Customer Reviews

Up Periscope [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It seemed that ever since the release of 1957's THE ENEMY BELOW, World War II submarine movies enjoyed great popularity during the late 50s. This is one of the better ones directed by Gordon Douglas with stalwart James Garner and cautious Edmond O'Brien. The scenes around the Japanese held island are suspenseful and well filmed by Carl Guthrie. Richard Landau's screenplay is pretty faithful to the novel by Robb White. It also features Edd Byrnes, Alan Hale Jr. and one of my favorite actors Warren Oates.

PART OF THE ACTION SHOTS FOR THIS MOTION PICTURE WAS FILMED ABOARD THE USS TILEFISH (SS307) IN SAN DIEGO, CA. (1958). I WAS A YOUNG NINETEEN YEAR OLD WHITE HAT SAILOR THAT WAS IN AHA! NOT ONLY WERE THESE PEOPLE GREAT ACTORS - THESE ACTORS WERE GREAT PEOPLE. MAYBE I WAS TO CLOSE TO BE AN OBJECTIVE CRITIC, BUT I LOVED IT.

UP PERISCOPE IS A TOP NOTCH WORLD WAR II FILM STARRING JAMES GARNER & EDMOND O'BRIEN. WELL WORTH WATCHING. A TRUE FIND IF YOUR A WAR MOVIE BUFF LIKE ME.

I bought this video because it appeared to be based on the book UP PERISCOPE writen by Robb White. I bought the book in about 1961 in grade school. I loved the book and read it several times. The movie has the same characters, Kenn Braden, Skipper Stevensen, Pat Malone, Si, etc. It roughly followed the book, except there was a big difference in one outcome. To be honest, I liked the book more, but I really enjoyed the movie. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had not read that book and tried to follow the two plots. It was a good movie, but, like the one goat said to the other goat as they were eating the film from a movie "I liked the book better!" Robb White also wrote a book called SECRET SEA, which I enjoyed almost as much as UP PERISCOPE.

This little-remembered submarine drama was one of Garner's first big movie-star roles. Made by Warner Bros., the fact that Garner was then starring in "Maverick" on tv is prominently mentioned on the original poster artwork for the film that is featured on the dvd cover and the trailer for the film (introduced by the then- young James Garner.)

The bulk of the film is the submarine voyage taking Garner, an underwater demolitions expert and trained commando, to an island in Japanese territory where he is to retrieve some Japanese codebook. (Garner happens to speak Japanese as well.) The suspense is not only whether Garner will get what he came for, but whether the submarine Commander, Edmond O'Brien, will wait for him. To be honest the plot is fairly implausible. First of all, this is Garner's first mission and the mission seems next to impossible, you would think that the Navy would find a more experienced commando for the job. Secondly, submarine Commander O'Brien gives Garner a ridiculouly short amount of time to complete the mission. The part of the film where Garner gets to the island and sets about retrieving the codebook is suspenseful, but goes on much too long.

Still this is a fairly well-done film with some good submarine action and nicely filmed in color. Some other members of the crew include Edward Byrnes, soon to be Warner Bros. teen idol as Kookie on "77 Sunset Strip," and New York Giant football star and future husband of Kathie Lee Gifford, Frank Gifford, as well as an unbilled Warren Oates. Two other actors associated with being at sea also appear as part of the crew: Alan Hale, Jr., the skipper of "Gilligan's Island" and Henry Kulky, who 6 years later would become part of another submarine crew as Chief Curly Jones, the CPO of the Seaview on the first season of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." (Kulky passed away of a heart attack midway through his first and only season of Voyage.)

If you have a couple hours to kill and want to relax through a fairly interesting W.W.II drama, you could do a lot worse than this film.

Up Periscope is a a World War II film with James Garner. Garner's mission is to infiltrate a Japanese held island to get a secret code book. He's under a lot of pressure and the submarine commander, a tough Edmond O'Brien, is a no nonsense commander. Garner is going in - alone - and unsure whether or not O'Brien is going to wait for him past his deadline. You can see why Garner became a movie star. His dashing good lucks and onscreen presence is strong. In addition, there are a few film stalwarts among the crew such as Alan Hale Jr. and a young Warren Oates.

I personally enjoyed this film. It did lack the drama however I loved to see the stars I grew up with. It is a good movie, well acted and directed however I am not sure that young people today, used to more action and drama would enjoy it. I enjoyed the lack of violence and blood and how James had to be creative t find his way out. Overall, it is a throback to my youth and I enjoyed it overall.

This is James Garner at his peak. He made this film during a hiatus from Maverick. This is one of the movies I enjoyed as a kid, and now get the opportunity to watch whenever I want. If you like WWII submarine films, this is a must have.

Jim Garner may be pigeonholed by some as a TV actor, but here he gets an early chance to prove he's big screen material. Garner is a versatile actor that always manages to turn in just the right performance. That's true here too. The movie itself is well-done, with a screenplay by Richard Landau that stays close to the Robb White novel. This movie is a good story in print that transferred well to the big screen. I've read the book numerous times, and now I can finally watch a DVD print of this top notch submarine movie. I can't believe it took the studio so long to release it, but I'm delighted to finally own it.

All that needs to be said for this failure of a war movie is the jap destroyer hunting the american sub was a US Navy destroyer. At least those who made this awful film could have changed the american flag flown by the destroyer in these scenes for a japanese flag.

Some of the other action footage came right out of the series, "Air Power," later changed to "Victory at Sea." Ugh!