Mixed tape movies: Submarines

In the eighties it was the-thing-to-do to make a mixed tape (like an mp3 but touchable, always in need of a pencil and definitely cooler). On it you would make a little playlist of all the cool songs. Now the trick was to make each song correspond with the rest of the tape. In this post I will try to do the same with movies.

Every once in a while I will select a general topic and select movies to accompany it. As you can see the more child-friendly movies are at the start of the day, but  when night falls: ‘here be monsters’. Please feel free to give suggestions of other unknown movies.

One rule though: Auteur themes like ‘Shakespeare’ or ‘James Bond’ are not allowed. ‘Spy-movies’, naturally, are.

Theme: Submarines.

Submarine movies are a peculiar bunch. Usually these movies can be divided in two distinct categories the majority being the war-submarine movie and then the lesser category: the fantasy-submarine movie.

And because of this/when you get right down to it: It’s the war motive that over-encompasses it all.

When one compares submarine movies to, for instance, race car movies or train movies

you’ll notice the two latter often play with different genres than war.

But regardless of the target audience a good submarine movie is playing at –be it child or adult- it always makes good usage of the two main dangers these metal deathtraps inherently possess: you are surrounded by a sea of water (with who knows what in it) and you have to stay silent.
Here is my list of submarine movies:

08:00-10:00

20.000 leagues under the sea: A Childfriendly version of the classic Jules Verne tale. I always preferred this version to the darker 1973 version (which was my introduction to Nemo and his crew). This movie works particularly well in contrast with the next entry: whereas this version has the limitness of animation at its disposal it is still visually less imaginative than than Disney’s live action version.

10:00-12:00 
20.000 leagues under the sea: The ultimate classic with the best designed Nautilus. Period! James Mason is brilliant as the eco-egomaniac Nemo introduced to us whilst playing a very Phantom of the Opera-like organ. But there’s more: Peter Lorre plays the sniffling weasel the actor enjoyed playing from time to time.

Even though he also played two ruthless killers in Hitchcock's and Fritz Lang's movies and was, of course, the embodiment of the righteous Mr. Moto. Talk about a nice role variety for the actor.

And then there is the all-American hero Kirk Douglas (turning 102 this year) doing what he does best: being an awesome hero for the kiddies.

12:00-14:00

McHale's navy: Again a movie somebody has to compare to the next (Down Periscope two entries down). Both movies try to play with the notion of a haphazard crew stuck on each other’s lip on an underwater ship.
Based on the classic television show this movie almost fails miserably if not for the (always) reliable Tim Curry playing the baddie.

14:00-16:00 

Operation Petticoat: Feminists beware! This movie is as campy as it can get. Though the movie does try to empower woman a bit it is still Grant’s and Curtis’s show. But than again, who can resist the charm of a pink submarine in the second world war.

16:00-17:00

Down periscope: The earlier movie to (Universal 1997’s) McHale’s Navy. At the time it was common practice for Hollywood to make a lot of competing movie. A tactic that often only left one winner in remembrance.

Dante’s Peak over Volcano, Armageddon over Deep impact.

Down Periscope is the better movie because Kelsey Grammer’s hero Dodge is written a lot cleverer than Arnold’s McHale. Yes, Down Periscope is a comedy all the way but still with some smart thinking behind it as Dodge outmaneuvers –a deliciously arrogant- Bruce Dern at every turn.

17:00-19:00

The Hunley: Now going into darker territory we investigate the first usage of the submarine. It is common knowledge that Leonard DaVinci designed a submarine but it wasn’t until the American Civil war that the idea was put to practical use. The Hunley submarine is a interesting metaphor for the people fighting this bloody war in the movie. The submarine, after all, is a deathtrap and the men inside them are on a suicide mission.

19:00-21:00

Crimson tide: Making good usage of the claustrophobic space of a submarine Crimson Tide decides to play an excellent power-struggle between two headstrong characters. Both Hackman’s and Washington’s are on form as each brings solid reasoning to the table as they debate, to the extreme, whether or not to launce nuclear missiles.

21:00-23:00 

The hunt for Red October: The last good cold-war movie and, at the same time, the silliest. Even though Connery looks the part of an aging Soviet commander he certainly doesn’t sound like it. Still, if you manage to overlook that you will be rewarded with one of the strongest cold-war thrillers that –to me- cemented Alec Baldwin as the ultimate Jack Ryan.

And, as a bonus, it has Josh Acklan playing a Russian – which he always plays so well.

23:00-01:00
Das Boot: The classic submarine movie that works on two levels: first of all it is as claustrophobic and nervewrecking tense as it can get. Second it depicts the soldiers of the Third Reich as protagonists. The movie never lets us forget that these are men fighting on the wrong side in a terrible war. But at the same time Das Boot shows us that these were human beings two who all longed for their families.
 
01:00-03:00 
U-571: If you can live with Sean Connery playing a Russian with a Scottish accent than U-571 has the next challenge for you: rewritten history. Of course it weren’t the Americans who managed to acquire an Enigma machine it were the Brits.

One should watch U-571 back to back with The imitation game

 (also a movie with some creative liberties concerning the Charles Dance-character).

Still, U-571 is without a doubt the tensest submarine thriller to date. Especially Matthew Mcconaughey is on top of his game as his character has to make cruel choice after cruel choice to save millions.

Honorable mentions:

Black Sea: I once wrote a review about this movie (here). I only ever saw it once and that was enough. This is one of those movies that could’ve been a whole lot better.

Run silent, Run Deep: The clue is in the title. It is a bit too patriotic for my taste but, then, this movie does have Hollywood-era Lancaster and Gable to admire. 

Below: Horror on a submarine. I decided not to include this movie because the war-thematic was overtaking my list. Still, Below is an interesting genre film that banks on the claustrophobia of submarines.