Just so...so bad

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The best British filmmakers are capable of making a masterpiece that ranks with their best graphic painters of previous centuries in terms of their perfection of the art. Everything about this film is superb; story, directing, acting, cinematography etc. It's also a real 'cliff hanger' because, until the very end, it's not at all clear how they could get out of that mess. Watch and be 'mesmerized' my fellow film lovers.

A splendid rendition of a true story. Richard Todd essentially does Guy Gibson at sea, arriving after the battle to save the ship.The battle sequences are exciting, and you really feel under fire as you watch the perplexed crew cope with the unexpected attack.Unfortunately the film was not shot anywhere near location, and it's pretty clear that we are seeing somewhere in England, not the far east! The naval action and later escape is thrilling, almost as good as "Battle of The River Plate" which remains the finest naval warfare film.We see the British humour of the time, best displayed by William Hartnell, who just about steals the show from Todd.

I recently got a copy of this film on VHS. I was expecting to be disappointed as I haven't seen this film in about 35-40 years! I often get a film I once enjoyed find it doesn't live up my memories. But, I was pleasantly surprised with this film.There are, of course, some period stereotypes, especially racial (Akim Tamiroff again plays the evil oriental....), but they are minor annoyances as the story unfolds.I had read that H.M.S. Amethyst had actually been used for the film and was so badly damaged during the filming due to underwater explosions that she was soon scrapped. I can now see why this might have happened. There are quite a few detonations in the water very close to the hull. While watching the film I felt it could just as well have been a good story from Hornblower, Aubrey etc. Take away the modern vessel and replace it with a wooden ship and you have a timeless (true) tale. Richard Todd (who served as a paratrooper on D-Day) plays with the authority he often gave to many similar roles (like the Dam Busters).It was fun to see that Bernard Cribbins and Ian Bannen were unlisted in the role list. They were novices, and were actually both quite good in this film. I highly recommend seeing this film!

The British frigate Amethyst is on a lawful run up the Yangtze River to provide supplies to the British embassy at Nanking. Communist Chinese forces arevictorious in the region and are marching on the city. As the ship travels upriver, Communist artillery batteries unexpectedly open fire. The frigate desperately fights back, but runs ashore after sustaining casualties and damage. Thesituation settles into a diplomatic affair with the local Communist commander demanding all sorts of unreasonable concessions in order to allow the stricken vessel to leave.For me, this dramatization of the real life incident involving HMS Amethyst on the Yangtze River counts as among the best in the genre. Action sequencesare realistic, especially for the time period. Especially remarkable is that the actual ship was used for part of the filming. The performances range from good to excellent. Highly recommended.