A Masterpiece!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I had heard for years how great this spy thriller submarine movie was supposed to be. Howard Hughes watched it over and over again, and it was so intense that he finally went insane. Football legend Jim Brown had one of his biggest roles, and presumably he was so outspoken and defiant (on and off the screen) that white Hollywood never cast him in another major motion picture. I was expecting something explosive, suspenseful, dramatic, full of action and danger. But it was absolutely terrible. The first forty minutes move at a crawl. Rock Hudson is a nice submarine captain, he has to go to the North Pole and rescue some scientists. A creepy English spy and a really dumb Russian come with him. And there's a mean black Marine officer who nobody likes. They all sit around and talk for about an hour before something happens. About an hour in, there are some cool explosions and some scary stuff under the arctic ice. But the final showdown with the Russians is laughable. And it lasts forever!One final note: there's a whole platoon of Marines in this movie. Look at their hair. They look like the Beatles! Real Marines keep their hair shaved high and tight at all times. They're called jar heads for a reason. Jim Brown yells at his platoon over and over but he never even mentions their haircuts.

This is a monumental rendering of a rather ordinary adventure by Alistair MacLean involving the usual ingredients of spies, traitors, violence, sabotage, conflicts, political crisis, unbearable suspense, life and death and everything else, but is it not just a little overdone? In the first part of the film, until they finally reach that polar station after the middle of the film, there is very little acting and mainly only technical manoeuvres to get the submarine to its destination, which involves tremendous difficulties, especially with the lack of communications and of course a very thrilling sequence of almost getting stuck under the ice with the prospect of a submarine shipwreck, which isn't a very cheerful prospect for those suffering from claustrophobia on board - this is unavoidable in every submarine film - the claustrophobia is the main element of terror, although here it is not so much in focus.Patrick McGoohan is the ordinary hard line tough guy as an agent with a secret mission, he always is, Ernest Borgnine is the one of the leading actors that gets some opportunity to act, while Rock Hudosn is very bland as a character, almost like a mere figure-head of the journey, while the actor who makes an impression is Alf Kjellin in his brief but efficient appearance in the end. The lack of any woman during all these 2,5 hours adds to the futility and superficiality of the film.Not even Michel Legrand's music can save it. It is impressively majestic and almost bombastic like the whole film, but you see too much of the submarine and the waves and the ice and too little acting. The action in the end is hardly substitute enough for that either.The following Alistair MacLean films, like "Bear Island", "When Eight Bells Toll" and "Puppet on a Chain" are more effcient for being more tense and brief and intensive. Here there is too much circumstance and too little substance.

Man, this is Bad. By 1968 the Culture was in Sure-Flux, the Times weren't "A Changin", the Times had Changed. MGM (and other big Studios), seemed Clueless, and went on Producing Clunkers like this. Dumping Big Money on Certified Turkeys, Unaware in some sort of Cultural Time Warp. The Big Cast and the Bloated Production could Not Save the Overrated Director from Delivering a Dud. The SFX are Embarrassing and the Movie looks like it was all Filmed completely on a Soundstage (and it was). The Sets are Cringe Worthy.The enormous Running Time contains a couple Scenes of Submarine Tension, and a couple Scenes of Submarine Action, but Oh Boy 90% of the Film is just Stiff, Dull, and the Ending is just Awful. The Musical Score is OK (Yipee), but the Movie is a Loser from the Opening Scene. Only Recommended for the Sub-Genre Submarine Fanatics and Cold War Masochists. This Insufferable Film Fails on just about Every Level, including Below Sea Level.

A satellite capsule parachutes onto the frozen Arctic. American submarine captain Commander James Ferraday (Rock Hudson) of the USS Tigerfish is ordered up north for a secret mission under the cover of rescuing a British civilian weather station, Ice Station Zebra. He is joined by British agent Mr. Jones, Soviet defector Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), and Captain Anders (Jim Brown) and his marines.The dialog, the acting, and the camera work are all very static and stiff. There may be a couple of interesting technical aspects. The submarine diving and surfacing looks good. The underwater stuff looks good for a model. It has the rolling submarine deck. On the other hand, the Arctic exterior looks too fake. The movie lacks tension or energy. The first exciting action is breaking through the ice at the end of the first half. There is simply not enough exciting stuff going on.