Le vaisseau fantôme

I just finished watching this ITV production, and all I can say is that I liked what I saw, but will note that there was room for much improvement.

How so? Well, for one, the main vessel around which the movie focuses was a World War 2 British diesel submarine. Big deal, you say, ah, but one of the major story points is that the sub seems to operate like a modern nuclear sub, or one of the modern Nordic or Germanic subs which are quieter than either the US, UK or Soviet subs. Simply put WW2 subs stayed on the surface, and only went underwater when needed, but you'd never know that by watching this movie.

The other thing is that there's a little bit of creep factor in this film, but it's not accentuated enough. We understand what's happening to the crew, but the made for TV production values seem to limit both SFX and other production values to really ram home the message to the audience.

I imagine the biggest mis step taken in this film is that even though the boat as a "life of its own" so to speak, a late 20th century crew, a crew that is not trained in diesel sub operations some how manages to bring this vessel out into open ocean, and operate her like a modern nuclear powered SSN.

Huh.

You know, if you can get by that, and the cinematography which is a little uninspired, then you can probably enjoy watching this film, but the story of a haunted ship and her affect on the crew takes precedence over operational details and plot points.

It's not a great film, but it is a mild diversion for a couple of hours. Give it a shot.

A story like this will not appeal to everyone but I thought it was very original and well put together overall. A good change from the usual period dramas that come from British productions. There were some bits that could have been better with regards to acting and script but it was still entertaining. Some story points are a bit too subtle and easy to miss so might need a second viewing to fully appreciate how it all fits together. The ending was quite bold and strong which I didn't expect. The visual effects were good for a relatively low budget production and there was quite a lot of computer graphics that looked as good as from a feature film.

Sometimes, watching standard and not particularly famous movie, you stumble on a real gem. Ghostboat tells a story used in many films. A ship/submarine falls into a time tunnel... but in this movie things are much better done. The story captivates the viewer, although the plot is predictable, it is not boring. The directing and acting is perfect. Worth every minute of watching. I didn't know David Jason as an actor, but half the fun of the movie is his performance.

Of course the effects are not the best quality and there are many scenes which look as from cheap b-movie but this is not multydolar production.

It's funny how you can romanticise about a film, or piece of TV that you saw years ago, I haven't seen Ghostboat since it was first transmitted. I was all set to give it ten stars, and write a glowing review, but maybe time hasn't been so kind to this show, or maybe I watched with rose tinted spectacles.

I think the early stages of it are fantastic, it's creepy, it's eerie, it's certainly sinister, as it develops from its midpoint to the ending, it totally loses it for me, I don't think I knew what was going on.

Imagine Ghostship meets a A Touch of Frost, it doesn't really know where it sits, is it trying to be a horror, or a psychological drama thriller, it really does fall apart as the mania sets in.

The acting is first rate, David Jason is awesome, as is Ian Pulston Davies. It was great to see Sir David Jason appear in something like this, so well known for OFAH and Frost, I'm not sure he had done anything like this, ITV certainly have him some varied parts.

Great production values, it looks super smart, nice equipment and sets, I thought the scenes of the sub moving through the mines looked amazing.

Worth watching, just expect two hours of surreal goings on.

Watchable if a bit muddled, 6/10.

I don't tend to watch a lot of television (preferring to stick to DVDs) so something has really got to interest me to get me to firstly remember the programme's on and secondly to actually watch.

The thing that immediately attracted me to the programme was, of course, fabulous actor David Jason. And yet again he excels himself in this wonderful thriller.

The story is based on a book also called 'Ghostboat' and is about a submarine called the Scorpion that surfaces in 1981-but which hasn't been seen since the second world war where it was presumed to have sunk. When it sank only one survivor was found, Jack Hardy (David Jason) who can't remember anything due to amnesia) When the sub resurfaces, Hardy is invited to go on a journey on the sub, with another crew and retrace the path the Scorpion took to find out what happened to it.

When they first go onto the sub to check out the damage and pull out the bodies of the dead, they find something astonishing. There are no bodies, everything is as the crew left it 40 years ago, nothing has changed.

And so the journey begins. Hardy can hear voices, things are happening in the same way they did 40 years ago-and the crew are beginning to change. As Hardy says 'The past is breaking through' The CGI effects in the film are very, very good, although not perfect, the storyline is gripping, the acting and cast are stellar.

The perfect thing for the family to gather in front of the telly to watch-10/10!