brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Better Late Then Never

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Taught WWII naval dogfight between US destroyer captain Robert Mitchum and German U-Boat commander Curt Jurgens. The Nazi's are certainly the bad guys, but they are treated with a surprising amount of respect, which was unexpected, though I suppose this picture was made 12 years after the war, so maybe that was enough time for Germans to be good again. Directed by song and dance man Dick Powell, he's crafted a tight muscular war film that I would rank as the best submarine picture up to this point.

Not a documentary, this movie focuses more on the personal interactions between men in a war they have learned to hate...Robert Mitchum is the American Captain of a Buckley class Destroyer Escort, operating independently in the North Atlantic...Kurt Jurgens is the crusty German skipper of a submarine, who has experienced two World Wars. Both of them have felt the horror of war, the utter futility of constant conflict, but both still do their duty...The Enemy Below is a portrait of two men's inner demons, and their struggle to overcome those demons...there is a lot of action as well...Overall, the film brings technically accurate depictions of war at sea, a good bit better than many others...but it is drama, first and foremost, with the accuracies set as the backdrop...This is always well worth watching...

Dick Powell's "The Enemy Below" is one of the most intensely suspenseful military movies of all time as well as one of the best World War II movies ever made. The movie is based on a novel by D.A. Rayner who served in the British Royal Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic which is where the movie and the novel was set but the movie itself was shot in the Pacific Ocean on actual Navy ships, and instead of using British characters American characters are used for this movie. Robert Mitchum stars as Captain Murrell who is in charge of a Navy destroyer that is monitoring the Atlantic Ocean for enemy activity with a sonar radar and then Murrell and his crew soon find out that there is a German submarine underwater before the Germans find out that there is an American destroyer above them, and then an intense battle starts between two very experienced military minds of Murrell and the German captain (Curd Jurgens) which could produce deadly results, which makes the movie all the more suspenseful thanks to Wendell Mayes' expertly written script. The movie does present an anti-war sentiment on both sides which is a common feeling these days thinking that governments send soldiers to the battlefield for nothing but to die and get money out of it which is an understandable view but people like me who are neutral when it comes the situation of war only support the cause of war depending on the circumstances and our very own national security. But now enough about politics and back to the movie, I found the performances to be very effective throughout the movie especially from both Mitchum and Jurgens. As well as Powell's magnificent direction, but like most movies they don't come without their flaws because like humans being imperfect movies aren't always perfect either. The problem I had with this movie were minor because with the battle scenes I didn't find the music very fitting with the events that were unfolding throughout the movie which made the movie a little less suspenseful than it should have been. Otherwise it was a really enjoyable and very entertaining movie to watch.

Somewhere in the South Atlantic during World War 2, an American Destroyer captained by experienced captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) spots something close by on its radar screen and sets about trying to discover what is lurking in the vicinity. The crew on board the destroyer soon discover that they have in fact spotted a German U-Boat and set about trying to destroy it. However, the German U-Boat captain (played by Curt Jurgens) is an experienced captain and isn't prepared to give up without a fight. The two captains set about trying to destroy their opponents vessels by attempting to outwit each other, but who will end up prevailing?Whilst the likes of Mitchum, Jurgens and Hedison were all great here and worked well together I think what makes this film so great is Wendell Mayes wonderful screenplay. This is a classic example of a superb cat and mouse thriller/hunt or be hunted/battle of wits type affair. The film flits between the two vessels and shows the two men planning their attacks against the other and it's presented in a way that is both insightful and totally unpredictable. From about the 30 minute point, Mayes starts to crank the tension up and never really lets up. This is the same person that was one of those that were responsible for the wonderful screenplay for the original Poseidon Adventure (and this earlier effort is every bit as good as The Poseidon Adventure). Mayes is good at characterisation and here we don't hate the characters or pity them or necessarily like them, but we respect them and respect is clearly an important concept in this film.I was also impressed that Mayes seemed to keep bias out of the film and told the story pretty straight; it never felt like a flag-waver and felt more like an anti-war film but without all of the heavy politics or bias.The cinematography is fantastic and the direction is also superb. Mayes screenplay also gives the film a sense of urgency meaning that the film never lags or feels boring.The ending of the film may cause a problem to some people and I wasn't sure what to make of it myself; it didn't go in the direction I expected it to, but again due to the respect that the two captains showed for each other maybe this was the best direction for the film to take. Despite this though, I still enjoyed The Enemy Below and would definitely recommend this film. If you like cat and mouse type films then I guarantee you'll enjoy this.