Gatorman9
Joined Apr 2003
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The overall rating for this movie at the time I post this is WAY too low, so I skimmed through these reviews for the reason. Apparently, the problem is a dichotomy between those who love it and those who totally didn't get it. On the lower end, it seems some people screened it looking for a far-out time-travel sci-fi flick, and the basic trouble (for that kind of viewer) is that this is not what this is. Indeed, one is led to wonder even how old such viewers are, because the time travel aspect of the story here is really no worse than some television episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE or something like that, and a popular episode at that.
Moreover, too much youthfulness might also obscure for the modern sci-fi nerd what this movie is actually about. As much as the time-travel aspect in the end is handled perfectly cleverly for that kind of story for the dark ages of 1980 when it was released, that is not the central thrust of this movie. Rather, the principal story line concerns that age-old fantasy of naval enthusiasts everywhere, namely, gee, what would happen if we had a modern state-of-the-art warship of the jet age way back in World War II? Better still, what if we had that modern ship with all its space-age technology at the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? That, friends, is what most of the screen time of this movie is all about.
Even before this movie ever came out I was on a nuclear ballistic missile submarine (not an aircraft carrier, as here) and found myself asking the same thing about my own boat. It turned out that one day as we were getting ready to finish up our current Deterrent Patrol I wandered into the torpedo room to find the Leading Torpedoman (TM2/c Steve Judson) taking inventory of his equipment precatory to our handing over the boat to our relief crew at the end of the patrol. As I stepped into "The Room" I saw him going through a big box of odd-looking tools and asked him what he was doing. He responded by expressing surprise that he had found himself inventorying a box of tools for for Mark XIV torpedoes! We then stood there (actually, I stood there; he was sitting), both amazed, wondering what a box of tools for World War II torpedoes would be doing aboard an SSBN submarine in 1980. Indeed, it turned out that not only did the boat have these tools, but it even had the high pressure air charging connection needed for that same kind of torpedo there in The Room! Very strange, it seemed to us young guys, but of course that started a train of thought. What if we could somehow magically go back to World War II? We could sail into Pearl, or Mare Island, or San Diego, and surface, pop the hatch, and take on a load of Mark XIVs, and then sally forth into Japanese waters, torpedoes, nuclear reactor, HY-80 high-strength, deep-diving hull (that depth limit is STILL classified) and all, and do some serious hunting.
That's the scenario, more or less, set up by this movie with the then-modern, state of the art nuclear carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN-65) and its high tech jet air wing, also circa 1980. Some bizarre Twilight-Zonish phenomenon inexplicably transports the ship back to December 6, 1941, in Hawaiian waters, and when the people in charge figure out what has happened, they are then left with the 64-billion-dollar question: what do they do about the Japanese attack scheduled for the very next day, that no one in the world knows about except them and the most highly-placed Japanese? It is easy to picture the filmmakers here going to the Navy Department and saying, in effect, hey, will you guys loan us the USS NIMITZ for a movie, and when they were asked, uh, what kind of movie, they respond, well, we want the NIMITZ to attack the Japanese carrier task force and its aircraft that bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. At that moment the face of every Navy man in the room must have lit up like any number of Christmas trees. That would be a movie that EVERYBODY wanted see!
The brilliance of this movie is that it does not simplistically stop there. Rather, having proposed this far-out premise, for a naval warfare movie, the filmmakers then deliver on the premise by making the most realistic movie about modern naval combat action ever attempted. Most of the movie is shot on the actual USS NIMITZ, with literally hundreds of NIMITZ sailors credited as extras. A number of them are actually given decent speaking parts. If you have been in the Navy, you can instantly tell the difference between an actor in a uniform and a real sailor. If you have been around real Marines you can spot one at 50 paces. This movie takes what is probably the fullest possible advantage of that, and when you couple that with cutting edge hot action photography on and over a modern supercarrier flight deck, all accompanied by a rousing musical score, you can see why every sailor who is posting here is giving this thing one 8-star rating after the next.
Thus, if you want to see probably the ultimate naval fantasy ever filmed (and I say this as a submariner, an not a naval aviator), in preference to a sci-fi geek or other comic-book cartoon festival, watch this movie.
P. S. I eventually found out what all that Mark XIV stuff was doing on our boat. The boat was first placed into service in 1966, and in those hoary days of yore it was actually considered to put World War II Mark XIV torpedoes on modern submarines to be shot out as NOISEMAKERS to distract Russian homing torpedoes away from the boat. LOL.
Moreover, too much youthfulness might also obscure for the modern sci-fi nerd what this movie is actually about. As much as the time-travel aspect in the end is handled perfectly cleverly for that kind of story for the dark ages of 1980 when it was released, that is not the central thrust of this movie. Rather, the principal story line concerns that age-old fantasy of naval enthusiasts everywhere, namely, gee, what would happen if we had a modern state-of-the-art warship of the jet age way back in World War II? Better still, what if we had that modern ship with all its space-age technology at the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? That, friends, is what most of the screen time of this movie is all about.
Even before this movie ever came out I was on a nuclear ballistic missile submarine (not an aircraft carrier, as here) and found myself asking the same thing about my own boat. It turned out that one day as we were getting ready to finish up our current Deterrent Patrol I wandered into the torpedo room to find the Leading Torpedoman (TM2/c Steve Judson) taking inventory of his equipment precatory to our handing over the boat to our relief crew at the end of the patrol. As I stepped into "The Room" I saw him going through a big box of odd-looking tools and asked him what he was doing. He responded by expressing surprise that he had found himself inventorying a box of tools for for Mark XIV torpedoes! We then stood there (actually, I stood there; he was sitting), both amazed, wondering what a box of tools for World War II torpedoes would be doing aboard an SSBN submarine in 1980. Indeed, it turned out that not only did the boat have these tools, but it even had the high pressure air charging connection needed for that same kind of torpedo there in The Room! Very strange, it seemed to us young guys, but of course that started a train of thought. What if we could somehow magically go back to World War II? We could sail into Pearl, or Mare Island, or San Diego, and surface, pop the hatch, and take on a load of Mark XIVs, and then sally forth into Japanese waters, torpedoes, nuclear reactor, HY-80 high-strength, deep-diving hull (that depth limit is STILL classified) and all, and do some serious hunting.
That's the scenario, more or less, set up by this movie with the then-modern, state of the art nuclear carrier USS NIMITZ (CVN-65) and its high tech jet air wing, also circa 1980. Some bizarre Twilight-Zonish phenomenon inexplicably transports the ship back to December 6, 1941, in Hawaiian waters, and when the people in charge figure out what has happened, they are then left with the 64-billion-dollar question: what do they do about the Japanese attack scheduled for the very next day, that no one in the world knows about except them and the most highly-placed Japanese? It is easy to picture the filmmakers here going to the Navy Department and saying, in effect, hey, will you guys loan us the USS NIMITZ for a movie, and when they were asked, uh, what kind of movie, they respond, well, we want the NIMITZ to attack the Japanese carrier task force and its aircraft that bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. At that moment the face of every Navy man in the room must have lit up like any number of Christmas trees. That would be a movie that EVERYBODY wanted see!
The brilliance of this movie is that it does not simplistically stop there. Rather, having proposed this far-out premise, for a naval warfare movie, the filmmakers then deliver on the premise by making the most realistic movie about modern naval combat action ever attempted. Most of the movie is shot on the actual USS NIMITZ, with literally hundreds of NIMITZ sailors credited as extras. A number of them are actually given decent speaking parts. If you have been in the Navy, you can instantly tell the difference between an actor in a uniform and a real sailor. If you have been around real Marines you can spot one at 50 paces. This movie takes what is probably the fullest possible advantage of that, and when you couple that with cutting edge hot action photography on and over a modern supercarrier flight deck, all accompanied by a rousing musical score, you can see why every sailor who is posting here is giving this thing one 8-star rating after the next.
Thus, if you want to see probably the ultimate naval fantasy ever filmed (and I say this as a submariner, an not a naval aviator), in preference to a sci-fi geek or other comic-book cartoon festival, watch this movie.
P. S. I eventually found out what all that Mark XIV stuff was doing on our boat. The boat was first placed into service in 1966, and in those hoary days of yore it was actually considered to put World War II Mark XIV torpedoes on modern submarines to be shot out as NOISEMAKERS to distract Russian homing torpedoes away from the boat. LOL.
Some people don't know how to use the ratings system on the IMDb. 4? 5? Nonsense. Any solidly made movie should get a minimum of a 6 even if it is too slowly paced, and this was certainly not that. If it is something you should definitely see if you get the chance, it gets at least a 7. This is perfectly well-written and executed and much better than any insipid comic book movie you would see in a theater today. If you want a nicely-conceived, rather nuanced and perfectly well-performed black & white wartime picture that is actually much better than a lot of the standard stiff, Sterling Hayden kind of wartime stuff, this is for you.
Jimmy Stewart didn't make 6.0-on-the-IMDb movies. This is better than that, and belongs in a collection including Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation and even Harvey. Featuring No less than the then-well-known Billy Mumy (Danger, Will Robinson! "Anthony" on the Twilight Zone, and many others) as a mathematical child savant, the movie might start out feeling like a typical family television sitcom in 1965, but about midway through you feel it picking up steam and the writing starts to get quite clever. With a supporting name-brand character-actor cast all the way though I found it was one of those movies that you are sorry when it's over. Definitely watch this if you get a chance to see it.
P. S. At the time I write this review, the cast list on the IMDb is unaccountably missing the movie's prominent fourth-wall narration character, played by Ed Wynn, and also fails to mention the uncredited (apparently, that was her requirement) appearance of the legendary Brigitte Bardot, whose role in the story inspired the title. I tried to edit these conspicuous omissions and we'll just have to see whether the admins here do their duty accordingly.
P. S. At the time I write this review, the cast list on the IMDb is unaccountably missing the movie's prominent fourth-wall narration character, played by Ed Wynn, and also fails to mention the uncredited (apparently, that was her requirement) appearance of the legendary Brigitte Bardot, whose role in the story inspired the title. I tried to edit these conspicuous omissions and we'll just have to see whether the admins here do their duty accordingly.