Customer Reviews

Above Us the Waves [Region 2]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This movie is based on true events which took place in the UK and Norway during the Second World War.The German battleship Tirpitz was wreaking havoc on British shippimg in the North Sea.It was anchored in a remote and inaccessible Norwegian fjord and was impervious to attacks from the air or from the sea using conventional surface vessels or ordinary submarines.The British Admiralty devised a plan to destroy the ship by using manned ,midget submarines to inflitrate the anchorage and destroy the ship

The movie takes us through the various stages of the expedition starting with its conception and the training for the mission ,followed by its execution and ending with the aftermath .In this respect it bears more kinship to a caper movie than to a blood and guts war movie .We are not given slam bang action here but sit back and watch to see if the plan works ,rather as we do in a caper movie like ,say Topkapi ,although the stakes are a great deal higher in this type of exercise .The movie works by the slow escalation of suspense and tension

World War Two movies were a key part of British cinema in the 1950's and this movie deploys many of the era's most stalwart performers all giving commendable performances .John Mills ,Donald Sinden ,John Gregson impress as mariners on the mission and James Robinson Justice does a neat turn as the Admiral in overall charge .

The monochrome photography of Ernest Seward adds much to the movie as does the suspenseful direction by Ralph Thomas

This celebration of planning and heroism is a well worth watching if suspense is your bag but not if you insist on lots of gunfire in your war movies

VCI Entertainment and London Independent Producers presents "ABOVE US THE WAVES" (1955) (100 min/B&W) -- Starring John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice, Michael Medwin, James Kenney & Theodore Bikel

Directed by Ralph Thomas

Another great film from the British Invasion from VCI. This film is a low key film with subdued performances. War isn't depicted as a heroic game, as these men face deadly danger and fully aware of it. Do your job and carry on quietly - now that's bloody real courage for you.

German stereotypes on the Tirpitz, yet their Captain salutes the "brave men" who have arrived to attack his boat.

Great acting, powerful direction and real emotion, with an excellent British cast the way they used to make them.

John Mills and John Gregson are the background of training and the eventual attack is very absorbing, filmed in beautiful stark black and white.

Watch for a young Anthony Newley in the Midget X class submarine sequences.

Special footnote: -- In the film, the name of the vessel that carried the manned human torpedo chariots was called "Ingebord" but in the real-life it was really named "Arthur". The code-name of the real life World War II mission that this film was based on was Operation Source. This operation utilized the Royal Navy's midget X class submarines.

BIOS:
1. Ralph Thomas (Director)
Date of Birth: 10 August 1915 - Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK
Date of Death: 17 March 2001 - London, England, UK

2. John Mills[aka: Lewis Ernest Watts Mills]
Date of Birth: 22 February 1908 - The Watts Naval Training College, North Elmham, Norfolk, England, UK
Date of Death: 23 April 2005 - Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

3. John Gregson [aka: Harold John Gregson]
Date of Birth: 15 March 1919 - Liverpool, England, UK
Date of Death: 8 January 1975 - Porlock Weir, Somerset, England, UK

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 100 min on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment ~ (May 3, 2011)

I purchased this video out of curiosity. I had read a Reader's Digest "condensed book" version of the story of the British attempt to sink the Tirpitz. That was circa late 70's or very early 80's and I don't remember the details of that written story except that it was titled "Twelve Against The Tirpitz" and involved a number of tiny submarines and was fascinating reading. This movie version of the story is a bit dry and, if you don't know the background history of the Tirpitz and the attempts to sink her, is likely to be somewhat confusing and disjointed. I'd recommend watching this movie only if you first read the historical data about the Tirpitz as available on wikipedia or some other source.

I have a profound hearing loss and only purchase DVDs that are close captioned or subtitled. I have this film in front of me and have tried to run it all 4 of my DVD players... there are no CCs or subtitles on this film. I can look at the pictures but not having dialog takes just a tad off John Mills performance. I tried to amend the product discription but Amazon wants proof other than my having spent money on a film I can't watch. I could return it but it's not worth the hassle. So I'll just let other know here.

John Mills plays a submarine commander in ABOVE US THE WAVES (1955), the fascinating, essentially true story of a clandestine British mission to destroy a superior German battleship that is wreaking havoc on Allied supply convoys. The bold plan is to approach the battleship in still unproven four-man submarines and, rather than torpedo the vessel, plant explosives underneath their target's hull.

Ralph Thomas directed the suspenseful drama, which co-stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice and, in smaller roles, Theodore Bikel and Anthony Newley.

© Michael B. Druxman

Great movie - was finally able to watch it on our computer. Please note that it is in region 2 DVD format which will not play on U.S. DVD players.

I was a dope and did not read thoroughly enough.. Now I can't watch it.
You can only view with a Euro DVD player