Down Periscope (1996)

Director:

David S. Ward

Writers (WGA):

Hugh Wilson (story)
Hugh Wilson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A rusty sub. A rebel commander. A renegade crew. When destiny called, they should have hung up.

Plot:

Lt. Cmdr. Tom Dodge is assigned as Captain to the USS Stingray, an old diesel driven submarine that has seen better days...

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | Navy | War Game | Reference To Beethoven | Sea

Cast

Kelsey Grammer	...	Lt. Cmdr. Thomas 'Tom' Dodge
Lauren Holly	...	Lt. Emily Lake, Diving Officer
Rob Schneider	...	Executive Officer Martin T. 'Marty' Pascoe
Harry Dean Stanton	...	CPO Howard, Chief Engineer
Bruce Dern	...	RAdm. Yancy Graham
William H. Macy	...	Cmdr. Carl Knox (Orlando)
Ken Hudson Campbell	...	Seaman Buckman
Toby Huss	...	Seaman Nitro 'Mike'
Duane Martin	...	Planesman 1st Class Jefferson 'R.J.' Jackson
Jonathan Penner	...	Seaman Stanley 'Spots' Sylvesterson
Bradford Tatum	...	Engineman 1st Class Brad Stepanak (Winslow)
Harland Williams	...	Seaman 2nd Class E.T. 'Sonar' Lovacelli
Rip Torn	...	Vice Adm. Dean Winslow
James Martin Jr.	...	Orlando Radioman
Jordan Marder	...	Orlando Ensign

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some crude language.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #34116) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Denmark:12 | Finland:S | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Alameda Naval Air Station, Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Dodge objects to Lt. Lake's assignment to the Stingray, citing the U.S. Navy's rule against women on board submarines. The film was released in 1996, one year after Norway became the first naval power to promote a female officer to command of a submarine.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of movie, the Stingray is on the surface and racing toward the dummy target ship with the Orlando in close pursuit. But when the Stingray's captain fires his two torpedoes, the Stingray is submerged.

Quotes:

[while all the other crew members are working hard cleaning the boat, Stepanak is sitting in a lawn chair and sunning himself]
Lt. Comd. Dodge: Stepanek, what are you doing?
Stepanek: As little as possible, sir. I'm a detriment to the entire operation. Total morale crusher.
Lt. Comd. Dodge: You know, of course, that the submarine service is entirely volunteer. All you have to do is quit.
Stepanek: My old man won't let me.
[Sarcasticly]
Stepanek: He's an admiral. Thinks sub duty will shape me up. Ha!
Lt. Comd. Dodge: Well, I'm afraid you leave me no choice, son, but to relocate you.
Stepanek: Really?
Lt. Comd. Dodge: Really.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Soundtrack:

You Make Me Feel So Young

Hysterically clever and upbeat comedy.

Surprisingly good and quick-witted adventure that features Kelsey Grammer (supposedly in his first lead role in a feature) as an unconventional Navy sub commander who wants to run a nuclear sub of his own, however; he has earn it by competing against the U.S. Navy in a series of war-games with a crew of untested, questionable, and lovable men (and a woman, too).

Director David S. Ward ("Major League") and his writers have put together a hysterically clever and upbeat comedy that tries to make the film easy to understand, which they do quite well. Second, besides the Grammer character, most of the crew provide some or plenty of the movie's humor, which is treated like a double-edged sword. Three members of the supporting cast - Harland Williams, Toby Huss, and Rob Schneider provide the funniest scenes, which includes weird gestures, impersonations, and, well, their personalities.

"Down Periscope" is more than a Navy version of "Police Academy" or "The Dirty Dozen". What the film does is get the job done the right way and I liked it.