Submarine in distress

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Movie
German title Submarine in distress
Original title Gray Lady Down
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1978
length 111 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director David Greene
script James Whittaker
Howard Sackler
production Walter Mirisch
music Jerry Fielding
camera Stevan Larner
cut Robert Swink
occupation

U-Boot in Not (Original Title: Gray Lady Down ) is an American disaster film that was shot in 1978 under the direction of David Greene .

action

Captain Paul Blanchard, commander of the nuclear submarine USS Neptun , is making his last voyage before he is appointed fleet chief and his first officer is to take over Neptune as the new commander. On the last voyage, however, there was an incident in the Atlantic . A freighter, which continues its voyage despite the thick fog and failed radars , rams the Neptune and tears a large hole in the submarine. The Neptune sinks and stays on a rocky reef at over 1,000 feet . 41 survivors are still on board, including Blanchard and some seriously injured. Nobody knows how long the bulkheads will withstand the high water pressure. The oxygen supply is only sufficient for 36 hours and the Neptune can be torn further down by a landslide at any time , where the water pressure is so high that it is simply crushed. There is a dispute between Blanchard and his first officer because he believes that it was unnecessary to show up and that the collision never happened.

Captain Bennett, who is to lead the rescue operation, is brought on board the Nassau , which is already at the scene of the accident and has made radio contact with the Neptune. In addition, a rescue submersible, a so-called DSRV , is requested to bring the survivors up. However, the rescue operation is fraught with considerable difficulties. The exit hatch of the Neptune is filled in by a landslide. To get her released, Captain Gates and Chief Mickey are called in, who together developed and built the two-man submersible Snark . First, Captain Bennett has some differences with the headstrong Captain Gates that need to be resolved. With the help of the snark the hatch is cleared again. Then, however, the Neptun tilts on its side due to another landslide, so that the DSRV cannot reach the exit hatch. In addition, the Neptun's radio has failed, so that communication is only possible via knocking signals.

Blanchard wants to use the remaining compressed air reserves to empty one of the ballast tanks, in the hope that the Neptune will straighten up again. A tragic incident occurs. The ballast tank can only be emptied using emergency emptying valves, which must be kept open by hand. When the bulkhead ruptures in the space where these valves are located, the second bulkhead must be closed immediately to prevent the rest of the submarine from being flooded. However, due to the position of the submarine and the weight of the bulkhead, it is not possible to close the bulkhead from one side. Blanchard and his first officer join forces to shut off the bulkhead on both sides while another officer holds the valves open. So Blanchard has to watch as his two officers are locked in the gap and die for the rest of the survivors. The Neptun straightens up again, but then remains in an inclined position due to a rock curtain, so that the DSRV still cannot get to the exit hatch.

Captain Bennett calls in a demolition team to blow up the rock curtain so the Neptune can fully straighten itself. For this purpose, a highly explosive special explosive charge has to be brought into position very precisely with the help of the snark, so that the Neptune does not suffer any further damage from the explosion. Finally the demolition succeeds and the DSRV can finally bring the survivors to the top. When the DSRV picks up the last survivors, the Neptune begins to slide off the rocky reef. To prevent this, Captain Gates pushes himself under the Neptune with the Snark as a wedge, which crushes the small submersible and Gates also dies if the rescue operation is successful.

Publications

The film was released in German on VHS and in 2008 on DVD on the Koch Media label . In 2017 the film was released again in German, on DVD and Blu-ray on the label WVG Medien .

Reviews

For the lexicon of international films , the work is a catastrophe film that is “superficially staged without any interest in the psychological situation of the trapped people, and offers nothing more than a textbook demonstration of an elaborate naval rescue system.” The television magazine prisma rated the film as “a exciting disaster thriller [...] with a good cast. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Submarine in distress. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 29, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ U-Boot in Not , in: prisma , accessed on June 29, 2018