Customer Reviews

Hell and High Water

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

**** 1954. Written and directed by Samuel Fuller. One nomination for the Academy awards (Best Special Effects). Capt. Adam Jones, accompanied by two scientists, must find an island in the North Pacific ocean where Chinese are believed to build an atomic bomb. I love the extravaganza of the cinema of Samuel Fuller, Who else could have imagined a love scene between Richard Widmark and Bella Darvi in a submarine resting on the bottom of the ocean ? In a red light in order to conserve electricity and unable to speak because of the lack of oxygen ? This is cinema at its best. Highly recommended.

Despite the expected cold war anti-commie propaganda, this is one fine submarine movie. After the end of WWII an American ex-navy submarine commander takes on the task of transporting scientists by submarine up near arctic waters to spy on what the Chinese communists are up to (no good). Of course, the sub is an old surplus Japanese I-Boat (a "sewer pipe" according to the captain) and the crew is a bunch of old hands and misfits. There is a fair amount of action, as the commies don't like the sub's presence, and the movie has an interesting ending. Overall, very enjoyable, but don't expect Run Silent, Run Deep.

This is a Cold War era about what would happen if the Koreans (this is set during the Korean War, which ended during the year of its release) got a hold of an A-bomb and dropped it in a way to frame the United States. Richard Widmark plays Capt. Adam Jones who is hired for a mysterious mission to trail a freighter in an old Japanese submarine. He hires some of his old Navy crew and takes the famed atomic scientist Prof. Montel (Victor Francen) and his assistant Prof. Denice Gerard (Bella Darvi) on board as the directors of their mission.

They run afoul of Korean defenses including a very good sub battle, an island raid, and the final conflict I will leave to you to experience. Widmark carries most of the dramatic load, the crew provides a bit of pathos and some enjoyable comic relief. Victor Francen is believable as the bearded scientist and Bella Darvi looks pretty enough on screen (but not a real actress).

The special effects were very good for their time, but the Cinemascope cannot be appreciated on your TV no matter how high the quality or its dimensions. However, it is an enjoyable tale and can be enjoyed by the family.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Dull and melodramatic. Weak story line. Not one of Richard Witmarks better performances when you compare this to his work in "The Bedford Incident". Now there is a movie I would highly recommend for both the acting performances well as a powerful story line that is filled with emotion.

This DVD is an excellent movie featuring Richard Widmark in one of his very best movies about the USA at war.

I huts have to say that they just don't make movies like this anymore. The character development is much better in these older movies. Recommend this to any person who likes military movies.

By now you have the story line and sorry I'll spoil part of it for you "boy gets girl". As some of the other reviewers stated if you switched some of the countries around this story could work today. I gave the movie a Five Star rating for a number of reasons, most are hard to explain until you see this picture, and as one other mentioned it's one of few "war" pictures that the whole family can watch and enjoy.

It was an excellent movie and one I had not seen before. The DVD was clear and easy to handle and see.

Set at the height of the Cold War, this Sam Fuller thriller has Richard Widmark as a former navy sub commander recruited by a private group to stop Red China from getting the bomb. Action packed with a cast that includes Cameron Mitchell, a lot of fun. Sure it's dated. Love it anyway.

It is always a pleasure to review the classic black and white movies with the legends of the big screen. this one is no exception.