The Silent Service

Forget the 1 star jingoistic reviews of this Japanese production. Yes, it moves slowly and deliberately. Yes, the details about uniforms etc may not be as exact as some viewers may demand. But for me the story is the thing.

The big bonus is Takao Osawa, the smiling buddha general of the Kingdom series of movies. His calm but decisive nature provides the bedrock of this series.

And yes, it could have been more disciplined in its editing but that's nothing new for streaming movies and TV shows these days. A little bit of patience pays off here big time. Stick with it. The rewards, while not spectacular, are worth it.

While a lot of reviews mention accuracy of props and cgi showing ships looking the same, you need to remember that this is a drama and a great 'what-if' scenario.

What's gripping is how a single submariner is attempting to make an upset in global power.

You will wonder if this is a mad attempt or an objective to meet a particular outcome.

The strategy is always one step ahead played with some great finesse.

It's a drama, so it's going to be slow but not boring.

Unlike most of the other so called good junk out there where they dive into each persons character and history just to drag out the 40 mins, this just touches lightly and is relevant to the situation.

There was no overacting and extra melodrama, or overtalked gender issues or communal suppression etc which was a relief!

Many serials I've used the forward button to skip this and finally it's 10 mins.

However this didn't let hit the forward button, which speaks for itself.

If you read novels or books then watch this.

Great plot not predictable you will keep wondering what's the next move and how will he succeed in his final objective.

Those who have criticised this drama clearly missed the point.

This is an intelligent and thoughtful drama which addresses the current balance of power in the world. That the American projection of influence is not necessarily in the interest of its allies, especially Japan, and including perhaps South Korea and Taiwan.

I found it refreshing to have an alternative view, and would encourage those fans of American military might to consider how others view this.

I was totally involved in the arguments and the standard of acting, especially from the Japanese characters was excellent. It does suffer a little in that the American characters are a little two dimensional.

It is a slow burn, but well worth the watch!

Based on an antique manga, this drivel from Amazon is a big waste of time.

Given the budget they had a great opportunity to produce something on the scale of "Hunt for Red October" meets "Tora Tora Tora". Instead what we have is daytime soap with enough dull dialogue to put an elephant to sleep. Besides protagonist and the antagonist are shown as superhuman all knowing people who get all the right coincidences as they need.

The action scene, if you call them that; are a snooze fest and demonstrate a clear lack of military knowledge and tactical understanding on part of the director.

Overall I'd give zero rating if I could.

Wrong USN/JMSDF uniforms, wrong shirts, wrong insignia, wrong hair length, wrong rank structure, far too many women in positions of power, disrespectful JMSDF enlisted personnel, wrong submarine, wrong plot, wrong writing, wrong physics, wrong drydock, wrong, wrong.

There are fine Japanese and American actors - fine producers - fine set builders and costume professionals - why were none of them hired for this disaster? Where was the technical advisor - wait - there is no way there was a technical advisor.

How is this production of wrong even possible.

Never allow any of these people to work in entertainment - ever again!