Rating: 
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise.
Review: After watching BELOW, I was surprised I had never heard of the movie before or seen it shown in theatres. The movie has an interesting plot, good acting, and is directed by the man responsible for PITCH BLACK.The film revolves around the U.S.S. Tiger Shark, a submarine in the Atlantic towards the end of WW II. The submarine is order to rescue survivors of a British hospital ship. There are only three: a male British officer, a severely wounded soldier, and a female nurse. They claim their ship was sunk by one torpedo from a German submarine. The story doesn't float with the youngest officer on board, but no one will listen to his comments. Then, strange things start to happen aboard the ship. While evading a German vessle, a phonograph suddenly starts playing. Dead people start talking. People start seeing ghosts. Things just aren't what they appear to be. Overall, below is a good movie. It has a strong cast with some very good acting and an intriguing script all under excellent direction. It's a forgotten gem waiting to be found.
Rating: 
Summary: Beneath the surface, no one can hear you scream
Review: Or so the tagline of this movie goes. I like to see hybrids of movie genres. This being a WW II sub film crossed with a ghost story. As one critic puts it, "U-571 Meets Poltergeist." It's a good movie, good story, outstanding performances from a cast of lesser knowns. Two scenes standout as a grand testimony to the direction of David Twohy. 1. Gossip of a female on board travels among the sailors from one end of the boat to the other. 2. A depth charge bounces slowly along the stretch of the sub before teetering on the edge...and we watch in complete suspense. As for the DVD, the transfer is crisp, the audio is incredible (as creaks and moans play an important role in the film), and the special features are good. You get a theatrical trailer, a director and actor's commentary, and a great featurette titled "The Process." A wonderful look into the filmmaking process we watch how rehearsals come to be the real deal. Running only 12 1/2 minutes, I wish it were longer. And 3 really good deleted scenes round out the package. The movie spent a minute in theaters--hopefully it will catch-on in the DVD format.
Rating: 
Summary: A Feeling of being Off Kilter
Review: This is a very strange and moody film that is very engrossing once you have been submerged into its subterfuge. This film truly leaves the viewer with a feeling that can be somewhat described as off-kilter to say the least. This haunting submarine tale is somewhat reminiscent of several episodes of the TWILIGHT ZONE television series as I can recall. This is an outstanding DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A pretty good haunted submarine movie from David Twohy
Review: After being disappointed by so many thrillers "Below" benefited by exceeding expectations. The 2002 film from director David Twohy ("The Arrival") takes place during World War II and begins with the crew of the American submarine "Tiger Shark" picking up three survivors of a British hospital ship that has been torpedoed. One of them is a nurse, Claire Paige (Olivia Wilson), whose presence aboard the boat is seen by some as signifying bad luck. But it is clear that this sub already has been running on the down side since the depth of the captain. The new commander, Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) is jumpy, and apparently is telling the newcomers a story about the death of Captain Winter, and he is clearly not alone in hiding the truth about what really happened. Right after the British are brought on board "The Tiger Shark" is attacked by a German ship, while makes Brice think that one of the three survivors in a collaborator. Meanwhile, Ensign Douglas O'Dell (Matt Davis) is trying to make heads or tales out of everything that is going on, especially when things start to get creepy. It is easy to say that "Below" is a combination of a WWII submarine film and a ghost story, especially since that is a pretty interesting combination. But one of the things that makes "Below" work better than most ghost stories is that the possibility of there being some other explanation is quite strong throughout the film. One of the things that Twohy takes advantage of is the role that sound plays on a submarine where you can hear just about anything from whales singing to a Benny Goodman record that suddenly starts playing when the sub is engaged in silent running to a German depth charge bouncing along the outer hull (a marvelously affective sequence). Add to that your traditional oxygen deprivation problems from being stuck in a confined place, and who knows what is really going on at any moment. Submarines are inherently claustrophobic environments and a submerged sub under attack is a natural for sweating inducing tension. If anything Twohy studiously avoids going over the top, mixing up the touches of the supernatural with the various calamities that befall submariners, which you could say is erring on the side of caution. As a result "Below" moves from being moody to being creepy, but without really getting terrifying. Still, to be able to create and sustain a level of creepiness without the whole thing falling apart is pretty good in terms of contemporary horror movie standards. The performances are notably on target across the board, especially Nick Chinlund as the Chief, Jonathan Hartman as Schillings, and Christopher Fairbank as Pappy. There is also a wonderful sequences where the crew explores the idea that the one thing that explains all the bizarre happenings is that they are already dead in what is one of the better "Twilight Zone" moments I have seen since the Zone shut down. Check out the deleted scenes because the second one, the "Hot Fish" sequence, would have been really interesting to work into the film, especially since Twohy claims in the commentary that this was a real nightmare of U.S. subs during World War II. On that basic alone you have to wonder why they would have cut it, even though the explanation given (that it threatened to make "Below" seem like it was more of an action film than a thriller) makes sense.
Rating:
Summary: Beneath the surface, no one can hear you scream
Review: Or so the tagline of this movie goes. I like to see hybrids of movie genres. This being a WW II sub film crossed with a ghost story. As one critic puts it, "U-571 Meets Poltergeist." It's a good movie, good story, outstanding performances from a cast of lesser knowns. Two scenes standout as a grand testimony to the direction of David Twohy. 1. Gossip of a female on board travels among the sailors from one end of the boat to the other. 2. A depth charge bounces slowly along the stretch of the sub before teetering on the edge...and we watch in complete suspense. As for the DVD, the transfer is crisp, the audio is incredible (as creaks and moans play an important role in the film), and the special features are good. You get a theatrical trailer, a director and actor's commentary, and a great featurette titled "The Process." A wonderful look into the filmmaking process we watch how rehearsals come to be the real deal. Running only 12 1/2 minutes, I wish it were longer. And 3 really good deleted scenes round out the package. The movie spent a minute in theaters--hopefully it will catch-on in the DVD format.
Rating:
Summary: Almost snuck by...
Review: I was lucky enough to notice an advanced screening review for this film online, so I was able to catch it in the theater when it was released. But even while actively looking for it, I still almost missed it! It's distributer, Dimension, a subsidiary of Mirimax, just plopped it out with virtually NO advertisement at all. The only TV commercial I saw was while visiting Dallas, with no ads ever seen in my home city of Houston. Still, my persistence paid off and I did see it on the big screen, thinking what a shame it was that this unique and high quality film should receive such shoddy treatment from Dimension. This could have been a sleeper hit, had they advertised just a bit more. I strongly recommend Below as a cross-genre success, with superb sub action a la Das Boot, and sublime creepiness a la 1963's The Haunting. If you like it, do David Twohy a favor and turn on others to this fine gem! Everyone I've had see it is pleasantly surprised with it.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but forgettable WWII Thriller
Review: Not so much a great movie as a really long episode of "The New Twilight Zone". In "Below", the crew of a US sub is trapped by a malfunction or perhaps something more, and can't come to the surface. The story kicks off when the sub, prowling the gray waters of the North Atlantic, picks up survivors of a British hospital ship - including a lovely nurse named Claire (Olivia Williams, a sort of deep-thinking version of Saffron Burrows) and a wounded soldier who doesn't seem to be British. The crew is also abuzz about a German ship they had sunk earlier. With another German ship in the area, the Yanks run silent and run deep - but then find themselves running from something they can't quite understand. The sub refuses to answer her helm, and the crew find that they can't get her to surface. An attack by the ship above damages them further. A series of bizarre accidents begin to claim the crew, and the survivors begin to wonder whether something took a dive along with them, but now won't let them see daylight again. They question whether in their eagerness to survive and triumph in the war, they may have already lost their lives before they could realize it, or whether they're still alive, but paying for their sins in fighting below and beyond the call of humanity. "Below" is a nifty idea, but it looks like it never got past the idea - instead, the flick seems to be reminding you that it was written with an eye towards higher production values. The underwater CGI effects look like they were made for a documentary on "The Discovery Channel", and pale besides those seen in "Red October" over a decade ago. Also, while working with a small number of characters, the script can' seem to give any of them any depth (no pun intended - I mean it!), making it seem like they really are dead. There is no central POV in the story, and the script tosses in the supernatural aspects of the plot almost as a given - frustrating the mystery of whether there really is something spooky down below. In short, it's a slick flick that's diverting fun, but vanishes into the depth of your attention once it's over.
Rating:
Summary: A pretty good haunted submarine movie from David Twohy
Review: After being disappointed by so many thrillers "Below" benefited by exceeding expectations. The 2002 film from director David Twohy ("The Arrival") takes place during World War II and begins with the crew of the American submarine "Tiger Shark" picking up three survivors of a British hospital ship that has been torpedoed. One of them is a nurse, Claire Paige (Olivia Wilson), whose presence aboard the boat is seen by some as signifying bad luck. But it is clear that this sub already has been running on the down side since the depth of the captain. The new commander, Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) is jumpy, and apparently is telling the newcomers a story about the death of Captain Winter, and he is clearly not alone in hiding the truth about what really happened. Right after the British are brought on board "The Tiger Shark" is attacked by a German ship, while makes Brice think that one of the three survivors in a collaborator. Meanwhile, Ensign Douglas O'Dell (Matt Davis) is trying to make heads or tales out of everything that is going on, especially when things start to get creepy. It is easy to say that "Below" is a combination of a WWII submarine film and a ghost story, especially since that is a pretty interesting combination. But one of the things that makes "Below" work better than most ghost stories is that the possibility of there being some other explanation is quite strong throughout the film. One of the things that Twohy takes advantage of is the role that sound plays on a submarine where you can hear just about anything from whales singing to a Benny Goodman record that suddenly starts playing when the sub is engaged in silent running to a German depth charge bouncing along the outer hull (a marvelously affective sequence). Add to that your traditional oxygen deprivation problems from being stuck in a confined place, and who knows what is really going on at any moment. Submarines are inherently claustrophobic environments and a submerged sub under attack is a natural for sweating inducing tension. If anything Twohy studiously avoids going over the top, mixing up the touches of the supernatural with the various calamities that befall submariners, which you could say is erring on the side of caution. As a result "Below" moves from being moody to being creepy, but without really getting terrifying. Still, to be able to create and sustain a level of creepiness without the whole thing falling apart is pretty good in terms of contemporary horror movie standards. The performances are notably on target across the board, especially Nick Chinlund as the Chief, Jonathan Hartman as Schillings, and Christopher Fairbank as Pappy. There is also a wonderful sequences where the crew explores the idea that the one thing that explains all the bizarre happenings is that they are already dead in what is one of the better "Twilight Zone" moments I have seen since the Zone shut down. Check out the deleted scenes because the second one, the "Hot Fish" sequence, would have been really interesting to work into the film, especially since Twohy claims in the commentary that this was a real nightmare of U.S. subs during World War II. On that basic alone you have to wonder why they would have cut it, even though the explanation given (that it threatened to make "Below" seem like it was more of an action film than a thriller) makes sense.
Rating:
Summary: As Submarine crews go this nails it
Review: As an ex-submariner with a total of 16 patrols and over 4 years submerged I can say this is how submarine crews truely are. The set is nearly 100% accurate for an old diesel boat and has a very real feel throughout the movie. You can almost feel the same dirty grity smelly feel of a diesel boat sailor.
The "eccentric" nature and behavior of each member of the crew is as true to life as you can get with out having to go through it yourself. Yet the team work, discipline and mission secrecy asspect remain intact and add a cult like element when seen through the eyes of survivors they pick up. The main plot revolves around a kind of ghost story, and is the only part that doesn't fit reality but certainly fits well in this movie. If you are submarine movie fan or just like the off beat this is a good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Excellent
Review: I was hesitating to buy this DVD and add it to my collection, so I decided to rent it first. When I watched it I was pretty enjoying every moment of it. Some scenes really kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending was breath taking... I bought the DVD the next day because I know that when I watch it again, I will still enjoy it.
If you're a fan of horror/thriller movies just buy it.
|
