City Beneath The Sea (1971)

A group of 21st-century colonists inhabit the underwater city called Pacifica. They find they must defend the city against hostile alien forces.

Director:

Irwin Allen

Writers:

John Meredyth Lucas (screenplay), Irwin Allen (story)

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Colbert

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stuart Whitman	...	Admiral Matthews
Rosemary Forsyth	...	Lia Holmes
Robert Colbert	...	Commander Patterson
Burr DeBenning	...	Aguila (as Burr De Benning)
Susana Miranda	...	Elena
Paul Stewart	...	Barton
Whit Bissell	...	Professor Holmes
Richard Basehart	...	the President
Joseph Cotten	...	Dr. Ziegler
James Darren	...	Dr. Talty
Sugar Ray Robinson	...	Captain Hunter
Larry Pennell	...	Bill Holmes
William Bryant	...	Captain Lunderson (as Bill Bryant)
Robert Dowdell	...	Young Officer (as Bob Dowdell)
Edward G. Robinson Jr.	...	Dr. Burkson

Storyline

In the 21st-century, a former underwater scientific installation has been repurposed as a city, known as Pacifica to the colonists who inhabit it. Now the U. S. government has plans to store the Ft. Knox gold reserves there, along with a fantastic new radioactive element. But, someone has plans of stealing the gold, and to make matters worse;, the city faces imminent destruction by an asteroid heading towards it.

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Plot Keywords:

sea | flying sub | psychotronic film | underwater city | bio dome | 

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Taglines:

Theirs was the most dangerous mission in history . . . to save the world from total destruction!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Other models and buildings appearing in this movie include a modification of the Seaview model from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), the Astrogator from Lost in Space (1965) and a number of other props from previous Irwin Allen TV series.

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Goofs

In the fight scene between Adm. Matthews and Brett in the vault, Brett is thrown against a pile of gold bars, but the entire pile can be seen to start tipping over. Solid gold bars would be too heavy to be pushed over this way. Also, the pile tips without any individual blocks moving out of place, revealing this to be a prop wall, probably made of wood. All the other piles did not topple when pushed against.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: JUNE 12, 2053 THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

THE SAME DAY NEW YORK CITY

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Connections

Remake of City Beneath the Sea (1969)

User Reviews

Sci-Fi & Disaster

About a fantastic city beneath the sea.

Everything about this film, the effects, the sets, the casting, the actors, are all fine, but with the one problem area of Robert Colbert and the terrible lines he has and the terrible acting he gives.

An early character building scene in this film has Colbert respond to Stu Whitman by saying "that's right we all take orders ... just like Bill Holmes did". It sounded terrible!

But having said that. This is pure Irwin Allen showmanship of the best kind. As others have pointed out, Richard Basehart and the flying sub make this feel like an up-dated Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and who could blame Irwin for wanting to bring back Voyage?

But non-Voyage things such as Stu Whitman and Robert Wagner (Beneath The 12 Mile Reef and The Towering Inferno) make this great entertainment. Also the Richard LaSalle score and big sets with blinking light Time Tunnel computers. I have actually made about 30 viewings of this film over the years.

I love it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Irwin Allen's production of City Beneath the Sea

Filming Locations:

USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motion Pictures International, Kent Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1