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The Enemy Below (1957) - Directed by Dick Powell
"It's a bad war. It's reason is twisted. It's purpose is dark. It's not for a simple man."
I'm a fan of war movies, and I have been a fan for years. That was one reason I decided to watch The Enemy Below, a 50's war movie. The other two reasons were because it was from the 50's and the third is that I wanted to try a Robert Mitchum movie. In the end, I was glad to have seen it, but it's not that much of a classic.
One of the last films directed by Dick Powell before his death, this submarine-based film centers around a naval-officer chasing down a Nazi submarine captained by a man who questions the Nazi regime. As this battle between mind and missiles is underway, who will come out victorious?
The Enemy Below benifits from two wonderfully played lead roles by Robert Mitchum and Curd Jurgens. Both actors put a great amount of effort into the roles and they pay off considerably. Watching the two battle it out throughout the movie was the highlight.
The movie also benefits from some wonderful effects and set designs. That's the thing about war movies, especially submarine ones: they have to be just right in order to work. You can't go flaunting low production like in some cheesy sci-fi movie, or flaunt decor like in Adam West's Batman. War movies are serious and their sets need to be taken seriously.
However, the movie suffers from occasional so-so direction that doesn't attempt to emphasize the violence or the sets, or even the people. And most of the time, the dialogue gets boring and occasionally feels like it's going nowhere other than into another missile fight. And the music was so generic "50's action movie" that it didn't add anything at all.
The film also suffers from a little bit of stretching. In 90 minutes, we have a couple of missile battles and by the first hour it feels done before. But there is a satisfying ending with better direction.
The Enemy Below is a good movie for Robert Mitchum fans and might make for a good time to war fans, but this is by no means a true classic. I only watched it because it fit the bill of what I was looking for at the time. In reality, it's worth a watch but will be passible for people who aren't into that kind of thing.
"It's a bad war. It's reason is twisted. It's purpose is dark. It's not for a simple man."
I'm a fan of war movies, and I have been a fan for years. That was one reason I decided to watch The Enemy Below, a 50's war movie. The other two reasons were because it was from the 50's and the third is that I wanted to try a Robert Mitchum movie. In the end, I was glad to have seen it, but it's not that much of a classic.
One of the last films directed by Dick Powell before his death, this submarine-based film centers around a naval-officer chasing down a Nazi submarine captained by a man who questions the Nazi regime. As this battle between mind and missiles is underway, who will come out victorious?
The Enemy Below benifits from two wonderfully played lead roles by Robert Mitchum and Curd Jurgens. Both actors put a great amount of effort into the roles and they pay off considerably. Watching the two battle it out throughout the movie was the highlight.
The movie also benefits from some wonderful effects and set designs. That's the thing about war movies, especially submarine ones: they have to be just right in order to work. You can't go flaunting low production like in some cheesy sci-fi movie, or flaunt decor like in Adam West's Batman. War movies are serious and their sets need to be taken seriously.
However, the movie suffers from occasional so-so direction that doesn't attempt to emphasize the violence or the sets, or even the people. And most of the time, the dialogue gets boring and occasionally feels like it's going nowhere other than into another missile fight. And the music was so generic "50's action movie" that it didn't add anything at all.
The film also suffers from a little bit of stretching. In 90 minutes, we have a couple of missile battles and by the first hour it feels done before. But there is a satisfying ending with better direction.
The Enemy Below is a good movie for Robert Mitchum fans and might make for a good time to war fans, but this is by no means a true classic. I only watched it because it fit the bill of what I was looking for at the time. In reality, it's worth a watch but will be passible for people who aren't into that kind of thing.