Estação Polar Zebra

Oh what happened to those saturday evenings with great films? This was one such film, a great cast, riveting from start to finish, its not totally clear as to what is really going on at "Ice Station Zebra" and the 3 chaps on the sub may or may not be who they say they are (brown, borgnine or mcgoohan). All becomes clear as you continue to watch, so dont expect me to spoil it all for you. A great "spy" type thriller with good action scenes and dialogue that fits the film. One of the 1st films which does not have a female actress anywhere in the cast, so its to be hoped no one tries to remake it....really great entertainment....catch this!

In each year of the 60s MGM seemed to release three $10 million dollar movies. I have never seen a film company so dedicated to ensure their output was simply colossal. With this aim, some good ideas were boosted up and into mega colossal whopper H-U-G-E ambitions that were presented in 70mm, ran over 2.5 hours and commanded luxury picture palace sized first release cinemas world wide. As such an experience they all looked sounded and presented with this aim intact. Today the lion is in a cage at Warner Bros and Foxtel screens the films in the centre panel crippled by pan and scan only. I can hear the poor beast crying. ICE STATION ZEBRA is the MGM version of a James Bond film and succeeds in the experience offered above. On TV it is a compromised "TV show" and faults become so apparent that you might switch off. I suggest any chance to see this film on a large cinema screen will allow you to be swept up in the excitement of a pensive thriller. By the time we get to the location of the title, and the hilariously silly set made clearly of plastic icebergs and santasnow to see what seems to be a cold war picnic at the North Pole, you will be more aghast that the climax could be so shoddy and lame. It looks like a TV station Santa-set with fur parkas and guns instead of helpers. But, under the spell of the cinema, belief is suspended and the film succeeds. On TV you start wondering why there is no frosty breath and warm heads under beanies.

I first saw this film when it was released in 1968 at the Summit Cinerama theater in Detroit, and it was a fantastic movie going experience. I think the first thing that draws you into this film is the rousing score by Michel Legrand and the marvelous cinematography. The engrossing story moves along at a good pace aided by some very intelligent and witty dialogue. A superb cast of seasoned professionals including Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown and especially a very suave and droll Patrick MacGoohan create fully realized characters that act and react in very real human emotions to some extremely tense and suspenseful situations. The next time you see this film in the TV listings, be sure to check it out and I think you will find it superior to many films of the same genre that have been made since. One thing I find puzzling is the fact that this classic has not been released on DVD, and I only hope it is very soon.

After re-discovering Patrick McGoohan, I decided to give this film a try. I had heard the title mentioned for years, but had no clue what it was about.

The overall look of the film was rather impressive. I appreciated most of the technical aspects. You really feel like you would NOT want to be stationed on(in?) a submarine! The special effects weren't bad for 1968. The soundtrack is good as well.

When you have Borgnine and Jim Brown in a movie, you automatically think in terms of "The Dirty Dozen". They both did better in that film...

I have never been at all impressed with Rock Hudson, and found his acting to be rather wooden here. He does a good job with the regulation "sub speak", but, for example, in the post-flooding scene with McGoohan, he is very obviously not as impressive an actor as the Englishman (ok ok, McGoohan was born in the US to Irish parents, but they moved back to Ireland, then to England).

In fact, I (and so many others) feel McGoohan steals the movie. Of course, he had many years experience playing "secret agents", so this film may have been a cake-walk for him... just speak a bit more and trade in a black & white blazer for a warm parka! (He did, in fact have to take time off from filming "The Prisoner" to make Zebra.) His character's comments regarding bullet velocity in cold climates is a fan-favorite, along with "the coffee cup" and post-flood explanation. I swear the other actors were just standing there, watching his performance, forgetting the cameras were rolling.

In short, if you like submarines, spies, and mild action, you should like Zebra.

I don't know how I missed this film for 40 years, but I corrected that mistake.

Not a blockbuster, with the only outstanding features being the cinematography and special effects, it is nevertheless a taut cold war thriller.

The interplay between Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine. Patrick McGoohan, and to a lesser extent, Jim Brown made this a film where you are constantly focused on who is the good guy, and who is the bad.

Long at 148 minutes, it never lags. There is a very good reason why Alistair MacLean novels make good pictures,