Bloodwank Review of The Atomic Submarine

The Atomic Submarine (1959)

Watchable and sometimes cool but kinda average science fiction joint

[6/10 · 8 February 2011]

Although pretty much forgotten these days, lost in the vast and crazy whirl of similar budget science fiction of its era, The Atomic Submarine makes a creditable effort at something slightly different to is fellows, albeit not too different. Though the title suggests modernity, technical innovation and perhaps nuclear fear what we really have is an encounter with an entity from beyond our world, the difference being that it takes place beneath the Arctic, in the cold depths of the North Pole. See, something is out and about down there destroying submarines and so the greatest submarine of all and its crew are sent on a search an destroy mission before sub-Arctic travel is rendered a non-viable trade route. The film and its cast do an okay job of brewing up some low grade tension, a mixture of stock footage and model work doesn't always succeed in passing off affairs of taking place where they are claimed, but neither is either inept enough for me to be actually displeased and the focus tends to be more internal anyway, with the submarine tracking its quarry and conflict between the mission commander and a doctor he pretty much despises as a yellow bellied liberal. Political discourse isn't exactly high grade in this one, but Arthur Franz has the right airs and a certain compelling stature as the commander and Brett Halsey conveys a smart but slightly offended dignity as the doctor. Further acting is pretty sound, I'm not familiar with any of the other players really but Tom Conway gives a fun showing as a British scientist, Victor Varconi is stereotypical but interesting as his European counterpart and assorted other folk have appropriate mixtures of duty and derring do in their supporting roles. The trouble with the film is that for a lot of the time, it simply isn't that interesting. The general execution lacks the verisimilitude to maintain constant interest in proceedings, the pacing is a bit slow and the writing is neither smart enough nor overcooked enough to make up for these lacks. As a result, vacant watch-ability flecked with fun is about the highest that the film achieves until it actually gets to the crunch some twenty minutes before the end. Here the film finally becomes a bit of a winner, repaying audience patience with some nifty effects and a fearsome antagonist (handled by the FX team of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt who also worked on the classic Kronos), that I suspect freaked out more than a few kids back in the day and are still quite striking now. Its a solidly enjoyable final block and memorable in its way, but even so it's still pretty conventional and after the build up (and given the unusual setting) I was really hoping for a slightly more offbeat pay-off. Still good fun though and as far as my viewing of these movies has gone, an entry in the win column. 6/10 from me, worth a look for genre enthusiasts.