Product Details

• Actors: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Davis, Arthur Franz, Robert Arthur, William Leslie
• Directors: Nathan Juran
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: August 6, 1996
• Run Time: 82 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303257666
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,582 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As the sole movie co-starring Hollywood's only First Couple, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, Hellcats of the Navy is either a privileged artifact or a hootworthy campfest, depending on your politics. Reagan plays a submarine ("hellcat") commander in the Pacific during World War II; Davis is the game little nurse back on shore who's decided he's (this is a quote) "Mr. Right." They share maybe eight minutes among the film's 82. Reagan's commander is a pretty glum guy, making unpopular life-or-death decisions into which his executive officer (Arthur Franz) reads nasty personal motives. This is a B movie all the way: drab supporting cast, script and direction that can't even get the cliches right, and bland studio footage of the actors intercut with speckly stock action shots and blatant miniatures exploding. Any contemporaneous episode of the syndicated TV series The Silent Service got more sense of excitement and wartime pressure aboard a submarine. Now if only the DVD had included that classic Saturday Night Live takeoff with Ron Reagan Jr. time-traveling back to the Hellcats set to spark the romance between dad (Randy Quaid) and mom (Terry Sweeney).... --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Underrated Movie!, February 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hellcats of the Navy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I am writing this review to correct a previous reviewer. Instead of discussing the pros and cons of this movie "laddie5" simply engaged in a character assassination of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Having actually seen this movie, I can tell you that it is definitely a good one--and also highly underrated! The movie was well adapted from a novel by Vice-Admiral Charles A. Lockwood. In other words, the movie creates a very good image of what it was like on a WWII submarine. Furthermore, the acting is not stiff! The characters all really get into their roles and everything goes smoothly. I strongly recommend this movie to everyone and hope that my fellow reviewers will be more objective from now on.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ronald Reagan's last film role as a hero (and Nancy too!), June 16, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hellcats of the Navy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The "Hellcats of the Navy" are a special branch of the U.S. Navy Submarine Service who did Special Ops. Commander Casey Adams (Ronald Reagan) and the U.S.S. Starfish are sent to bring back sample Japanese mines for the Navy to study. The mission succeeds, but Adams is forced to abandon one of his frogmen, the popular Wes Barton (Harry Lauter). The boat's second in command, Lt. Commander Don Landon (Arthur Franz) second-guesses the captain's decision, since Barton had made advances to the skipper's girlfriend, nurse Helen Blair (Nancy Davis). Landon becomes even more unhappy when he learns Adams turns in a report that says he is a good junior officer but is emotional unfit for command (yes, parts of this movie are going to remind you of "U-157" while others are reminiscent of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"). On the return mission, the Starfish is lost, but Adams, Landon and some of the men are rescued. Finally, after another successful mission their new sub gets a wire entangled in the rudder and Adams goes below in a diving suit to fix the problem. When a Japanese destroyer bears down on the sub, Landon gives the order to submerge, leaving Adams behind.

This 1957 film directed by Nathan Juran, has the virtue of being based on a novel, "Hellcats of the Sea," written by a couple of Admirals, Charles A. Lockwood (played by Maurice Manson in the film) and Hans Christian Adamson. While it owes its place in cinematic history to the fact it is the only film in which Ron and Nancy Reagan appeared together, the strength of "Hellcats of the Navy" is the treatment of command decisions and the morality of leadership. This is a movie that you would have thought would have been produced during or shortly after World War II, but since it deals with secret operations it is not a story the Navy would have passed on until years later. This is not a great WW2 submarine film like "Destination Tokyo," but it is not a bad one by any means. Oh, and the scenes between Ron and Nancy? Well, the romantic sub-plot is pretty minimal and their scenes end up being minor curiosities that are somewhat flat when compared to the shots of them just looking at each other during their years in the White House.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent WWII submarine movie! Good action sequences., November 27, 2001

By 

John Alderson "icemoose" (Central Maine, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hellcats of the Navy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie addresses the issue of what it takes to be a good wartime commander. Exciting enemy encounters, good account of a few social interaction between the swabbies and their families. It's an excellent movie despite public ridicule of former President Ronald Reagan's acting (His real-life wife is in it too). It leaves you with a sense that you have learned something, especially after watching it a second time.