Goliath - sensation after 40 years

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Goliath - sensation after 40 years
Original title Goliath Awaits
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1981
length 210 (German version: 184) minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Kevin Connor
script Richard Bluel ,
Pat Fielder
production Hugh Benson
music George Duning
camera Al Francis
cut Donald Douglas ,
J. Terry Williams
occupation

Goliath - Sensation after 40 years , original English title Goliath Awaits is an American television film from 1981.

action

In September 1939, the British luxury liner Goliath with 1860 passengers on board was shot at by a German submarine with torpedoes and sunk during a voyage to the USA. When, 40 years later, a crew around the researcher Peter Cabot, searching for methane deposits, came across the wreck using sonar and undertook a dive to the ship, he said he could hear an SOS knock, music and even a living woman behind a porthole. Little faith is given to him on the surface; Nevertheless, a new dive is scheduled, mainly to retrieve sensitive secret papers from the wreck.

The first attempt to get into the ship through a torpedo impact hole resulted in the disappearance of two divers, the second attempt, however, was crowned with success and Peter Cabot, Jeff Selkirk, Bill Sweeney and Doctor Sam Marlow were caught inside the wreck by over 300 people Received. They have, among other things, thanks to a bubble and the waste heat of an undersea volcano founded, survived the ship and under the supervision of the engineer John McKenzie an underwater state. After their intentions have been clarified, the divers are welcomed in a friendly manner and get to know the ship and its inhabitants. They are introduced to the infrastructure, they meet the " bow rebels " - a group of savages who secure their survival by stealing - and learn about "Palmer's disease", the only disease on board that is predominantly weak, degenerate and old Infects people; the secret documents, however, cannot be found.

The divers make contact with the members of the reconnaissance operation who remained on the water surface and are instructed to remain on board the wreck until sufficient decompression chambers (to rescue all trapped persons) arrive . Over time, it becomes increasingly clear that McKenzie, who has been elected president for life and acts as a kind of universal genius, has less integrity than it initially appeared. When the divers were then made aware by the bow rebels that their two missing colleagues were shot by residents of the wreck and they learned from those who remained on the water surface that Dan Wesker, who was always present at McKenzie's side, was suspicious from the start is wanted petty criminal and murderer, they realize that they are in unsettling circumstances. Finally, it turns out that all passengers are about to die because the oil reserves that are essential for generating energy are running out and the “energy exchange machine” presented by McKenzie as an alternative cannot work, despite his assurances.

The divers try to convince the passengers to come to the surface with them, but this proves difficult as McKenzie is still highly trusted and some fear the world outside the ship. In the end, however, the divers manage to get all but 50 people to leave the wreck. McKenzie, who initially tried to prevent the ship from being evacuated by offering the secret documents, now finally sees his life's work threatened and would like to put an end to it himself by increasing the oxygen content of the air until it is in contact with that on board Hydrogen forms oxyhydrogen , causing a huge explosion. In this situation, what has already emerged comes to light: Palmer's disease is not an indiscriminate epidemic, but a targeted poison that - with the knowledge of the only doctor on board - was administered to everyone, who were no longer able to work in order to save resources. In addition, the content of the secret documents is revealed: In the event of a looming defeat of the United Kingdom against the German Reich, the US would have had the order to destroy all remaining British forces in order to forestall a German occupation.

All persons who have decided to leave the ship - divers included - can escape the explosion in time and be rescued.

Premieres

  • USA 11th November 1981
  • Germany 3rd April 1988

criticism

Janet Maslin is amused by the "accumulation of the strangest imaginable accents" in the original version of the film and attested the overwater scenes an "unsurpassable monotony, so that the underwater scenes appear excitingly new".

Ronald M. Hahn / Volker Jansen, on the other hand, saw the German version as an "original TV two-part, even if the idea was clearly stolen from James White's SF novel Prisoners of the Sea ".

Others

The scenario described in the classified documents is similar to Operation Catapult carried out during World War II .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.jimusnr.com/GoliathAwaits.html
  2. ^ Review in the New York Times
  3. ↑ in: Lexikon des Science Fiction Films Volume 1, Munich 1997, p. 387