John Sturges brings his deft movie touch to this cold-war actioner by Alistair McLean.
It's got all of the novelist's usual stuff: hand-picked individuals, impossible mission, traitor in the camp and so on. Both McLean and Sturges knew how to keep a story moving.
A rogue commie satellite has been photographing strategic allied locations. Unfortunately; it has also turned on its makers and photographed commie locations too, making it the most valuable/dangerous piece of political/military gear in the world. It has crashed in the arctic at a civilian research site named 'Ice-Station Zebra'. Whoever finds it has the world in his hands. So; it's a race against time.
There's an interesting mix of players led by Rock Hudson as captain of a US nuclear submarine, and Patrick McGoohan doing his devious special-agent routine from British terrestrial TV's 'Danger Man' - later reprised in his immortal 'The Prisoner'. The chemistry between them is very good, emphasised by a witty and intelligent script. Ernie Borgnine also features well as a Russian-born double-agent.
It's a lavish movie. There's plenty of wide sweeps of the submarine both at sea and under it, with some interesting camera angles. These help offset the rather claustrophobic interior. That interior looks sufficiently realistic to pass muster to the uninformed as a genuine nuclear submarine of the time, with its curious mix of solid machinery and tacky 'modern' accommodation. Add to these a decent sound-effects and music package and little else is missing.
It's a taut, plot with lots of nice twists and a satisfactory conclusion. The most disappointing aspect is the rather stagy presentation of the arctic. The disintegrated base looks believable enough - though not a patch on Carpenter's later work in his 'Thing', but there's a little too much salt-n-Styrofoam for genuine plausibility. It's a pity they didn't spend the extra bucks and go on location big-time.
Still; like most of McLean's novels brought to screen, it's a worthy effort that still entertains today. The plot, script and characters see to that.
It's got all of the novelist's usual stuff: hand-picked individuals, impossible mission, traitor in the camp and so on. Both McLean and Sturges knew how to keep a story moving.
A rogue commie satellite has been photographing strategic allied locations. Unfortunately; it has also turned on its makers and photographed commie locations too, making it the most valuable/dangerous piece of political/military gear in the world. It has crashed in the arctic at a civilian research site named 'Ice-Station Zebra'. Whoever finds it has the world in his hands. So; it's a race against time.
There's an interesting mix of players led by Rock Hudson as captain of a US nuclear submarine, and Patrick McGoohan doing his devious special-agent routine from British terrestrial TV's 'Danger Man' - later reprised in his immortal 'The Prisoner'. The chemistry between them is very good, emphasised by a witty and intelligent script. Ernie Borgnine also features well as a Russian-born double-agent.
It's a lavish movie. There's plenty of wide sweeps of the submarine both at sea and under it, with some interesting camera angles. These help offset the rather claustrophobic interior. That interior looks sufficiently realistic to pass muster to the uninformed as a genuine nuclear submarine of the time, with its curious mix of solid machinery and tacky 'modern' accommodation. Add to these a decent sound-effects and music package and little else is missing.
It's a taut, plot with lots of nice twists and a satisfactory conclusion. The most disappointing aspect is the rather stagy presentation of the arctic. The disintegrated base looks believable enough - though not a patch on Carpenter's later work in his 'Thing', but there's a little too much salt-n-Styrofoam for genuine plausibility. It's a pity they didn't spend the extra bucks and go on location big-time.
Still; like most of McLean's novels brought to screen, it's a worthy effort that still entertains today. The plot, script and characters see to that.