La dernière torpille

Having served in submarines for six years, and having seen every submarine movie possible, TORPEDO RUN is the most realistic movie yet. The submarine interior including the conning tower brought back a lot of memories. The crew terminology and actions were true to form. The gliches were few but only a submarine historian or WWII veteran would pick up on most of them. The opening scene of the ship in the periscope is not the same ship shown a few seconds later in actual footage being sunk. Also in 1942-1943 torpedo reliability was low and very seldom would only one be fired. I doubt that if a Captain would have known there were prisoners aboard a transport would the chance be taken as Barney Doyle took. At least one transport was really sunk carrying prisoners, but it was not marked as such and it was proceeding as a normal transport. All in all this is my favorite sub movie and I enjoyed every minute if it. Some seem to think it drags on and the story line is to simplistic. That's how it was. A sub's duty was to sink enemy shipping and there would be days of boredom followed by hours of gut wrenching tension amid depth charging, and constantly being chased under by aircraft. I highly recommend TORPEDO RUN.

I rank this up there with any of the other great Submarine movies. Das Boot, Enemy Below, Run Silent, Run Deep and others.

Glenn Ford is always at his best playing this type of character. Conflicted and mentally pained men who have tough decisions. Ernest Borgnine, as usual almost steals the movie though. He is one of the greatest second fiddle players in any movie he co stars in. Being someone who grew up watching him in McHale's Navy as a child and later learning just how great of an actor he can be, is a treat.

I do think the flashback scenes hurt the pace of the movie, but are necessary for context.

The movie is well filmed and makes great use of color. Many other great Sub movies about WWII are in Black and White, but that doesn't seem to take away from them. Here, the color is big plus.

I love Submarine movies probably because I know, that if I had the honor to of served in the U.S. Armed Forces, this would be the last place I'd want to be. Above the water I could tolerate it in battle, under it, I'd be a panicking wonder how I'd get out if we got hit. For that I salute everyone who served underwater, no matter which country you call home.

8/10 Rating.

The Pacific, 1942, and Submarine commander Lt. Cmdr. Barney Doyle (Glenn Ford) is pursuing the Japanese ship that led the attack on Pearl Harbor back to Tokyo, where to all intents and purposes, he plans to enact revenge. But there's a major problem in the form of a freighter that is being used as a screen in front of the ship. For this freighter houses American prisoners of war, among them Doyle's own wife and child.

A well put together psychological thriller by director Joseph Pevney that is formed from a novel by Richard Sale {who co-writes the screenplay with William Wister Haines}. Tho the usual problems that exist with WW2 film's from this era are evident here {racist undertones, jingoistic sloganeering & hierarchy back slapping}, Torpedo Run manages to break away from its inheritance to become a taut involving aquatic drama fit to be named alongside the best in the submarine sub-genre of war movies.

Glenn Ford's performance is well layered and credible. Few actors from his generation are as undervalued for playing personally conflicted characters as he is, and here as Doyle he is on top characterisation form. He is ably supported by Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Archer 'Archie' Sloan, Doyle's right hand man, friend and professional conscious. It's with the two actors that the plot rightly focuses on, but this sadly puts the supporting characters in the shade. Thus the one truly important thing lacking from the piece is a total group dynamic expose. But thanks to the strong lead performances, and Pevney's no tricks directing, the film survives its failing. There's also added weight thrown into the narrative with the use of flashbacks to show how Doyle's relationship with his wife evolved. This helps us to be privy to Doyle's torment as he must make a career and life altering decision in the midst of war. The action is of good quality, especially the eventual showdown between the rivals. And as one who personally likes to see the forgotten art of model work used effectively, this film also scores high on the exciting scale for like minded film fans.

Far from perfect for sure, but there's much to admire and be involved with to make it a solid recommend to fans of WW2 human dramas. 7/10

These submarine films always follow the pattern of playing out the relationship of the determined Captain and the watchful, suspicious second in command. This one features Ford as the Captain and Borgnine as the Lieutenant. Same old routine. The film starts fine then gradually becomes absurd as feverish Ford turns into Captain Ahab relentlessly in search of his white whale---in this case the Japanese carrier Shinaru. Seems the Navy is perfectly willing to accommodate Ford on his obsessive mission, and Borgnine is even willing to reject the offer of a command of his own vessel in order to stick by Ahab-Ford's side. Oh, sure. And what started all this? In an earlier scene, Ford is "forced" to torpedo a transport filled with 1400 civilians, including Ford's wife and child (caught in Manila) that is being used as a screen to protect the Shinaru. Absurd! Both the Navy and Ford's character, fully aware the transport is there, would never take that kind of chance. The potentially staggering loss would have been a calamity that would never have been sanctioned. This is just a ridiculous contrivance to fuel Ford's obsession. In addition, the filmmakers try to have it both ways by never stating whether or not Ford's family survives or not. Borgnine is merely there as the Voice of Reason. His only other duty seems to be offering Ford coffee in every other scene.

Otherwise, this film is a second-rate action film. The supporting actors have almost nothing to work with, leaving them blanks we could care less about. Interesting to see a young Al Freeman, Jr. on board, since there were few black submariners in the service. So, not historically inaccurate. The stock footage of U.S. destroyers used to play Japanese destroyers IS inaccurate, obviously. And the special effects are variable; effective at times and painfully obvious at others. And the multi-depth charge walloping Ford's sub takes is very impressive, but also hard to believe that the sub isn't blown to pieces considering most of the charges explode right on top of it. One other odd note is the lack of a music score credit. The score is perfectly fine yet whoever provided it was either denied credit or took their name off it. Wonder why.

This is not such a successful movie. Glenn Ford is solid as always and Ernest Borgnine delivers a serviceable performance, but the problem is the script and direction. The story is on the sluggish side and after the midway point you don't have a sense of enough really at stake. The flashbacks to civilian life also take the audience out of the war story in a way that releases any built-up tension. Then the movie has to start all over.

The effects are also not terribly good, even by 1958 standards. Too many model shots of ships, and the interior of the sub really does feel like a studio set, especially due to the lighting design.

One thing that is especially interesting about TORPEDO RUN is a sub evacuation sequence in which the seamen exit the submarine at the floor of the ocean using Momsen-lungs, special breathing devices. These devices are very rarely shown in submarine movies.

A much, much better sub movie was released a few months before this one: RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP.