12 thrilling submarine movies

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "K-19", "Kursk" and other worthy paintings that are worth seeing.

1.20,000 leagues under the sea

• USA, 1954.
• Drama, adventure.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Professor Pierre Aronax and his assistant Consell agree to take part in an expedition aboard the Abraham Lincoln to dispel rumors of a mysterious sea monster. The monster soon appears and sinks the ship.

Only the main characters and harpooner Ned Land manage to escape. However, the object that attacked them turns out to be the Nautilus submarine, owned by Captain Nemo, an inventor and radical peace fighter.

The Disney film adaptation does not at all correspond to the literary canon of Jules Verne. So, Captain Nemo became a much more aggressive character, and most of the screen time was given to the hero of Kirk Douglas.

But still, it is this picture that remains the most successful adaptation to this day, and its visual effects won the Oscar and even now look good.

2. Go quiet, go deep

• USA, 1958.
• War drama.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Captain Rich Richardson is the only one of the crew to survive the attack of the Japanese destroyer Akikazu. A year later, he was assigned to command another submarine. The hero decides to use his official position to take revenge on the Japanese. But the subordinates, led by Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe, are categorically against such a turn.

“Go Silently, Go Deep” is considered a classic of the naval genre. The main role was played by the star of "Gone with the Wind" Clark Gable. The actor seemed like the perfect candidate to embody the image of the military, since he himself fought at the front.

The only problem is that Gable was not quite the age for the role of the submarine commander. At the time of filming, the actor was already almost sixty. But, looking at his game, you just don't notice such inconsistencies.

3. Submarine

• Germany, 1981.
• War drama, thriller.
• Duration: 150 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

Autumn 1941. German submarine U-96 prepares to sail for the fierce battles of World War II. At first everything goes according to plan, but then the submarine accidentally collides with a mine.

Wolfgang Petersen was very conscientious about recreating historical reality. The director showed the everyday life of submariners so accurately that even real military people praise the film for its authenticity. Not to mention how frightening a confined space looks, in which the closeness of death is constantly felt.

4. Abyss

• USA, 1989.
• Science fiction, adventure, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

A nuclear submarine is sinking in the Caribbean. To establish the cause of the tragedy, several researchers are asked to examine the ship. But during the operation, they encounter an eerie and mysterious creature.

For James Cameron, The Abyss is a very personal project. Before filming, he studied the chronicles of UFOs for a long time, and the film itself was shot at an unfinished nuclear power plant for added realism. The result was a chamber-like, but at the same time exciting movie, perfectly conveying the atmosphere of a bottomless cold ocean.

5. The hunt for "Red October"

• USA, 1990.
• War drama, thriller.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The newest Soviet submarine called "Red October" goes on the first combat duty. However, Captain Marco Ramius has other plans - to go over to the side of the United States, the enemy of the USSR in the Cold War.

In John McTiernan's film, there are many stereotypes about Soviet people. But if you do not listen attentively to the gibberish, which is passed off as Russian here, the tape keeps you in suspense from beginning to end. And the characters, especially the character of Sean Connery, look very lively.

6. Crimson tide

• USA, 1995.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Frank Ramsey has long been commanding the nuclear submarine Alabama. But when a new dark-skinned chief executive Ron Hunter arrives, a conflict immediately arises between him and the captain - at first quiet, and then open.

Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington did an excellent job of playing a confrontation of dissimilar heroes, and a wonderful soundtrack by Hans Zimmer perfectly complemented this tense picture.

7. Remove the periscope

• USA, 1996.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 2.

The cheerful and cheerful captain Tom Dodge is appointed commander of a nuclear submarine. True, the bosses do not trust the hero too much, so he got an old submarine and a lousy crew.

At first glance, David Ward's film is not serious at all. But under the guise of a silly comedy, there is a strong drama. And fans of Rob Schneider simply have to watch this movie: the actor played a minor, but funny role in it.

8. U-571

• France, USA, 2000.
• War drama.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

World War II, 1942. The Americans plan to secretly enter the German U-571 submarine to retrieve the Enigma encryption machine and change the course of the war. But once there, the heroes fall into a cruel cover.

Despite the fact that the film is based on real events, it has little to do with the real story. But how good Matthew McConaughey and Jon Bon Jovi are in the role of charismatic military.

9. K-19

• Germany, Canada, Great Britain, USA, Russia, 2002.
• Drama, disaster.
• Duration: 138 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

At the height of the Cold War, Captain Alexei Vostrikov takes over command of the latest submarine. But he does not yet know that he will have to work in extreme conditions. Eventually, radiation leaks out on the ship.

Katherine Bigelow approached the creation of her film like a real perfectionist. Together with the creative team, she even went to meet with real submariners - participants in those events. True, Bigelow could not leave their real names due to the fact that the views of the authors and prototypes on the script diverged.

Nevertheless, the Soviet sailors in the picture look decent, and Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and other actors play, without exaggeration, great.

10. Kursk

• France, Belgium, Luxembourg, 2018.
• War drama.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

Russian submariners first celebrate a friend's wedding and then leave for training. But on the nuclear submarine "Kursk", where they are, two explosions occur one after the other.

Director Thomas Winterberg made his film without any politics. Instead of passing judgment or trying to figure out the reasons for what happened, he focused entirely on the tragedy of ordinary people.

11. Hunter Keeler

• USA, 2018.
• Action, thriller.
• Duration: 121 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

Captain Joe Glass, by order of the leadership, goes to the Barents Sea to find a submarine that has not been in contact for a long time. But he accidentally gets caught up in an intergovernmental scandal.

In Russia, the film was not immediately issued a distribution certificate. And completely in vain: the creators were not going to portray the Russians as absolute evil, on the contrary. Although the authors did not manage to avoid clichés and stereotypes.

12. Call of the wolf

• France, 2019.
• Thriller, action, science fiction.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

The young submariner Chanterode serves on a French military submarine and has incredible hearing. One day he catches a strange signal that he cannot identify, which almost kills the entire crew. This mistake almost puts an end to the hero's career. To restore his reputation, Chanterode decides to find out what kind of submarine it was.

The director Abel Lanzak served as a French diplomat for many years and described his work in the comic strip "Orsay Quay", which was later filmed with the same name. After that Lanzac finally decided to devote himself to cinema, and his debut "Call of the Wolf" became a hit in film distribution in his homeland.