The Admiral Above
Today's review: The Enemy Below.
The Enemy Below should have been an exciting game of cat-and-mouse, with both sides having victories and setbacks. Instead, it actually feels somewhat routine, as if everything was being done by the numbers. It really does take a great deal of effort to make what could be an exciting war movie feel mostly dull.
The plot revolves around an American destroyer, the U.S.S. Haynes, patrolling the South Atlantic during WWII. Their captain, Murrel (Robert Mitchum) has sea experience, but is considered green by most of his crew. Meanwhile, a German U-Boat led by Captain Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens) is on its way to rendezvous with another ship carrying Allied codes. The destroyer and the sub cross paths, and the Haynes chooses to pursue while the U-boat does what it can to evade it. Sonar, torpedoes, depth charges, and trickery are all used in an attempt to beat the opposing side. This being an American movie, we all know which side is most likely to win, although the very ending does turn out to be a bit of a surprise.
Here’s the biggest problem with how the “fight” plays out over the course of the movie; both captains appear to be clairvoyant. Von Stolberg will, for example, decide to use a device to confuse the Haynes’ sonar machine and use the distraction to turn around and slip right under the destroyer. When they realize the sub is no longer on their sensors, Murrel says “he probably slid right under us. But he’ll turn around soon enough, probably at this spot on the map.” And lo, it is so. Stolberg has similar moments, although it’s clear Murrel is the one with the psychic advantage. That’s why there’s never as much tension as there should be, because instead of having a moment where you wonder if the captain can predict the other ship’s movements in time, it all just seems to be following the script. Admiral Plot Device unquestionably had his hands all over this one.
Despite all that, though, the action scenes at least have a bit of excitement to them (and the sound of the sonar machines pinging create some genuine tension). It’s the human element that really makes the movie drag. Obviously, it’s good to give characters some personality, depth, and flaws, but here they spend a little too much time on character stuff. The first twenty minutes of the movie contain barely any action, just men on the Haynes gossiping about their captain and Von Stolberg making a speech about war that’s clearly there to say “He’s one of the good Nazis who doesn’t believe in Hitler’s ideology.” By the time the action got going, I was feeling a little uncharitable, especially when they dragged in a “dead wife” monologue during a lull in the action. I’m sure there was a way that the script could have balanced the characters and the action, but it might have been helpful if they hadn’t had such obvious stock characters.
The Enemy Below is a middling drama and an ok sub movie. At least you get an idea of how cramped it could get inside a sub, and how dangerous certain maneuvers could be. On the whole, though, it’s probably mostly of interest to WWII fans, and the occasional hardcore submarine buff. And it’s not like there aren’t other WWII sub movies out there…
The Enemy Below should have been an exciting game of cat-and-mouse, with both sides having victories and setbacks. Instead, it actually feels somewhat routine, as if everything was being done by the numbers. It really does take a great deal of effort to make what could be an exciting war movie feel mostly dull.
The plot revolves around an American destroyer, the U.S.S. Haynes, patrolling the South Atlantic during WWII. Their captain, Murrel (Robert Mitchum) has sea experience, but is considered green by most of his crew. Meanwhile, a German U-Boat led by Captain Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens) is on its way to rendezvous with another ship carrying Allied codes. The destroyer and the sub cross paths, and the Haynes chooses to pursue while the U-boat does what it can to evade it. Sonar, torpedoes, depth charges, and trickery are all used in an attempt to beat the opposing side. This being an American movie, we all know which side is most likely to win, although the very ending does turn out to be a bit of a surprise.
Here’s the biggest problem with how the “fight” plays out over the course of the movie; both captains appear to be clairvoyant. Von Stolberg will, for example, decide to use a device to confuse the Haynes’ sonar machine and use the distraction to turn around and slip right under the destroyer. When they realize the sub is no longer on their sensors, Murrel says “he probably slid right under us. But he’ll turn around soon enough, probably at this spot on the map.” And lo, it is so. Stolberg has similar moments, although it’s clear Murrel is the one with the psychic advantage. That’s why there’s never as much tension as there should be, because instead of having a moment where you wonder if the captain can predict the other ship’s movements in time, it all just seems to be following the script. Admiral Plot Device unquestionably had his hands all over this one.
Despite all that, though, the action scenes at least have a bit of excitement to them (and the sound of the sonar machines pinging create some genuine tension). It’s the human element that really makes the movie drag. Obviously, it’s good to give characters some personality, depth, and flaws, but here they spend a little too much time on character stuff. The first twenty minutes of the movie contain barely any action, just men on the Haynes gossiping about their captain and Von Stolberg making a speech about war that’s clearly there to say “He’s one of the good Nazis who doesn’t believe in Hitler’s ideology.” By the time the action got going, I was feeling a little uncharitable, especially when they dragged in a “dead wife” monologue during a lull in the action. I’m sure there was a way that the script could have balanced the characters and the action, but it might have been helpful if they hadn’t had such obvious stock characters.
The Enemy Below is a middling drama and an ok sub movie. At least you get an idea of how cramped it could get inside a sub, and how dangerous certain maneuvers could be. On the whole, though, it’s probably mostly of interest to WWII fans, and the occasional hardcore submarine buff. And it’s not like there aren’t other WWII sub movies out there…