The Atomic Submarine

1959 "The Screen's Spectacular Inferno of the Battle for Civilization!"
5.1| 1h12m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 29 November 1959 Released
Producted By: Gorham Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Ships disappear on route across the Arctic Sea, and a special submarine is sent to investigate.

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Director

Spencer Gordon Bennet

Production Companies

Gorham Productions

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The Atomic Submarine Audience Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Bereamic Awesome Movie
Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Leofwine_draca Here's a middling B-movie yarn hampered by long, boring periods of inactivity and the lack of a budget which reduces the supposedly thrilling undersea action to what looks like a model submarine being floated around in a fish tank while someone flashes a torch at it. All right for undemanding fans of the genre, but anybody looking for thrills and adventure would be advised to seek elsewhere. THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE is, at best, a passable thriller which offers the bare minimum of suspense. The plot, which is very mysterious at first, soon descends into non-action with a few simple events and situations (sub chases saucer around ocean for an age before finally confronting it) being dragged out to fill the entire seventy-two minutes, which still feels like quite a long haul.Director Spencer Gordon Bennet - king of the serials - directs with a no-frills style, cutting between exposition, dialogue and action. He has no time for atmosphere build-up or the like, which makes for a very static-looking movie. The actors are fine in their roles - especially Arthur Franz and Brett Halsey (RETURN OF THE FLY) - but once again their characters are boringly predictable military and scientist guys who have the usual petty squabbles seen a zillion times previously, and well telegraphed with it. The photography of the interiors is great, though, with good use of the black and white colours (especially in the pitch black interior of the flying saucer, as our heroes tramp up a white-lit pathway; an excellent idea, cutting costs of production yet creating a spooky-looking interior with it).Unfortunately, it's a shame that the miniature effects are less than impressive, as without much meat on the story it's the effects you are left looking at. Thankfully the film concludes with the appearance of a large, ugly, hairy one-eyed octopus alien. THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE isn't really that bad, and has a few good moments (including violent-for-the-time scenes of men being radiated to a crisp and getting crushed in closing doors) worth sitting through for, but it remains indistinguishable from all the rest without anything really good to make it stay in your memory.
MartinHafer "The Atomic Submarine" is rather surprisingly a release from the super-intellectual Criterion Collection. This surprised me, though after seeing it, I could see that the film was a very good B-movie--and there was a lot to admire.The film begins by learning that various ships entering the Arctic region have been lost--so many that the government is sending their top submarine there to investigate. This ship discovers something that no one had anticipated...and I won't say more because I don't want to spoil the suspense--and there is quite a bit.This film has several deficits--mostly due to its very low budget. Because they could not afford tons of special effects, a few shortcuts were used. Stock footage (often a bit grainy) of ships sinking, a rather silly creature near the end and sets that looked more like sets than a sub are all things you are bound to notice. And, the script is occasionally a bit clichéd. But, on the other hand, the film is pretty exciting and seemed to get the most out of its low budget and short filming schedule. Plus, the story underneath it all was quite creative and great. Clever and well worth seeing.
sol **SPOLIERS** After some half dozen US Navy subs have been destroyed in the Arctic Ocean within 200-from 87 to 90 degrees North latitude-miles of the North Pole it's decided by the US Military to send it's most advanced atomic submarine The "Tiger Shark" there to see what's causing all this destruction.With Camdr. Reef Holloway, Arthur Franz, and his second in command Capt. Dan Wendover, Dick Foran, put in charge of the nuclear sub "Tiger Shark" in a top secret mission to the North Pole things get a bit sticky when Dr.Carl Neilson joins the sub's crew. Despite his youth, he's in his late 20's, Dr. Neilson is one of the top oceanographers in the world. Dr. Neilson is also an unashamed peace-nick who had his old man, Reef's mentor the top naval war tactician in Annapolis,and the person whom Reef worshiped the very ground he walks on,end up hospitalized with a career ending nervous breakdown! That resulted in Dr. Neilson insinuating to the press that his father is a warmonger in his obsession with the use of nuclear submarines- and their payload of Polaris nuclear missiles-in the defense of freedom.This tension between Reef and Dr. Neilson goes on unabatedly during the entire trip to the North Pole until it's realized that what's been sinking US military vessels up there is a hostile 300 foot in diameter flying saucer!This UFO identified as the Cyclops, because of its flashing blue light, is using the magnetic pull of the earth, centered at the poles, to regenerate itself with magnetic energy. At the same time the UFO in order to keep it's existence secret zaps any ship or underwater sub that's unfortunate enough to get in its way! It's also later found out straight from the UFO's pilot's-a hairy one eyed alien- mouth, or subconscious, that it's planing to have it's fellow one eyed monsters colonize the world and enslave the earth's human population!It takes a while, with a number of the "Tiger Sharks" crew members getting killed, to figure out how to handle this alien, or aliens, from space. But later with the help of the now, he finally saw the light, kill em first and don't ask questions later ex-pacifist Dr. Neilson the human race in the end prevailed. The problem now, after destroying the Cyclops, is just how many more of these one eyed monsters are still out there in space watching and monitoring us! And also will we have the both strength and fortitude, as well as the military hardware, to combat and defeat them in the not so far off distance future?
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.