There's the injured man dying below decks because the skipper can't take his boat to the surface, the submarine stuck on the surface for repairs in enemy waters, the strafing by the Japanese airplane (which gets shot down), the depth charges by the Japanese destroyer (which gets sunk), the wounded officer on the deck ordering, "Take her down!" at the sacrifice of his own life, the comic crew member who isn't nearly as funny or charming as the writers think he is (Alan Hale, Jr., son of a genuinely charming cook on the Copperfin in "Destination Tokyo"), the grumbling seamen who don't like the by-the-book captain, men saluting with their caps off below decks. "Dive, dive!" "Rig for silent running!" You will be pardoned if you pendiculate.
There IS something striking about the movie. It's startling in its lack of imagination. It's not an innocent flag waver like "Destination Tokyo" and it doesn't even pretend to the realism of "Das Boot." And it isn't even as funny as "Operation Petticoat."
Edmond O'Brien is the skipper of the Barracuda and he's given the task of taking specialist James Garner to a remote Japanese-held island in World War II. Garner must swim ashore from 2000 yard out and steal an important code book before a coming invasion. O'Brien refuses to put his boat at risk after some earlier traumatic incidents, while Garner argues that he is being sacrificed because of O'Brien's excess of caution.
Both the leads are professionals and they're okay as far as that goes. They've each given better performances -- O'Brien in "DOA" for instance, and Garner in "Barbarians at the Gates." But then what could they, or anyone else, do with these dumb roles? The script, a rude lump of malignancy, was written by Richard Landau. It's as if someone had handed him a fistful of Benzedrine and told him to sit down and write an action/submarine script in 48 hours -- and make it exciting. Oh, and include an unnecessary love interest.
If there's a cliché missing, I missed it. There's the injured man dying below decks because the skipper can't take his boat to the surface, the submarine stuck on the surface for repairs in enemy waters, the strafing by the Japanese airplane (which gets shot down), the depth charges by the Japanese destroyer (which gets sunk), the wounded officer on the deck ordering, "Take her down!" at the sacrifice of his own life, the comic crew member who isn't nearly as funny or charming as the writers think he is (Alan Hale, Jr., son of a genuinely charming cook on the Copperfin in "Destination Tokyo"), the grumbling seamen who don't like the by-the-book captain, men saluting with their caps off below decks. "Dive, dive!" "Rig for silent running!" You will be pardoned if you pendiculate.
There IS something striking about the movie. It's startling in its lack of imagination. It's not an innocent flag waver like "Destination Tokyo" and it doesn't even pretend to the realism of "Das Boot." And it isn't even as funny as "Operation Petticoat."