Product Details

• Actors: John Wayne, Lana Turner, David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, Tab Hunter
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: May 3, 2005
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007P0XCS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,004 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Sea Chase" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

In 1939, a German freighter skipper escapes from Sydney harbor and tries to make it back to German waters.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 3-MAY-2005
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unusual FIlm for the Duke, July 2, 2005

By 

John A Lee III "jal3" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sea Chase (DVD)

In this sea drama John Wayne plays the same type of rugged individualist that he always did but there is a surprise. He plays a loyal German sea captain during the opening days of World War II and does so in a distinctly sympathetic fashion. This may at first seem counterintuitive for John Wayne fans but the key is that he is not a Nazi. In fact, he is an outspoken critic of the Nazi party. That is how he finds himself cashiered from the German navy and in command of a tramp steamer.

The captain finds himself in Australia at the outbreak of the war. He breaks out in an attempt to bring his ship safely back to Germany. Though he loathes the regime, he is a loyal German. Getting to Germany is only the least of his problems. He is saddled by his consulate with the transport of a German spy in the form of Femme Fatale, Lana Turner. To make matters worse, his second officer is an ardent Nazi who thinks nothing of committing the occasional atrocity against shipwrecked seamen. The icing on the cake is the Royal Navy warship that pursues him across the South Pacific with an old family friend aboard her as one of the officers.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Wayne portrays the captain as a man dedicated to his own ideals and his own conception of valor. This makes dealing with Nazis, spies, mutinous crewmen and friend in the opposing navy just that much more difficult.

Wayne is often criticized for playing the same one dimensional character over and over again. I see him as playing parts he believes in over and over again. He generally does a good job of it and this film is no exception. Principles have a price and Wayne pays the price, doing so with gallantry.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Wayne as a German Sea Captain!, August 2, 2005

By 

John Dziadecki (Louisville, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sea Chase (DVD)

For some reason I never thought of Wayne as playing the role of a German sea captain. Well, he does here and does very well indeed in this very entertaining film. Here he has a decent script to work with that gives him an opportunity to shine. Both Wayne and Turner seem to grow in their respective roles.

The film looks and sounds great on DVD with its original CinemaScope aspect ratio intact. A very entertaing film set on the high seas. Enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Duke playing a German......Pretty Neat., June 3, 2003

By 

Dean Thomas (Downey, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sea Chase [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Having John Wayne play a German Ship Captain (and an anti-nazi one at that) in World War Two made for an enjoyable change from his 'usual' roles, and underlined an important, though understated historical fact: that not all Germans in that time period were pro-Hitler, though they fought for their country out of love for country. That was so well shown when Wayne's character threw out the Swastika Flag and raised the World War One German Battle flag when his ship was challenged. This was a prime example of what made it an enjoyable film for me.