Historical accuracy: 6
Acting: 6 Camera work: 7 Editing: 8 Budget: 7 Story: 6 Theme: 7 Pure entertainment factor: 7 Video quality: 7 Special effects: 8 Pacing: 6 Suspension of disbelief: 6 Non-cringe factor: 7 Lack of flashbacks: 10
I'm quite shocked at the low ratings these old WW2 movies get. UK made quite a few WW2 movies during and right after WW2 using real ships and subs so for once we get to see actors use the equipment around them and use real terms and real seafaring language. The Cruel Sea (1953) for example uses a real WW2 ship I think and I can tell you 100% no CGI set looks even close to this good or realistic. We get to see the engine room and even small tech on the ship in The Cruel Sea. It looks glorious! This movie doesn't quite show as much of the sub. But what we see is the real deal. Both ships, subs, streets, clothing. Everything is from WW2 so of course it looks glorious even though I really wish they had shown even more, but this is very short and fast paced flick. Just like The Cruel Sea this is also totally unknown in USA. It was basically made for UK and I guess most have forgotten all these movies even though they look spectacular, have on point dialogue, and always have deep quality directing with plenty of jokes and decent action. If you can enjoy some average modern flick you can for sure enjoy this high quality stuff even though it may feel a bit dated. There is for example a 5 min sequence where they just put the periscope up and down looking for the fictional battleship to sink. Obviously there is no theme or deep plot that moment. This is basically us looking at a WW2 sub crew doing realistic work for several minutes with only a few emotional points. No one even explains any technical details, we don't get a clear narration with CGI showing everything ongoing outside the sub. If you hate this stuff you may feel a few scenes are too much, but personally I found it very engaging. The narration left way for a more realistic experience.
In these movies there is seldom a single lone hero killing 100 Germans by himself and growing slowly as a person. These movies were about the crew overall so there are like 5 leads all with their own stories. And while they are heroic there is no Hollywood tale about a savior and his dame - well, not a single one at least. Rather we get several men doing heroic deeds and several women waiting for them. The first part of the movie is just the crew getting some time off to meet their families and most meet women and plan their futures. Not a single person has it all figured out. They either cheat, drink too much, don't want to settle down, or have no luck in love. Again, you will feel a bit lost here as these are real people not fake Hollywood stuff so you may feel it's a bit unfocused in a way. While in reality it's just more realistic than modern war movies. They made sure to have plenty of women too as this was for all the public. It also has plenty of jokes as IN REAL LIFE. War was not 100% gloomy all the time and modern filmmakers need to understand this before making a film. When groups of people get together they try to have fun no matter the situation. At least when not in a direct battle. And 99% of the time you are not in direct battle.
The story itself is fiction with some very fake events happening too like the final event of the movie that was quite ... Hollywood. So I think WW2 fanatics may be let down by some of these events. It could have happened. But this is a movie made to cheer up Britain so no wonder we largely see huge victories and a fully professional crew that is overly cheery even as the German battleships are bombing them from all directions. Not sure that part is that realistic, but it's surely closer to reality than the constant overly gloomy atmosphere of modern interpretations. I don't feel it's heavy propaganda, but it does omit any major disasters and mistakes.
It's a feel good war movie with plenty of personal relationships. It stays true to the real WW2 tech as we are literally on WW2 subs during WW2. They even found German speakers. The Danish captain meanwhile speaks utter gibberish which is a shame. There are a few scenes and events where they saved some money. But again, it's so short that you hardly get time enough to get mad at this stuff. It's also the typical WW2 British actors you recognize as most young men were drafted or worked in essential industry, but they made a ton of movies as there were only a few left and they were top tier though a tad too old. I would for sure recommend it, but don't expect a great or deep story. Sink the Bismarck! (1960) is likely what you are looking for if you want a deep story, great acting, and a clear storyline. This is a bit more dated and at times unfocused. We don't for example ever see the ship they hunting up close. Not a single time. We only loosely follow the story itself from news segments, statements, and from what the crew itself sees. A modern movie like this would have shown us all sides. I would strongly recommend U-571 (2000) as another fictional WW2 sub tale with plenty of story and action.
Acting: 6 Camera work: 7 Editing: 8 Budget: 7 Story: 6 Theme: 7 Pure entertainment factor: 7 Video quality: 7 Special effects: 8 Pacing: 6 Suspension of disbelief: 6 Non-cringe factor: 7 Lack of flashbacks: 10
I'm quite shocked at the low ratings these old WW2 movies get. UK made quite a few WW2 movies during and right after WW2 using real ships and subs so for once we get to see actors use the equipment around them and use real terms and real seafaring language. The Cruel Sea (1953) for example uses a real WW2 ship I think and I can tell you 100% no CGI set looks even close to this good or realistic. We get to see the engine room and even small tech on the ship in The Cruel Sea. It looks glorious! This movie doesn't quite show as much of the sub. But what we see is the real deal. Both ships, subs, streets, clothing. Everything is from WW2 so of course it looks glorious even though I really wish they had shown even more, but this is very short and fast paced flick. Just like The Cruel Sea this is also totally unknown in USA. It was basically made for UK and I guess most have forgotten all these movies even though they look spectacular, have on point dialogue, and always have deep quality directing with plenty of jokes and decent action. If you can enjoy some average modern flick you can for sure enjoy this high quality stuff even though it may feel a bit dated. There is for example a 5 min sequence where they just put the periscope up and down looking for the fictional battleship to sink. Obviously there is no theme or deep plot that moment. This is basically us looking at a WW2 sub crew doing realistic work for several minutes with only a few emotional points. No one even explains any technical details, we don't get a clear narration with CGI showing everything ongoing outside the sub. If you hate this stuff you may feel a few scenes are too much, but personally I found it very engaging. The narration left way for a more realistic experience.
In these movies there is seldom a single lone hero killing 100 Germans by himself and growing slowly as a person. These movies were about the crew overall so there are like 5 leads all with their own stories. And while they are heroic there is no Hollywood tale about a savior and his dame - well, not a single one at least. Rather we get several men doing heroic deeds and several women waiting for them. The first part of the movie is just the crew getting some time off to meet their families and most meet women and plan their futures. Not a single person has it all figured out. They either cheat, drink too much, don't want to settle down, or have no luck in love. Again, you will feel a bit lost here as these are real people not fake Hollywood stuff so you may feel it's a bit unfocused in a way. While in reality it's just more realistic than modern war movies. They made sure to have plenty of women too as this was for all the public. It also has plenty of jokes as IN REAL LIFE. War was not 100% gloomy all the time and modern filmmakers need to understand this before making a film. When groups of people get together they try to have fun no matter the situation. At least when not in a direct battle. And 99% of the time you are not in direct battle.
The story itself is fiction with some very fake events happening too like the final event of the movie that was quite ... Hollywood. So I think WW2 fanatics may be let down by some of these events. It could have happened. But this is a movie made to cheer up Britain so no wonder we largely see huge victories and a fully professional crew that is overly cheery even as the German battleships are bombing them from all directions. Not sure that part is that realistic, but it's surely closer to reality than the constant overly gloomy atmosphere of modern interpretations. I don't feel it's heavy propaganda, but it does omit any major disasters and mistakes.
It's a feel good war movie with plenty of personal relationships. It stays true to the real WW2 tech as we are literally on WW2 subs during WW2. They even found German speakers. The Danish captain meanwhile speaks utter gibberish which is a shame. There are a few scenes and events where they saved some money. But again, it's so short that you hardly get time enough to get mad at this stuff. It's also the typical WW2 British actors you recognize as most young men were drafted or worked in essential industry, but they made a ton of movies as there were only a few left and they were top tier though a tad too old. I would for sure recommend it, but don't expect a great or deep story. Sink the Bismarck! (1960) is likely what you are looking for if you want a deep story, great acting, and a clear storyline. This is a bit more dated and at times unfocused. We don't for example ever see the ship they hunting up close. Not a single time. We only loosely follow the story itself from news segments, statements, and from what the crew itself sees. A modern movie like this would have shown us all sides. I would strongly recommend U-571 (2000) as another fictional WW2 sub tale with plenty of story and action.