SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

evanston_dad I decided recently to dive into Criterion's collection of films to find some good stuff that I have either wanted to watch for a long time or that I've never heard of. "The Atomic Submarine" fell into the latter category, and I decided to pair it with "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" as a Criterion sci-fi double feature.I was left wondering what it is about "The Atomic Submarine" that compelled Criterion to select it over the hundred other similar 50s sci-fi movies they could have included. It's not much longer than a single episode of any number of television series, and it looks like it was made for about $5. It's entertaining in that kitschy retro way that films of this genre from this time period always are, but I found myself trying hard and failing to see what was so good about it that it warrants inclusion in a list of culturally significant films.The most interesting thing about it to me was that it features the brother of George Sanders in a supporting role.Grade: C

Bloodwank Although pretty much forgotten these days, lost in the vast and crazy whirl of similar budget science fiction of its era, The Atomic Submarine makes a creditable effort at something slightly different to is fellows, albeit not too different. Though the title suggests modernity, technical innovation and perhaps nuclear fear what we really have is an encounter with an entity from beyond our world, the difference being that it takes place beneath the Arctic, in the cold depths of the North Pole. See, something is out and about down there destroying submarines and so the greatest submarine of all and its crew are sent on a search an destroy mission before sub-Arctic travel is rendered a non-viable trade route. The film and its cast do an okay job of brewing up some low grade tension, a mixture of stock footage and model work doesn't always succeed in passing off affairs of taking place where they are claimed, but neither is either inept enough for me to be actually displeased and the focus tends to be more internal anyway, with the submarine tracking its quarry and conflict between the mission commander and a doctor he pretty much despises as a yellow bellied liberal. Political discourse isn't exactly high grade in this one, but Arthur Franz has the right airs and a certain compelling stature as the commander and Brett Halsey conveys a smart but slightly offended dignity as the doctor. Further acting is pretty sound, I'm not familiar with any of the other players really but Tom Conway gives a fun showing as a British scientist, Victor Varconi is stereotypical but interesting as his European counterpart and assorted other folk have appropriate mixtures of duty and derring do in their supporting roles. The trouble with the film is that for a lot of the time, it simply isn't that interesting. The general execution lacks the verisimilitude to maintain constant interest in proceedings, the pacing is a bit slow and the writing is neither smart enough nor overcooked enough to make up for these lacks. As a result, vacant watch-ability flecked with fun is about the highest that the film achieves until it actually gets to the crunch some twenty minutes before the end. Here the film finally becomes a bit of a winner, repaying audience patience with some nifty effects and a fearsome antagonist (handled by the FX team of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt who also worked on the classic Kronos), that I suspect freaked out more than a few kids back in the day and are still quite striking now. Its a solidly enjoyable final block and memorable in its way, but even so it's still pretty conventional and after the build up (and given the unusual setting) I was really hoping for a slightly more offbeat pay-off. Still good fun though and as far as my viewing of these movies has gone, an entry in the win column. 6/10 from me, worth a look for genre enthusiasts.

bensonmum2 Submarines and ships begin disappearing at an alarming rate near the Arctic Circle. The crew of the Tiger Shark, an atomic submarine, is sent to investigate. They discover a mysterious craft they name the Cyclops because of its one "eye". When the submarine's torpedoes prove worthless against the Cyclops' defenses, the decision is made to ram the strange craft. The Tiger Shark appears to have been successful in "killing" the other craft, but it's now stuck in the Cyclops' outer hull. A team is sent to enter the dormant looking craft to try to free the submarine. But the Cyclops isn't as dormant as it first appears. The men find an alien being very much alive and still determined to take over the world.Overall, The Atomic Submarine is a fun little movie. I see that a lot of people focus on the less than realistic looking miniatures. Why let something like that ruin the rest of the movie? As I've stated any number of times, I find a certain charm to the low budget special effects found in movies like The Atomic Submarine. I'll cut 'em more slack than I will today's big budget, heartless, CGI effects. Instead of the effects, my problems with the movie lies in the very slow first act and a controversy between two of the characters that feels forced. But once the submarine enters the Arctic waters, things pick-up and it moves at a good, entertaining pace form here on out. The interior shots of the alien ship are especially creepy. It may all be lights, shadows, and noise, but that doesn't make it any less effective. It's downright spooky! The acting is about what you expect from a mostly veteran cast that includes Dick Foran, Tom Conway, and Arthur Franz – nothing terrible, but nothing outstanding. The exception is Brett Halsey whose constant pout is a bit much at times. I was excited to see Joi Lansing's name in the opening credits, but soon discovered that her screen-time was limited to about 5 minutes. Finally, I appreciate the chances screenwriter Orville Hampton took with the plot. The idea of an undersea UFO is quite novel as far as I know.

Robert J. Maxwell There's not much to be said about "Atomic Submarine." It's an inexpensive SF thriller about a nuclear-powered submarine that's sent to the North Pole to find out why ships have been disappearing so often in northern latitudes. The Tiger Shark, with Dick Foran as the commanding officer and Arthur Franz as his exec, finds out. It's a giant undersea UFO. They ram it and are locked with it. A party is sent out in a kind of diving bell to free the sub. The men enter the beastly thing and find it contains a rather large and repellent monster who intends to kidnap them and the colonize Earth -- and so on. The monster is dispatched.I remember seeing this years ago on TV but I could only remember one scene. Arthur Franz is standing in the doorway of the UFO, staring goggle-eyed at the monster within, which resembles a hairy octopus with one huge Cyclops-like eyeball. "At last we meet, face to face," says the monster. "That's a face?" replies Franz.The plot's all over the place. It's festooned with icons of the genre. There's atomic power. An undersea mystery. A UFO. A repugnant monster. A plan to colonize earth. A sea-to-air missile. An argument between Lieutenant Commander Franz and the civilian Peacenik aboard. The Peacenik argues that peace is better than war or something like that. A couple of the men give their lives bravely.It's hard to imagine that this entire film cost more than would be spent on a TV episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The special effects are perfunctory. I would have to see proof that there was more than one take of each shot before I believed it. The Tiger Shark seems to have a crew of about three men.One of the men is Bob Steele, who had a successful matinée series in the movies during the 1940s. He has one expression -- a scowl. When he cracks jokes with the other two crew members, he scowls. Dick Foran floats through his part weightlessly. It's hard to believe that he was a cowboy in an Abbott and Costello movie who introduced a pretty and tuneful pop song, "I'll Remember April." Arthur Franz, another New Jersey kid, probably does the best acting job. He's at least identifiable as a seasoned professional. (He wasn't bad in the original "The Sniper.") Many of the others, notably Brett Halsey as the Peacenik, give performances that you or I could beat. Halsey, blandly handsome, does nothing but pout. Throughout. Oh, there's Tom Conway as a British scientist on the sub, too. He looks pretty good, considering that booze had made a considerable inroad into his life space by this time. He was soon to become so abjectly alcoholic that his brother, George Sanders, cut off communications with him, the cad. And there's still another scientist, a Russian guy. The best thing about him is his accent. When he tries to pronounce "wonderful", it comes out "VON-dair-fool." I guess they didn't have enough of a budget to hire a technical adviser because their naval protocol is sometimes off base in the most elementary of ways. The captain, Foran, gives an order to his subordinate, the executive officer, Franz. And Franz says, "Very well." He's not supposed to say that. A subordinate, when addressed by a superior officer, says, "Aye aye." It's only when a subordinate reports information to a superior, that the superior replies, "Very well." None of that is important in the context of this sublimely shoddy production. I kind of enjoyed it for its tattiness. But, even with a minuscule budget, a good director can do better. I doubt that "The Thing From Another World" had much of a budget either, but it's light years ahead of this.