Torpedo Run (1958)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This is one of these films that we don't get nowadays and hasn't been produced for decades . Hardly surprising since 1945 only two submarines have killed ships in conflict . The first one being the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor that sunk the Indian frigate INS Khukri in the 1971 India - Pakistan war and the last time was the Argentine Cruiser The General Belgrano being sunk by HMS Conqueror in the 1982 Falklands War . On top of the 1981 movie DAS BOOT has got to be the last word on this sub genre of war movie . It's very easy to express tension in these type of movies , of having silent routine as enemy ships patrol over head dropping depth charges and have close ups of submarine crewmen with beads of sweat slowly dripping down there foreheads but DAS BOOT did this type of drama so effectively and so vividly any successor would be a very pale imitation TORPEDO RUN on its own merits isn't a bad film . It doesn't break any new ground but follows the formula rather well . Like so many other films especially American war films there's a fair bit of artistic licence used such as no American submarine actually penetrated the Tokyo harbour during the war and the mega massive Japanese aircraft carrier is an invention for the film . There is a slightly annoying aspect and that is many of the model shots look unconvincing but this is common problem seeing as scale involving fire and water are impossible to achieve on screen and even DAS BOOT suffered slightly from this One thing the film does deserve great credit for is the British character Lt Redley played by Robert Hardy . All too often recent American productions such as SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS portray the Brits as either amateurish buffoons needing rescuing by the tough , brave and resourceful Americans or make an already bad situation much worse leaving the hard pressed Americans to pick up the pieces while the British stop to drink some tea . Here we see Redley put forward a suggestion that gets the crew out of a very tight spot . Nice to see the war shown as a joint effort amongst allies who had a mutual respect for one another

I happen to like submarine movies, but normally the plot situations are the same in every one of them. Torpedo Run though it bares most resemblance to the Cary Grant World War II film from Warner Brothers, Torpedo Run has a unique involvement of Ford's family in combat.Japanese intelligence has marked Ford as one of America's top submarine commanders so when on a mission, Ford receives word that his wife and three young daughters have been accounted for in the Phillipines and are being held by the Japanese, you've got to wonder. The Swiss government which did the liaison work during World War II regarding prisoner information and exchange has just gotten word about Diane Brewster and the daughters.The devilish orientals have something up their sleeves all right. A transport ship with the civilian prisoners is screening the new pride of the Japanese fleet, one humongous aircraft carrier. That's not something Cary Grant faced in Destination Tokyo or any other American submarine skipper in any other film I remember.It's a grim Glenn Ford we see doing his duty in World War II. Only Executive officer Ernest Borgnine knows exactly what's at stake for Ford and he's reliable and supportive. The flashback sequences before the war involving Ford and Brewster are poignant and contribute to the overall tension of Torpedo Run.The combat and rescue sequences are well staged. Torpedo Run is a good portrait of a man under tremendous stress. My guess is that Ford was cast in this role seeing how well he performed in another film involving a pressure situation, Ransom.Glenn Ford's legion of fans and fans of World War II films in general will applaud Torpedo Run.

Read all of the posted comments pertaining to the movie. Seems some viewers thought the Greyfish was going after a Battleship, but the evasive target was a Japanese Carrier and it looked like a big one. Based on my knowledge of WW II Submarine warfare events, I think it is partially based on some actual events. Also, in response to one commenter's thoughts about Momsen Lungs: This invention was successfully used in October 1944 to bring 8 sailors to the surface from the USS Tang (SS 306) after it sank in 180 feet of water in the East China Sea. I served on submarines in the mid 1950's and used the Momsen lung to ascend 100 feet in a training tank. Two years later the device was abandoned in favor of the so called "blow-and-go" method of free ascent to the surface. I made this ascent in the same training tank from a depth of 50 feet. Like some of the folks that commented on the movie, I too watch all the submarine movies that I can. Seen some of them three or four times. Last comment, there IS info to be found on the Internet pertaining to the Momsen lung.

More a drama than an action film, this movie may have a fairly simplistic plot line and a few implausible events but it's primarily about the sort of awful decisions men sometimes have to make in war and the actors all do an admirable job of conveying different reactions to the consequences of a bad call. Particularly good is Glenn Ford as a commander who finds himself risking the lives of his own wife and child for the greater good. Ernest Borgnine is as always superb as his first officer and best friend and the very personal events unfolding in front of the entire crew give an excellent example of how an extremely insular environment like a submarine can be, while still stripping everyone on board of the luxury of privacy. The setting--World War II, and a hunt for an infamous Japanese aircraft carrier--are handled well and if details aren't 100%, it is no less accurate than most Hollywood submarine films, with an interesting personal tone amidst the technical and Navy confines.