Customer Reviews

Gray Lady Down

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On the big board at NORAD, there is a single horrifying word that, when lit up, makes even combat hardened Admirals and Generals weak in the knees. The word is "DISSUB." It means that there is a disabled submarine, lost somewhere under the waves. It is a word that every senior officer at NORAD hopes that he never, ever sees on his watch.

This is a movie about just such a circumstance; an American sub (SSN) on her way home after a routine patrol collides with a Norwegian tanker, due to low visibility. The sub sinks to an unstable ridge on the side of an underwater mountain in the depths of the Atlantic. A furious rescue operation then gets underway by the US Navy to save the sailors trapped on board.

This is a fine submarine movie which boasts fine performances by Charlton Heston and Stacy Keach. Even the usually one dimensional David Carradine plays a passable under-appreciated engineer. The direction is also quite good and the special effects are decent.

While I was in the Navy, there was a running joke that went something like this: The good news is that you're never, ever more than 6 miles from land. The bad news is, the land is straight down. Here is a frightening story of what happens when an unfortunate submarine slips down to that land. It is a tale which has all the more relevance given the fates of the USS "Thresher," USS "Scorpion" and the more recent incident on the Russian sub "Kursk." This is a worthwhile and realistic Navy movie worth watching. Hopefully, the scenario depicted will never come true.

The misfortunes keep piling up, as the Neptune, a nuclear submarine that has collided with a Norwegian cargo ship, sinks to the bottom of the waters near Cape Cod. There are many interesting character studies, as the increasing stress brings out the dark side, and also the heroic aspects of the personalities cooped up and running out of air, as well as those above, attempting to rescue the stranded sub.
Two underwater vehicles are used in the rescue, a two-man experimental Snark, and a DSRV (Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle). There are many taut, exciting scenes in the process, and the pacing by director David Greene keeps the action flowing.

Charlton Heston delivers a strong performance as Captain Blanchard, with moments of anguish he dare not show his crew. David Carradine and Ned Beatty, who operate the Snark, add a lot to the film as they try to find the "Gray Lady Down" on the murky ocean floor.
Other notable performances come from Stacy Keach, Ronny Cox, and William Jordan, and Christopher Reeve has a bit part, that if you blink you'll miss.
Great score by Jerry Fielding, and cinematography by Stevan Larner, filmed in part on the USS Cayuga and USS Pigeon.
Despite its many tragedies, ultimately it's a feel-good film, that celebrates American strength and ingenuity, and makes for good, solid family viewing.
Total running time is 111 minutes.

"Gray Lady Down" was Charlton Heston's last movie as an action lead, and it is a much more pleasing film than some of the other 70s disaster films he appeared in like "Earthquake" and "Airport 1975." This time, the disaster story of a nuclear submarine trapped on the ocean floor after colliding with a ship on the surface, has an air of believability and tension and the rescue procedures we see as the Navy tries to get to the sub before it's too late are well done. Compared to today's high-tech sub movies, "Gray Lady Down" may seem quaint, but that only serves to enhance its charm as a more realistic action film than today's mindless drivel.

Christopher Reeve has a bit part as an officer, and it was this appearance that first brought him to the attention of producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind when they were looking for candidates for "Superman".

Unfortunately, this new DVD release is not the right way to experience the film since Goodtimes Video has incredibly chosen to release it pan and scan instead of letterboxed, which totally defeats the purpose of DVD entertainment in the first place. Turner Classic Movies has shown it letterboxed before, and I recommend waiting for it to show up there again before being subjected to the wrong way of seeing it. Shame on Goodtimes Video for not doing this film justice with a decent video release!

For all the films that have ever been made about submarines, especially nuclear-powered ones (THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, DAS BOOT, etc.), the 1978 drama GRAY LADY DOWN stands out as a very good film that even the passage of more than a quarter of a century can't diminish.

Loosely based on David Lavallee's novel "Event 1000", the film puts legendary actor Charlton Heston in the role of the commander of the nuclear submarine "Neptune". On its way home, the sub is accidentally hit by a wayward Norwegian freighter in dense fog some sixty miles off the Atlantic seaboard. While he and his crew (including Ronny Cox, Dorian Harewood, and Stephen McHattie) try to find ways of staying alive and sane as the sub rests on an unstable slope more than a quarter mile underwater, a massive rescue operation is mounted by a by-the-book captain (Stacy Keach) and a non-conformist Navy man (David Carradine) that involves not only the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) but Carradine's own debris-clearing vehicle the Snark.

The result is, despite some minor flaws, a very good and taut suspense drama, with Heston giving yet another one of his professional performances, this time not as a megahero (a la BEN-HUR), but as just one of the guys. Keach and Carradine also do a good job under the direction of David Greene, as does Ned Beatty as Carradine's assistant. Solid underwater photography and special effects, plus a tension-packed score by Jerry Fielding (Oscar nominee for THE WILD BUNCH and STRAW DOGS) make GRAY LADY DOWN a thoroughly underrated film that is well worth watching.

Make sure your purchase THIS version of Gray Lady Down, it is from Universal and is released in widescreen as it should be. I already had a copy of The Goodtime release which as other reviewers have stated it was in pan and scan.

Gray Lady Down is not that bad of a movie to see. Charton Heston, David Carradine, and Stacy Keach do very good in their roles. The story starts when the U.S. Navy's newest nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Neptune is accidentlly ramed by a Norwegian frieghter and sinks to the bottom of the North Atlantic floor. The U.S. Navy quickly sends a rescue ship with their new DSRV mini sub to the accident site. Can the new mini sub rescue Neptune's crew in time. I have this movie on DVD, and the DVD runs very well. The special effects are good, the plot is great and the story isn't bad at all. Look for Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, and a young Christoper Reeve in a pre Superman role.

Most professional critics have been dismissive of this movie, and even Charlton Heston in his autobiography had little good to say about it. Yet I found "Gray Lady Down" to be an above-average submarine epic. The cast includes many fine stars, and the story is believeable and exciting. One drawback, though: this DVD is in full-screen format, not widescreen.

Charlton Heston makes a very good showing in this movie. In this thriller we see all the errant and the excellent qualities of human nature displayed in the cast including Heston himself. We see a situation where an individual may or may not be using the best judgment of character in his final return toward home and ends up in a true test of his character and the metal that he is made of. The explicit technical aspects of the film cannot be ignored. We find that the current cutting edge technology of the day is displayed in this movie. Anyone looking for and education and familiarity with submarine technology and techniques still in use today worldwide would be well served by this movie. Its clear the part played by the U.S. Navy in this movie was just fabulous. Getting back to our cast. We see a variety of leadership techniques displayed including that portrayed by David Carradine and Stacy Keach (who also both do very well in this movie). As this thriller unfolds we see how the complexity of the different characters and continually unfolding circumstances knit a web of excitement that few could sit back through. Anyone looking forward to an exciting cinematic experience would be pleased. My six-year-old scuba-diving son was glued to the screen and still raves of the movie. One cannot ignore the excellent lessons in human character to be learned. I give this movie the full five stars. Top Marks!

Charlton Heston stars in this exciting film about an American nuclear submarine which is disabled in a collision with another ship.

Heston stars as Capt. Paul Blanchard, commander of the submarine USS Neptune. Blanchard is retiring and has just turned command of the boat over to Commander Dave Samuelson (Ronny Cox). The ship is making its way back to port in very foggy conditions when suddenly, a Norwegian freighter slams into the sub. The freighter had lost its radar and could not see the sub. Immediately, the sub begins to sink, finally coming to rest 1,450 feet below the surface of the sea and perched precariously on an underwater ledge.

The Norwegians managed to notify the Navy about the accident and soon, Captain Al Bennett (Stacy Keach), along with the Navy's DSRV recovery sub is racing to the scene of the collision. Also included in the rescue effort is Captain Gates (David Carradine), the pilot of an experimental submersible called the Snark; a tiny two-man sub which can be used for various tasks. Gates' job is to clear debris off the deck of the Neptune so the DSRV can dock with the Neptune's escape hatch.

Meanwhile, the Neptune has been enduring several undersea earth slides which threaten to push the sub off the shelf its resting on and into a deep undersea canyon. Blanchard does his best to keep the morale of his crew up, but its become a race against time as the sub begins to lose oxygen and more compartments are flooded by the seawater. Several tricks, including an underwater detonation of explosives, are tried to correct the sub's angle so the DSRV can successfully dock with the Neptune's escape hatch. Finally, the DSRV is able to dock with the Neptune and the task of transporting the surviving crew members to the surface begins. However, the sub begins to slip off its ledge before the rescue can be completed. Will the remaining crew be rescued, or will they slide off the ledge and into the canyon with the Neptune?

This is an excellent film. Made during the height of the Cold War, this film shows what could happen if an American submarine were to sink in a deep part of the ocean. The DSRV has since become the main rescue vehicle for American subs. The film's story is very good, and the acting, especially by Keach, Heston, and Carradine, is first-rate.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. The story is believable and the action is non-stop. Fans of Naval history and action films will be sure to enjoy this exciting movie.

A grizzled submarine captain (Heston) making his last run as commander of the U.S.S. Neptune is thrust into crisis mode when his nuclear submarine collides with a Norweigen freighter that sends this gray lady down 1450 feet below the surface. The only hope for the crew of the Neptune is an eccentric inventor (David Carradine) who attempts to navigate his Snark to the Neptune's blocked escape hatch. But time is running out.

A modest thriller that respects its genre and delivers on its premise, but does not distinguish itself. If you are a fan of Heston and underwater adventure films, and you prefer miniatures and (admittedly crude) stock footage to computer generated effects, this should hold your interest. It does feel like something from 1950's television rather than 1970's cinema and offers little in the way of surprise, but it's competent. Not surpisingly, it was helmed by a television director named David Greene ("Roots" "Rich Man, Poor Man") who doesn't quite have the feel for this material. It's no Das Boot, but it's pretty good.