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Best Submarine special effects in movies and TV

F

FONSguy

Super Member
So. as some have noticed, I'm a frustrated second unit special effects guy. As a hobby I nave built models with the intention of filming or photographing them as SPFX models. Look at "Lydeckerfan" on yewtoob to see some of the video tests. ANYWAY...
watching Voyage to the bottom of the sea movie, (20th Century Fox/Howard Lydecker) and later Ice Station Zebra, and then 20,000 Fathoms beneath the Sea (Disney) and even Down Periscope, I thought........what IS the best sub SPFX or even REAL sub film you've ever seen?
 
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The two hardest Special Effects to pull off in movies are Water and Fire. Physics decides the shape, size and action of these natural elements, not Directors. I've seen water "bubbles" the size of basketballs, and the raging flames of a burning ship look like 2 or 3 Zippo lighters. These were the pitfalls of using Miniatures — CGI can do better, but often fails these basic tests.
 
Honorable mention goes to The Spy Who Loved Me. Subs in the tanker Liparus look convincing given the ambition of the set.
 
The "Flying Sub" from the TV show Voyage to the bottom of the Sea has some great shots of surfacing, then skidding on the surface and then take off and flying away.
 
Crimson Tide...the scene where Navy hymn is being sung while the submarine is diving...brings chills to my spine.

Partly because I had the privilege of a short stint on a nuclear fast attack sub while in NROTC.
 
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I agree with U571 but will add Jones was a joke as a Sonar operator in that other movie ;)
 
2011etec said:
Always loved Run Silent Run Deep.
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I watched it on TV only a month ago. The characterizations of the lead characters were complex and played against each other well. The two actors — Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster — were ideal for the parts, and brought intensity, acting chops and star-power. The Gable character has shades of Ahab in Moby Dick. It holds up very well for a movie of its period.

Keep in mind that all feature-films made for the big-screen, are "color-graded" for TV. It's a bit like using an equalizer in Audio: the brightness is turned down a bit, while the dark scenes are made brighter. It's done so that everything is visible on a small screen in a Living Room, and means the scenes in the German submarine are far too bright, robbing them of some realism, atmosphere and drama. Further, the aspect-ratio is changed, ruining the visual composition of scenes, and losing whatever is at the edges of the frame.
 
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