Depth Charge (TV Movie 2008) Poster

(2008 TV Movie)

User Reviews

Review this title
12 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
4/10
Eric Roberts works his magic!
kersus6 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This is a fun but unlikely little TV movie that borrows it's plot from "Under Siege" and "The Hunt for Red October" while throwing in a few unique elements of it's own (throwing around the word terrorist for one).

While all the actors do a good job, the heroes are easily outdone by the villains in acting prowess and Eric Roberts actually steals the show. David Dayan Fisher stands out as well.

The movie does have unlikely elements to the main story and how it shows the Whitehouse in action but really is worth the show and is at home as a TV movie.

It may amaze you how close a genius and a psychotic are. Go Montana!
8 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Under Siege Under Water...sort of
davidfurlotte22 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In the movie "Under Siege" it was explained that Steven Segal was a former SEAL that now wanted nothing more than to be a cook, so it made sense when he was able to move around the ship and take out bad guys pretty easily. He was trained and we all knew it.

In THIS movie we have a glorified medic who dropped out of high school and got into the navy when he was 25. (At least that is what his service record said according to the CIA.) So I've come up with a theory. I THINK that the 'doc' had recently watched "Under Siege" and in his spare time he practised all of Steven Segal's moves from the movie and he was just WAITING for the day somebody would take over 'his sub' so he could show his stuff. Either that or the Navy's Medical corps has evolved into some kind of Special Ops force that nobody knows about.

Normally I don't like Eric Roberts in movies but his performance in this was excellent, it would have been nice if it was a film worthy of his performance, unfortunately this movie is NOT. His performance is the only reason I gave it 3 points.

It would take a team of professional writers a minimum of two years to close up the plot holes in this movie. Like leaving a bad guy alive at the end or how two guys all by themselves are able to run all the systems on board a nuclear submarine. (Makes you have to wonder why all those other guys are on board the boat, doesn't it?) Oh, and you have to wonder where the bar is that all these former submariners hang out that can be recruited for piracy actions, etc.

This movie has all the clichés of BAD action films.

1. Bad guys can NEVER hit what they're aiming at. 2. IF the good guys are hit, "it's only a flesh wound." 3. We have the token Asian female who knows how to fight but loses to the good guy. 4. When you CATCH the good guy who has been causing all the trouble you ALWAYS allow him an opportunity to escape AND when you DO catch him, you NEVER bother to tie him up or cuff him or anything like that. 5. The set has to expand to allow the good guys sufficient space to run and hide when they have to.

All in all, give it a pass unless you are capable of submerging your brain.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
"This is a bad day for the bad guys"
hwg1957-102-26570419 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The second in command of a nuclear stealth submarine hijacks said boat and demands one billlion dollars from the United States government otherwise Washington will be ash and rubble. The felonious scheme is foiled by a doctor and an electrician who are still on board the sub. It sounds like an exciting movie but it is derivative and dull, being like many other peril on a submarine movies. Our heroes played by Jason Gedrick and Chris Warren are not that interesting. The only bright spark in the film is lead villain Cdr. William Krieg going off his head, played by Eric Roberts, who has livened up many a poor film. It's just a sub-standard standard sub movie.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
UInder Siege, underwater, underwhelming
rbsjrx2 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
In "Under Siege", a group of terrorist/extortionist wackos hijack a battleship and threaten devastation with a nuclear cruise missile. Unknown to the bad guys, they don't completely get rid of the crew and the hero (Steven Seagal) kills them off in reverse order of billing.

In "Depth Charge", it's a submarine rather than a battleship, Trident missiles rather than cruise missiles, and pair of generic white and black guys as the heroes. The only big names were Eric Roberts (villain) and Barry Bostwick (president), both of whom I noticed were missing from the credits list.

As a TV movie, I might have given it a 5 or 6 for most of the show. However (and here comes the spoiler) I bumped it down to a 2 because of the ending. The script was passable and the performances reasonable (we won't go into the plot), but the direction was terrible - an example of paint-by-numbers direction! Toward the end, it got rushed which made the big climax anticlimactic. Worse, there was one bad guys left alive on the ship who's conveniently ignored as the two heroes congratulate each other on a job well done.

I really wanted to throw things at the screen because of the director's incompetence! AVOID!!!
12 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Why do I watch these films ..
ScanlonPJ8 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I knew it was going to be bad, but still I watched it.

It is full of silly plot holes, the script writers clearly knew less about submarines than they did about film making.

The 2 good guys get shot, yet are still able to run around fighting the bad guys. They seem to have no trouble killing the bad guys - except when they have been knocked out - then they just leave them. The reactor turned off, but surprise surprise, they can still control the boat. Did one of them talk about running on diesel? Phone calls and video links whilst submerged?

Oh come on.

Bad film - avoid.
8 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Kinda Like "Under Siege" Except In A Submarine And Really, Really Horrible
rebelco21 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
You know how some movies are really bad that instead of being shown in theaters, they end up directly released to DVD? Well, this one is about a couple of levels lower and released directly to the bargain bin (although the garbage bin would've been more appropriate). Aside from all sense of logic and common sense being thrown out of the window, there isn't anything vaguely original about this film as they cut out slices from other more superior movies and tried to piece together a very messy pizza of a movie that was totally predictable and an insult to any semi-intelligent person watching it.

It was essentially "Under Siege" except in a sub but they also stole scenes from "Crimson Tide" and "The Hunt For Red October" and ripped off "Air Force One" by repeatedly saying "Get Off My Sub" (by the 5th time I heard it, I was about ready to put myself in a self-induced comma). One of the fight scenes were reminiscent of "Total Recall" and when he got shot on the gut and treated his own wound, clearly an imitation of "Rambo 3". There were a couple of semi-familiar actors that played a very minor role on some semi-successful movies a million years ago but the rest of them, a collection of forgettable nobodys. The sets were decent enough but I wished they would've made more instead of using the same four ones 50 times. In the sound department, I was really annoyed by the non-stop continuous inspirational music as they had it on a little too loud that on some of the talking scenes, I could barely understand what the characters are saying. Had they have a scene of the president taking a dump in the toilet, they would have surely had loud, patriotic music blaring at the background....a moment of silence here and there would've been more appropriate. They left a lot of things unanswered so in order to save time and space, I'll list it in question form:

  • Where did Doc get his medical training....at 24's Jack Bauer's School Of Medicine/Counter-Terrorism Unit?


  • At the beginning of the movie, why was Doc given the self-destruct codes for the sub....isn't that kind of information reserved exclusively to the Captain or Executive Officer?


  • At the ridiculously high security level it takes to board an airplane at an airport nowadays, how come it was so easy to steal a stealth sub full of nuclear weapons (practically taking candy from a baby)?


  • The mercenary squad who took over the stealth sub, which most likely had specialized training in operating a sub....how come they're so incompetent in finding a doctor and his token black dude sidekick in a tight, confined spaces of a submarine?


  • When the mercenaries shoot, why do they keep missing and hitting the wall behind whoever they are shooting instead? Of all the people in the sub, they are the ones that are supposed to be good with firearms.


  • The president, his security, his staff with all the fancy high-ranking officers with the uniforms full of ribbons and medals....how come the only one working is that one female secretary that keeps coming up with new intel? Everyone else seems just to be standing around doing nothing, drink coffee, and enjoying the scenery (kinda reminds me of KFC when I try to order at the drive-thru).


  • God, oh god why did Doc keep saying "Get Off My Sub"? He's a doctor so what the hell does he know about submarine operation when his duty station is the infirmary. Nobody gave him a sub and technically speaking, the captain or whoever took control of the bridge is in charge....did he think if he repeats the horrible one liner enough times the mercenary would give up? Why did he think it was his to begin with?


  • At the beginning, the captain said their plan is to get lots of money for him and his mercenary group so they can retire in style....so why did they still fire the nuke? That kind of action would instantly make them the world's most wanted becoming more hunted that Al-Queada and where are they going to retire to after they contaminate the world with nuclear radiation....and during the end when the captain unanimously changed his mind without telling his mercenary group and instead of the money, he himself decided to go crazy and fire off the nukes instead, why didn't the remainder of his men try to stop him (or at least complain) instead of just blindly followed his orders without question?


  • Am I supposed to believe a sub's doctor can single-handedly take out a whole entire mercenary squad all by himself? Following that kind of logic, if mercenaries ever took over McDonald's, there's nothing to worry about because the short-order cook with his specialized training in Deep-Fryer Operation/Israeli Commando Special Forces Tactics will come in handy and save the day.


I highly recommend not watching this "movie". If you are an insomniac or just want to fall asleep fast, then definitely watch it as it was an uphill battle to stay awake all throughout the flick....and even when I was awake, it was pretty painful to watch and during the first 10 seconds, long before the opening credits even finished rolling, I already know where this train wreck was going. Trimming your nose hair, popping zits from your face, and cleaning the lint from your belly button are more exciting activities compare to this and I would rather jump off a cliff than watch this garbage ever again but luckily for me, I live in the prairies so there are no cliffs to jump from but knowing how unpredictable Hollywood is and if somehow, someway, sequel(s) of this are ever made, I may have to dig myself one. Good riddance!!
9 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Unless you like pain, skip this one
john-matteson25 November 2020
Having ridden boomers I have to say, that other than for the fact that multiple keys are needed for launching, they got everything in this movie WRONG.

This was worthy of a double punch of the viewer's hacker card.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Eric Roberts collects another paycheck ......
merklekranz14 August 2015
Generic and dull would best describe this soggy underwater nonsense. A deranged Eric Roberts takes over a nuclear sub with disastrous results for the suffering audience. Technically the plot has more holes than a shot at swiss cheese. The character development would fit on the head of a small pin. Everything is formula driven, with invincible heroes and brainless villains. To make matters worse, you have the confined and claustrophobic endless interior shots. The acting, even by Eric Roberts, is on a level you might see in a high school play. Believe it or not, Eric Roberts has done worse. That's what happens when you are simply collecting another paycheck. - MERK
3 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Something was missing
kuzuha-206387 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Despite the movie's title, there were no depth charges involved. None.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
Sinks Without Trace
Theo Robertson16 February 2014
Eric Roberts ? Name rings a bell somewhere . Let me think ? Ah yes I remember him now . Brother of Julia Roberts and at one time was seen as very much an up and coming big name in Hollywood but never really made it Instead it was his sister who became the star name . I will say one thing admirable about Eric Roberts and that is he's very possibly starred in more films than any other actor in history . Well starred is a bit misleading and " First name to appear in the cast list " is probably a more accurate description but Roberts prolific output is genuinely phenomenal and somewhat sadly for every widely distributed blockbuster like THE EXPENDABLES there's literally a hundred Robert star vehicles receiving their premiere at a DVD bargain bin or a very obscure cable station late at night

DEPTH CHARGE is typical of a Roberts film . It's action adventure that owes a fair bit to other superior films . Sometimes you see Roberts in a Tarantino wannabe , sometimes in a John Carpenter wannabe , and in this case a JerryBrukhemer / Tony Scott wannabe but without the budget and without the shallow excitement
5 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
A Good Action Movie But Could Have Been Better.
Pratik11230 August 2008
Similar to action movie themes such as the "Die Hard" Movies which starred Bruce Willis and "Under Siege," which starred Steven Segal. The difference is that this it involves a submarine and two men who try to regain the control of it.

A American Nuclear Submarine is high jacked and the Government is threatened by Nuclear Missiles and the demand is that of firstly money and then the resignation of the President. But unknown to the demented captain of the submarine, two original members of the crew begin to ensure that his plans are distracted. The movie stars Jason Gedrick and Chris Warren Jnr and is directed by Terence O'Hara.

As I have said in the summary, this could have been better and more-so, if you liked the "Die Hard" movies and "Under Siege." But never the less, the concept of this is good and is worth watching if you like to watch action movies.
22 out of 44 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
USA vs. USA ...
petros78-296-7420719 February 2012
... USA wins... How convenient ;) Once again a mad man threats United States with nuclear threat. There is only one man between the peace and ultimate chaos. What a classic starting positions for a Steven Seagal movie. Wait... This is not Steven Seagal movie. It sounds like Steven Seagal movie and it smells like Steven Seagal movie but it ain't Steven Seagal movie. In this movie Stevens traditional role as lone gunman is acted by Jason Gedrick.

Plot thickens nicely towards the end. But then comes the only thing movie director should be afraid of... premature ejaculation... Afterwards this movie smokes quick cigarette and fells in deep sleep. Wacher can only say it was nice as long as it lasted. Anyways eight stars for the enjoyment as long as it lasted.
5 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed