A Glimpse of Hell (2001) (TV)

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers (WGA):

Charles C. Thompson II (book)
David Freed (written by)

Release Date:

18 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Tragedy. Cover-up. Truth.

Plot:

A Navy officer tries to set the record straight after the Navy blames a 1989 explosion aboard the USS Iowa on a homosexual affair between two sailors.

Plot Keywords:

Explosion | Gunner | Big Gun | US Navy | 1980s

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Caan	...	Capt. Fred Moosally
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Lt. (j.g.) Dan Meyer
Daniel Roebuck	...	PO Dale Mortensen
Jamie Harrold	...	Kendall Truitt
John Doman	...	Admiral Langlett
John Benjamin Hickey
Dashiell Eaves	...	Clay Hartwig
Hugh Thompson
Alan C. Peterson	...	MCPO Ziegler
Bill MacDonald
Ken James	...	Adm. Chapin
Eugene Lipinski	...	Skelley
Chris Owens	...	Agent Flynn
Bruce Gray	...	Donald Meyer
James Bulliard	...	Gunner's Mate Tim Sykes

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images of explosion aftermath, thematic elements and some language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Continuity: The battle ship in the movie is supposed to be the USS Iowa. The call number on the Iowa is BB-61. Throughout the movie, when the camera is panning the ship out at sea, it clearly shows "63" on the bow of the ship. That number is assigned for the USS Missouri (Mighty Mo). The crew members are all wearing hats that show BB-61 on them, so it is obvious that the ship used to portray the Iowa is not the real Iowa.

great story

Its bad enough when young men die in battle but when they die in peacetime training accidents that could have been easily prevented and when the military tries to cover it up, it makes it infinitely worse. This is a fine film that tells of the horrible tragedy of the Iowa. Its sad that most people remember this ship only for this incident, it had a very fine record in three wars it seems. A lot of people will have a hard time understanding the naval jargon they use in the film. This is my only real complaint about it. James Caan is great as the conscience-stricken captain who does the right thing in the end at the cost of his career. The reenactment of the explosion of turrent 2 is chilling and there are some really gruesome special effects where it shows all the burned to a crisp bodies. There is one thing in the end of the film where an officer calls a sailor a little faggot. That sort of dated it because that is prohibited in the military today. The montage of photos they show at the end of all the innocent victims really makes you pause. I feel Clayton Hardwig really was innocent and that he and the forty six others need to be honored as brave men who died in their countries service.