Ice Station Zebra (1968)

just watch it!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

The only other Rock Hudson movie ("Seconds") I can still enjoy. In 1968, every Monday is when friends would get together at school to talk about the cool things they had seen over the weekend at the movies or on TV. There was no other way to do it. This got a lot of attention. Something that has stood out in my memory of it was the way cinematographer Daniel L. Fapp lit the outdoor scenes in the Arctic setting, although at the time I knew nothing of such things. It's a crackin' MacLean 'who's good/who's bad' cold war thriller and it's also a decent submarine movie.

Here's a modern take on this 1968 epic: fantastic! Just got the BluRay release and it runs like an old David Lean epic with a title screen & music before the movie starts and, again, at Intermission. Performances are excellent all around, and the fX, all done prior to CGI, are remarkable. Suspense builds as Rock Hudson's nuclear sub streams North with spymaster Patrick McGoohan in tow, soon joined by a Russian defector, Ernest Borgnine, and a serious swat team led by James Brown (ex-NFL).Progress to the North Pole is slow and the sub is hindered by sabotage. The process of finally surfacing & crashing through the polar ice reminds me of similar scenes to come in Firefox a few years later. But our heroes are on a quest to rescue a cannister of spy film shot by a surreptitious satellite. To do so will be no picnic: watch for a great scene where a few Americans tumble into an ice crevice, which begins to slide shut. Ouch. Edge of yer seat... Horrible way to die: stuck & frozen in ice.Terrific story & cinematography. Based on the Allistair MacLean story. Highly recommended.

DAS BOOT meets THE THING is how I would describe this Alistair MacLean thriller in retrospect. It's one of the tentpole movies of the 1960s, a larger-than-life thriller that makes full use of Cold War tensions in its tale of a desperate race to the North Pole to grab a MacGuffin that the other side can't be allowed to get its hands upon.ICE STATION ZEBRA is an unashamedly old-fashioned film, brought to life by the sterling direction of surehand John Sturges (who'd previously completed, so memorably, THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN). The running time is lengthy and there's barely any action, but there is plenty of suspense and a handful of exciting set-pieces that don't disappointment. I'd previously watched the hammier MacLean adaptation BEAR ISLAND previously, but it wasn't anywhere near as assured - or, indeed, well made - as this film.The late, much missed Rock Hudson grabs the main role of the submarine commander and proves to be a likable and realistic hero. Ernest Borgnine is a delight, as always, and Patrick McGoohan is excellent as well. It was a pleasure to see Jim Brown in an early role in his career, but the real star of the thing is the submarine, which is brought to expert life. The only thing you can really criticise about ICE STATION ZEBRA is that some of the miniature effects are a bit shonky - the model planes flying in front of the back screen projection are appalling - but poor effects have never tempered my enjoyment of a movie. This one's a delight.

Not that drifting away from the book matters, but the second part goes too awry in its own conception.The first part also fails to attract due to the more attention into submarine details & and the crew driving it. The dialogs are pretty good and along the line of the book, which was a genius work of literature & espionage. Alistai MacLean will remain one of my favorite writers but his novel seems to be bludgeoned in cold-blood by bad CGI and irritating twists.For crying out loud, referencing the cold war era & Cuban Missile Crisis just does not do justice to the base (i.e. Part 1). Although, the characters were very fine and I loved them playing. With a brilliant cast, Ice Station Zebra is more like a fabricated American-Russian tiff. The music, the direction, the screenplay all are average.BOTTOM LINE: Having read the book, this was a bad experience and with 160-minute running time, how about a NO?Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YESViolence: Strong | Gore: No | Alcohol/Smoking: Mediocre