Customer Reviews

Torpedo Run [VHS]

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

 

 

In the late 50's and early 60's there was a wrash of submarine movies released in theaters, one of which is Torpedo Run. The movie tells the story of Lt. Commander Barney Doyle and his submarine, the Greyfish. After Doyle accidentally sinks a prisoner transport, with his wife and child on board, he becomes obsessed with going after the ship he intended to sink, the Japanese carrier, Shinaru. Doyle will sink the Shinaru at any cost which puts his sub and crew at risk. Torpedo Run is one of the best war movies made about submarine warfare. If you like this movie, I recommend Run Silent, Run Deep and Up Periscope. For a tense, exciting war adventure set in the Pacific theater, I highly recommend Torpedo Run.

Glenn Ford is good, as always, as Lt. Commander Barney Doyle, who attempts to sink the Japanese carrier, Shinaru, at all costs. Ernest Borgnine is equally as good as Doyle's executive officer and second-in-command, Lt. Archer Sloan, who turns down a promotion to remain with Doyle on the Greyfish. In a smaller part, Diane Brewster plays Doyle's wife, Jane. The rest of the crew includes Dean Jones as Lt. Jake "Fuzz" Foley, a young, inexperienced officer on board, L.Q. Jones, Robert Hardy, and Paul Picerni. The movie also stars Philip Ober and Richard Carlyle. The Torpedo Run VHS is of decent quality, but this submarine movie deserves a DVD release in widescreen presentation as is shown on Turner Classic Movies. For an excellent and exciting submarine adventure with a great cast, check out Torpedo Run!

Commander Doyle had to do what he did, destroy a trooper ship containing over a thousand innocent Prisoners of War, and his own lovely wife as well (an odd coincidence that she was in the very same cargo that he was assigned to bring down). I couldn't get over the way the screenwriters stacked the deck so that no matter which way Doyle decided to go, he just couldn't live with himself. His duty towards his country, versus his love for his family. In a way, Glenn Ford's performance will remind you of George C. Scott playing Abraham in John Huston's film of THE BIBLE, trying to make his conscience obey God's directive to slay his oldest son in sacrifice on the abandoned mountain. Ernest Borgnine, as his best friend (more of a lackey than a friend) tries to understand what Ford is doing, but who could possibly follow all the moral conundrums a sub commander must face?

Joseph Pevney the director, brings this all to life in some tensely charged scenes where the men under Doyle's command react in all different ways to their commander's apparent hardness. Pevney is especially good with aquatic sequences and had previously made the Joan Crawford scorcher FEMALE ON THE BEACH. And who could forget the epic AWAY ALL BOATS, with the incredible line up of Julie Adams, Keith Andes, Lex Barker, Richard Boone, Jeff Chandler, Clint Eastwood and David Janssen--and George Nader for good measure! Pevney's talent for nail-biting suspense come in handy here on TORPEDO RUN just as they had at the beginning of his long career when he maneuevered scenery-chewers Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff through their paces in THE STRANGE DOOR. Glenn Ford isn't any Charles Laughton but he acts just as nutty as Commander Doyle.

Glenn Ford is in danger of becoming the forgotten superstar! He was once one of the reliable box office top tens, and none of his pictures ever lost a dime. Studios clamored for his services, though he had a longterm association with Columbia where he was sometimes featured with real-life love interest Rita Hayworth. In the 1950s his star continued to rise and he made classic after classic, often in military roles where he seemed to shine. The truth is he was good at every kind of part, from drama to westerns to contemporary roles and light comedy. Remember him as Pa Kent in SUPERMAN? That was just one of the things he could do well, for he inspired trust and loyalty, and his fans responded. Now most of them are quite old, but if properly marketed, I think Glenn Ford could enjoy an enormous revival among the young. Ernest Borgnine too! After all, both stars are still alive and Borgnine, at least, still raring to go to work\.

Glenn Ford & Ernie Borgnine star in this World War II submarine picture. Ford is the Captain, and Borgnine the XO who grapple with the most heart rending decision a submarine skipper has to make... risk killing his own family to sink an enemy carrier. The taut drama is well directed and acted. A nice little film to add to your WWII collection.

I've seen at least eight different sub movies: Run Silent, Run Deep, The Enemy Below, Das Boot, U-571, Torpedo Alley, The Hunt for Red October, K-19 the Widowmaker, and this one. (Does the SF TV series, "Voyage to the Bottom of the Toilet Bowl," count? How about the Beattles' "Yellow Submarine? That would be nine). :-)

Although maybe not in the same class as Run Silent, Run Deep (what is?), this is still a pretty good sub flick. I say that with a couple of reservations, as it's sort of like the Yellow Brick Road of sub war movies, because of the apparently crazy or excessively risk-taking behavior of the captain, played by Glenn Ford. In one scene, Ford makes the dangerous decision to shoot the Japanese aircraft carrier hiding behind a transport ship although 1400 American POWs (including his own wife and family) are on board the transport. He misses and sinks the transport. It's not made clear why he couldn't move around to the other side of the carrier, which is using the transport as a human shield.

However, another scene where they must negotiate the underwater minefield in Tokyo harbor to get inside the Japanese defenses is suspenseful and well done. Glenn Ford craftily gets the sub both in and out of the harbor without being detected, sinking a ship in the process. They snag a couple of mine mooring lines, which sound pretty creepy as the lines scrape along the side of the hull, but none explode.

Good ol' Glenn Ford manages to project an aura of avuncular warmth and thoughtfulness despite being the stern, serious, sub captain who obviously intends to live life on the edge--even for submarine warfare--even if that means sending his ship to the bottom--which he does in another scene, although the crew manages to escape. Ernest Borgnine is also good in his supporting role. Overall a pretty decent submarine war movie despite not a few implausible elements.

Another role that should have earned Glenn Ford an Oscar nomination in this touching performance of a submarine commander miscalculating the torpedo that took the ship carrying his family to its demise. Excellent action war movie and one of the finest Glenn Ford performances. Another must see for all Ford fans. END

This movie may be a bit wrenching on your emotions, due to the difficulty of the command decisions by the captain of the sub. Some people think it is "stupid", but I think if it were actually them there in his shoes they may have did the same thing. If he did not fire on the carrier using the prison ship screen, his superiors may have considered him unfit for command. This would have made him ashamed of himself in front of his only remaining family: the U.S. Navy. However, I think he could have set the torpedo depth deep enough to shoot under said ship and hit the carrier (I am a hardcore sub-sim gamer). But this was an actual real-life account of what happened in WWII, and as such must be depicted as what really happened.

Excellent action. Good acting. Very interesting. Good account of social interaction between crew. Good account of captain's family interaction.

In the movies, American submarine skippers all too often tend to be shown as emotional basket cases. Maybe Captain Queeg should have been serving on a sub instead of a minesweeper. Anyhow, Glenn Ford is pretty daffy in this film. He uses appallingly poor judgment when he sinks a Japanese transport ship which he knows is carrying 1400 U.S. POWs. Oh yes, his own wife and daughter are also on board--and he's well aware of that. Then things get worse, though it hardly seems possible. Ford grows even dumber and turns mean and nasty toward Ernie Borgnine, his loyal dogsbody--executive officer. The rest of the crew on Ford's boat never once question his competence, despite his zany behavior, his poor decision making, and their having to abandon their sub when Ford manages to send them all plunging to the bottom of the sea. All in all I enjoyed this movie and will watch it again. Who says movies have to be logical and make sense? Not I. This is entertainment.

I've been looking for this on DVD but i guess it's not politically correct, if you've seen it you know what i mean. Still a great movie, the strongest part of which is the superb acting by Glenn Ford and especially Ernest Borgnine. The dialogue is good but the chemistry is even better. Ford's terse command voice during sub operations is also excellent, i can't think of a better sub capt performance beside it except Das Boot.

I have seen them all and this is the best submarine movie of all time. so get your hands on this. was even better than U-571
earnest borgine, real good with other star forgot who he is. watch this. dont get K-19 this was the worst movie ever.
and we dive at dawn.

One of the best of all the world war 2 submarine movies! 5 stars. But where in the HELL is the DVD??? Not having a dvd for this GREAT movie is a travesty! Come on guys! Give us the dvd already!!!