Customer Reviews

Voyage to Bottom of Sea [VHS]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I can just imagine the marketing department at Fox scouring its archives for products it can tie in with today's environmental concerns. The "Global Warming" edition of the Voyage movie is a rather obvious repackaging of an old product with a glitzy extra or two, but the association with climate change is a stretch. In the movie, the sky catches fire and Earth's temperatures rise dramatically. Global warming, indeed.

I was happy to see the movie released with extras such as an isolated music track, commentary, and production gallery, but disappointed with the quality of each of the features. The music track is well recorded, but unlike the special edition of "Fantastic Voyage," there's no dialog to fill the passages which have no music. Long stretches of silence are the result.

With the commentary playing, I found myself groaning every time Voyage "expert" Tim Colliver launched into another of his glib ad-libs, which were riddled with obvious grammatical errors and verbal gaffs. Colliver mispronounces "depth" "Depp" - as in Johnny Depp - twice. He trips over his tongue, then ironically notes that he "talks for a living." I hope he saves his money. Colliver also points out that he feels obligated to tell us the differences between the Voyage movie and novelization... and vice versa!

While the video quality of the film is excellent on this DVD, it is no better than on the version backed with "Fantastic Voyage" which Fox released several years ago. If you already own that version, there is no need to replace it with this one. If you need to spend money, buy Fantastic Voyage (Special Edition) instead. Now THAT's how you do a commentary!

Viewing Irwin Allen's sci fi drama "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", recently after many years was like going back in time to the days when I would race home from school to see the next exciting episode of the popular series that this film spun off into. Viewed critically by viewers nowadays for the simple special effects and often absurd science on display, I see it rather as simply a very enjoyable 100 minutes of good old fashioned science fiction which for the time was very state of the art. Remarkably the film still holds up well for the most part with the great Seaview atomic submarine and the still quite frightening effects of the sky being on fire and melting the Polar Caps, being the real standouts in terms of special effects technology. For a film of this type it has a quite memorable cast in acting veterans Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, and Henry Daniell combining very well with such "younger generation" performers as Frankie Avalon, Barbara Eden and Michael Ansara.

The story opens with the new state of the art submarine, the "Seaview", captained by Admiral Nelson (Walter Pidgeon), doing some research work near the North Pole when a catastrophe of world wide significance occurs when resulting from some unusual meteorite fallings the Van Allen Radiation Belt surrounding the Earth's atmosphere catches on fire encircling the planet in a fiery mass that sends temperatures soaring up to 130 degrees. Called back to New York to a meeting on the UN Admiral Nelson with the assistance of Com. Lucius Emery (Peter Lorre), works out a scheme whereby shooting a missile from the Seaview at a certain point and time into the radiation belt will extinguish the fiery mass. Convinced of his theory Nelson meets strong opposition from most Un delegates who feel it will burn itself out when it reaches a certain temperature. Capt. Nelson decides to taking it upon himself to ensure that the missile is fired at the appointed time and taking his crew and a reluctant visitor , Dr. Hiller (Joan Fontaine), along on the dangerous mission, the Captain encounters many difficulties along the way to the North Pole. Admiral Nelson becomes increasingly tyrannical in his leadership as he contends with an increasingly cynical offsider in Capt. Crane (Robert Sterling), dangerous mine fields, a pursuing submarine sent out by the UN to hunt the Seaview down if necessary and on board an unknown saboteur who seems intent upon ruining his plans to fire off the missile. Finally after half the crew decide to go no further and attempt to return home on an abandoned ship and the remaining skeleton crew experience a tense stand off with a bomb carrying religious zealot Miguel (Michael Ansara), who they had picked up off the ice, the missile is finally shot off at the appointed time proving Admiral Nelson's theory correct that the radiation belt would not burn itself out and could only be destroyed by a nuclear blast at its centre.

While certainly no cinema classic "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", does take itself very seriously which gives the story a certain ring of authenticity despite some of the questionable science employed. Earnest performances combined with good special effects for the time greatly aid in making the story seem a bit more memorable than what probably it actually deserves. Walter Pidgeon a veteran of countless Hollywood classics takes a distinct change of pace here from his earlier famous collaborations at MGM with such people as Greer Garson, and turns in a convincing performance as the Admiral who literally shanghai's the Seaview in a mad dash to prove his theory on how to destroy the flaming Van Allen Radiation Belt. His performance turns from affable to increasing manic as the deadline for firing the missile approaches and makes for an interesting depiction of how a man's mind can snap under pressure. Fellow veteran Joan Fontaine while at times looking a trifle uncomfortable in her role of the psychiatrist who is unwillingly involved in the mission still manages to bring conviction even to the highly silly premise of when she takes matters into her own hands and Hollywood legend Peter Lorre making what must be one of his last performances as Admiral Nelson's offsider in the scheme to fire the missile, delivers his usual capable performance. Being the 1960's Producer Irwin Allen having his eyes on the booming teen market made sure that the cast was sprinkled with upcoming faces such as Barbara Eden (Pre "I Dream of Jeannie), and singing heart throb Frankie Avalon who also sings the oddly out of place theme song. At first glance they may appear slightly out of place on a nuclear submarine however Barbara Eden in particular does a reasonably good job as the young love interest to Capt. Crane while also managing very well in getting about the submarine in dangerously tall high heels! Irwin Allen did enjoy great success with his special effects in this film and the sight of the whole sky literally burning up along with the terrific underwater scenes are still highly impressive. Much ridicule has been directed at the whole premise of this story however I feel the idea of a radiation belt catching alight and frying the Earth's surface is actually quite an original and at times quite frightening idea and for the most part is handled in a quite convincing way if you ignore some of the scientific impossibilities of what the cast carry out. The addition of an unknown saboteur and the fatalist character played by Michael Ansara work well in heightening the drama and addign to the tensions along the way in the story and definately help keep up the viewers interest.

"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", is definately a trip back to a simpler time in sci fi film making but that should not be viewed as a critcism of the film. I've always felt it has a bit of the old Saturday matinee feel to it and I still find the movie great escapism for a bit over an hour and a half. Irwin Allen of course became much more famous later in the decade for his sci fi television series version of this movie and of course for "Lost in Space", but this movie was done on a more lavish scale than most of those efforts and still is worth seeing for its own merits. Try to see the original sci fi movie that became the long running series of the same name in Irwin Allen's exciting "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", soon.

Sure, the science is implausible. But this film employs enough plot devises and not-half-bad special effects to make it a real party flick. The two real treats in the film: (1)An aging but always fascinating to watch Peter Lorre, chain-smoking his way through some pretty dumb lines, and (2) Barbara Eden in a skin-tight naval "uniform," as the admiral's personal assistant, jiggling about the submarine, and even going topside, in 6-inch spike high heels. What fun!

This was my favorite film of my childhood, I still have a great deal of affection for it. My father took me to see it when I was eleven and it absolutely blew me away, it was to me what Star Wars was to the next generation. I immediately started hitting every book store and department store I could find to locate the novelization (which I eventualy found in a small bookstore on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. I still have it.)
The basic premise is of the Van Allen radiation belt surrounding the earth catching fire and the attempt of the futuristic atomic-powered submarine, Seaview, to shoot a nuclear missile into the belt and push the fire out into space. Pretty much everyone is opposed to this including the United Nations but as the brilliant creator of the Seaview, Admiral Nelson, advises "I answer only to the President."(Hearing the Admiral state this unequiocably brings me back to a time when the U.S. did not have to grovel to anyone else for anything. I wish we were still there.) Since the President can't be contacted, the Admiral has a time-limit and must do it on his own.
The cast is excellent. Walter Pidgeon is a suitably eccentric Nelson and Robert Sterling (from TV's Topper,) a good Captain Crane. (I do prefer Richard Basehart and David Hedison from the Voyage TV series though. Irwin Allen wanted Hedison to play Crane in the film but Hedison refused after working unhappily with Allen on "The Lost World." He eventually relented and accepted the role on the TV series due to his respect for Basehart and his buddy, Roger Moore, telling him he could make a great deal of money from a successful TV series. I've met Hedison a few times and had him autograph my 1964 Aurora model of the Seaview.)
The rest of the cast is fine. Joan Fontaine is aboard as a Psychiatrist testing the crew, Barbara Eden looking lovely as the Admiral's secretary, Michael Ansara, (Eden's then-husband,)as a rescued religious fanatic brought aboard the Seaview and Frankie Avalon as second-officer Chip Romano. (His character became Chip Morton on the TV series.) But the real prize is the great Peter Lorre as the Admiral's buddy and co-genius Commodore Emory. Lorre steals every scene he is in and you can occassionally spot a Lorre ad-lib, something he was known for.
But the real star of the film is the sleek, beautiful Seaview itself. It is my favorite vehicle from any sci-fi film (even more than the USS Enterprise.) Seeing that submarine on a large movie screen was very impressive. One can't quite imagine it when one has only seen this film on TV. The special effects were state of the art for 1961. There are a couple of monsters: a giant squid and a giant octopus that attacks the Seaview. Chances are if you've watched the TV show only you have seen some of the action scenes from this film as Irwin Allen was known for using and reusing footage. (The bulk of a first season Voyage episode "Turn Back the Clock" is from Allen's film "The Lost World," also starring Hedison.) The Voyage TV series ran four years and was very successful. It was the longest-running, non-anthology, Sci-fi series until eventually beaten by Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Unlike the first Voyage DVD this includes some extras including a commentary, a short interview with Barbara Eden, etc.) The extras caused me to get rid of my original Voyage DVD and purchase this one, I was not sorry.
In conclusion, if you want a serious sci-fi film with millions of dollars of CGI special effects, this is not for you. However if you want a fun and exciting film with state of the art special effects, circa. 1961, you could do a lot worse than this film.

One of Irwin Allen's earliest cinematic works. Good entertainment for a sci-fi flick even though the plot involves a global disaster that is totally improbable. Also, this movie has something that for some reason was missing from the TV series, female characters!

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a good action adventure story of mankind at odds with nature when nature runs wild. The struggle of Adm. Nelson a scientist/adventurer and the submarine S.S.R.N. Seaview in their quest to save the world from the atomic radation of the Van Allen Belt is as exciting today as it was when first written in 1961. And the future advances in science in undersea exploratin in this story as the Seaview and her exploration craft have now come to pass, and the Seaview herself may soon come into being as science continues forward with new metals and the new revelation " Transparent Aluminum " the Army has developed is like the " Herculite " of the Seaview's viewports. In todays stories of fantistic worlds, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is still a fine adventure of the events here on the earth from danger from the Van Allen Belts to unknown life forms under the sea that mankind has still yet to discover. END

Irwin Allen was known as The Master of Disaster. Some of the Disaster movies credited to his name include The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and Earthquake! The movies featured all-star casts and earned Academy award nominations for special effects. One of the first disaster movies for Irwin Allen, was Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea! The movie featured an all-star cast as well. Walter Pidgeon was cast as Admiral Harriman Nelson, the creator and builder of the Seaview. Peter Lorre was cast as Commodore Lucious Emory, a brilliant physicist and friend to Admiral Nelson. Robert Sterling was cast as Commander Lee Crane, the Captain of the Seaview. Joan Fontaine was Dr. Hilliard, a noted psychiatrist who was on board Seaview for a research project and Barbara Eden who was cast as Lieutenant Kathy Connors, secretary to Admiral Nelson and engaged to Captain Crane.
As the movie opened, the Seaview was surfacing at the North Pole for a shakedown cruise under the polar ice. The Seaview, a super submarine built by Admiral Nelson, equipped with the latest in technology. One of the features on Seaview, was its amazing glass nose. During the cruise is when the Van Allen Belt of Radiation, exploded at the 300 mile level. When Seaview surfaced, Admiral Nelson & Captain Crane discover, the polar ice cap is melting. When contact was re-established, Admiral Nelson was ordered to the United Nations Building for an emergency scientific conference. His trip to New York City, would have to be made on Seaview. The thermal conditions have grounded all aircraft. During the trip, a survivor from Ice Flow Delta is rescued. The individual is Dr. Miguel Alvarez, portrayed by Barbara Eden's real life husband Michael Ansara. When Seaview arrives in New York, Both Admiral Nelson & Commodore Emory present their plan that would hopefully extinguish the Van Allen Belt. Admiral Nelson's plan calls for the use of a nuclear missile, fired from Seaview. As the nuclear warhead explodes, the hope is, the overdose of radiation will cause the radiation belt to explode outward into space and clear of Earth's magnetic field. The critics agrue, the reverse could happen. The belt could explode inward and incinerate the surface of the Earth. The plan they want to see approved, is allow the belt to burn itself out. Admiral Nelson was not going to abide by the UN decision.He wanted the present his idea to the President of the United States. Since his plan would involve the use of a nuclear weapon, Presidential authorization would be required for the firing of the missile from Seaview.
The rest of the movie, would be a fight for survival. As the Seaview travels from New York City to the Pacific Ocean to the firing position off of Guam, They encounter obstacles. The first, the thermal conditions knocks out the use of the Panama Canal. The travel time would be increased as Seaview travels around South America to enter the Pacific Ocean. One of the hopes Admiral Nelson has to make contact with Washington, is the Rio to London telephone cable. During the search for the cable, one of the obstacles they encounter is the Giant Squid. With contact with Washington now impossible, Admiral Nelson must act on his own. His decision is, to proceed to the firing position off of Guam, to fire the missile. During the trip, Admiral Nelson discovers, there's a saboteur on board Seaview. The first act, the ship's generator is rendered useless. Without the generator, Seaview's sonar is useless. Admiral Nelson can't afford to waste time and orders the ship to proceed on course. The next obstacle they encounter is the mine field. The mini-sub has to be used to free Seaview. However, the mini-sub and its two man crew is lost. At first, they thought the saboteur was Lieutenant Hodges, the ship's chief engineer. Lieutenant Hodges commits suicide for his act. As the movie progresses, this theory is proven incorrect. The death of Lieutenant Hodges was a cover-up to the real saboteurs. One of the other obstacles was the fire in Admiral Nelson's cabin. As the DC parties were putting out the fire, it was discovered, gas was in Seaview's air conditioning system, forcing the ship to surface to ventilate. While Seaview is on the surface, is when they encounter the derelict yacht. This is when they discover, Seaview is hunted ship. The world subs were on a seek & destroy mission to prevent the Seaview from firing the missile. Both Admiral Nelson & Captain Crane have to deal with another possible problem - a mutiny! Admiral Nelson allows those desiring to go home, to go home on the yacht. He provides food & water to give them a fighting chance. Another problem confronting Captain Crane, is Admiral Nelson's behavior. Naturally, Captain Crane is concerned for Seaview and his crew. The only option available to the Captain, would be to relieve Admiral Nelson of his command. Instead of placing him under arrest, the Admiral would be placed on sick list. This is when the Seaview encounters the other sub and the torpedo attack. The only option available, is to use Seaview's deep diving capability as they dive into the Marianas Trench. Not realizing Seaview's deep diving capability, the other sub follows until the sub implodes for exceeding its Crush Depth. As the Seaview returns to the surface, Admiral Nelson gives the order to prepare the missile for firing. He discovers, there's no burn out point for the Van Allen Belt. At this point in the movie, the real saboteurs are revealed. Dr. Hilliard & Dr. Alvarez are the saboteurs. They want to stop the firing of the missile at all costs. Dr. Hilliard is in the reactor room. During her sabotage attempt, she receives a fatal dose of radiation. She encounters Captain Crane. During a steam explosion, Dr. Hilliard falls into the shark tank and she's attacked. Dr. Alvarez is holding the ship at bay, with a bomb in the observation nose. After receiving a report of what's going on, the only option available to Captain Crane, was a manual firing of the missile. Now in his wet suit, Captain Crane proceeds to the open missile tube and attaches a magnetic primer to the missile. Seeing what Captain Crane is trying to accomplish on the sail camera, Admiral Nelson tries to buy him some time as the Captain sets the magnetic primer. When the ship's clock read 4:00, Alvarez was under the impression, the Admiral missed his firing point. A few seconds later, the magnetic primer activates, firing the missile. The backwash of the missile being fired, allows the crew to take Alvarez into custody. With the Seaview now on the surface, both Admiral Nelson & Commodore Emory witness their plan working as the Van Allen Belt is extinguished as it explodes outward into space. As the movie concludes, the Seaview is going home.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea received good reviews and did well at the box office. A few years later, Irwin Allen recast the movie into a series and brought it to television. Richard Basehart would be Admiral Nelson and David Hedison would be Captain Crane.
If you are a fan of Irwin Allen's movies, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - The Global Warming Edition, would make a nice addition to anyone's DVD library. The movie is one of Mr. Allen's early disaster movies that would eventually establish him as The Master of Disaster. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is definitely Classic Irwin Allen!

still entertaining good summer type adventure with fine special effects and plot. lots of intrigue and suspense and all the elements that make up the kind of film that young folks like.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a thoughtful and entertaining science fiction drama involving the discovery of a strange weather disturbance in the Arctic by the crew of the nuclear submarine Seaview. The crew learns that the Van Allen Radiation Belt surrounding the earth has caught fire, threatening to roast the earth unless some way can be found to stop it. With temperatures around 170 degrees and communications with Washington cut off, Admiral Nelson (played nicely by Walter Pidgeon) orders the Seaview to the North Pole, with the intention of firing a nuclear missile as a solution to the ensuing catastrophe. Unfortunately, Captain Crane (Robert Sterling) and most of the crew are at odds with the Admiral's plans. Attempted mutiny follows, while enemy subs, giant sea creatures, and sabouteurs try to foil the mission. Although not in the realm of the science-fiction classics, this is a colorful and entertaining film with good acting and special effects - a worthy and necessary inclusion in any serious sci-fi collection. With Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden, Frankie Avalon and Michael Ansara. Followed by the tv show of the same title, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison.

As always, The Pilot VTTBOTS is in some ways superior to the series. A pretty suspensful film, well written, good color special FX...the 'Global Warming' Addition to the DVD is great, and *also* includes some excellent history of Science Fiction. Get this edition if you buy the film.