Mar cruel

Almost completely unsentimental (hooray!) portrayal of the life of those aboard a British corvette, HMS Compass Rose, during the Battle of the Atlantic. Jack Hawkins magnificent as its captain. Some harrowing scenes filmed with great reserve.

Easily the best film dealing with war at sea. Only "Das Boot" comes close.

The best thing about this WWII naval picture is that it is so ordinary. What I mean by this is that there is no bigger-than-life Hollywood style hero who is invincible, but a collection of normal men showing great heroism collectively--sort of a tribute to the unsung heroes of the war. It's set aboard a convoy escort ship's captain and crew--through their tense moments, trials, successes and failures. In other words, its a WHOLE portrait of the war as seen through these sailors' eyes--the good, the bad and the mundane.

The second best thing is the lovely look and feel--with great acting and direction. Jack Hawkins was, as always, wonderful but all the actors playing the crew did so well--and it's a tribute to the production and direction--this didn't just happen by chance.

In many ways, this film plays a lot like the great British film "In Which We Serve"--though unlike "In Which", "The Cruel Sea" was made after the war. Both films together would make a wonderful night of movie viewing. Solid and exceptional.

Tony Cox's review is one of the best I have ever read on Imdb and says it all with heartfelt passion, accurately describing the drama and characters motivations in this realistic film of anti U-boat sea warfare throughout WWII.I won't try to emulate his brilliant narrative but just add a few thoughts of my own.Jack Hawkins is always very watchable in any of his films as an actor and seems to inhabit the part of Ericsson, the skipper of "Compass Rose" and "Saltash Castle".He vividly portrays the professional and emotional sides of his character, especially when he utters "...its the war, the bloody war" with tear stained eyes.

One has to disabuse your mind of later Donald Sinden parts and his rather stagey voice and look dispassionatly at his early carrer as he portrays the new No.1 with an interest in learning first aid which inevitably comes in useful when tending the many merchant seaman they meet who have become torpedo victims.Can someone please tell me what "snorkers" are when applied to sausages, as I have never heard this expression, despite living in London all my life.Evidently Stanley Baker loves them!!

This film effectively portrays the whole gamut of wartime emotions from the long Atlantic naval voyage boredom, short moments of high danger and excitement, guilt about not rescuing your own men who need help, sorrow at losing loved ones, training men on new sciences (asdic) and even romance (Viginia McKenna).At the end one feels as though you had actually been on the corvette yourself with the crew.One of the most realistic WWII dramas I have ever seen (and I have all the classics in my library).I rated it 8/10.

This movie remained hidden from me until late one night on the disney channel. It is very accurate in its depiction of life aboard a Flower class corvette. These ships wore out men quicker than combat. The scenes in heavy seas are very true to life.

The depiction of tedious patrolling interspersed with brief and vicsious action is also very accurate. The crew comprised of a few proffessionals and the bulk civilians just removed tells the greatest story of all. The average citizen taking up arms in defence of his country and freedom.

A really good movie worth watching.

Fine English war movie of life aboard a convoy escort ship during WWII. It's original B&W format only adds to the overall feel of the movie. Great no-nonsense performances from the cast. The movie is notable in that it is almost free of propaganda and instead concentrates on showing the crews life on board in a realistic way.Jack Hawkins turns in a fine performance.