Down Periscope

I first saw this movie when it came out on video within months of its theatrical release in 1996. I remember how I laughed much more than I expected.

I haven't watched the film until it came out on cable TV recently. Even though I knew the plot and many of the jokes, I still found myself laughing as hard as when I first saw it. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie still had an appeal after all these years and many of the actors in the film did a great job without being overly done. Kelsey Grammer, in particular, played a very likeable commander and even though he had the goofiest men under his command, Grammer brought out the best in each of them.

This movie is much more believeable to watch than any of the Police Academy movies. Being a former Navy vet myself, the language made sense to me and after watching a super serious thriller like "U-571" recently, Down Periscope still kept within the framework of what is acceptable and believeable within the Navy. If you haven't seen this film, I highly recommend it for pure entertainment and escapism.

There was a recent documentary on making movies, that featured a long list of actors and directors talking about what its like to make movies. One common theme was you can have a great script, great cast, the best director and lots of money and still create a bad movie.

Down Periscope is proof of the corollary to that theory. Not an original or terribly well written screenplay. A few solid actors, but mostly unknowns, and this movie just makes you laugh out loud! It would be easy to just say that Kelsey Grammar carried this movie, but that isn't truly the case. Other character actors, like Rob Schneider, and the hilarious Harland Williams, added significantly to the enjoyability of the film.

Cast dynamics, or that mysterious "movie magic" are really what happened here, creating a film that flows smoothly, has incredibly well executed transitions and line after line of well written and well performed dialog.

A preposterous premise, lots and lots of technical inaccuracies and just plan silly things that could not happen in the real world, or the real navy, but you just don't care. As a merchant marine myself, I found that the overall feel of the movie, while not plausible, was also not too far off the mark as far as life at sea goes.

This is a VERY funny movie, a good family film, and, particularly if your a fan, lots of Kelsey Grammar wit, sarcasm and just damn funniness.

Sometimes juvenile, sometimes stupid and sometimes very predictable.....but yet this was a fun movie that is charming at times, too. It wasn't good enough to be a "keeper," but I did enjoy watching this.

The humor is a little sleazy at times but the language wasn't too bad. Kelsey Grammar plays a likable role in the Navy comedy. Most of his crew are somewhat stupid characters but I did like the sonar man with the great hearing. Lauren Holy was okay as the female interest but Rob Schneider was just plain annoying and tended to overact. He's either very funny or very stupid in his films. Bruce Dern, as always, was an effective "bad guy."

The story is a favorite of the film industry: a bunch of rag-tag misfits and rebels somehow outwit and outmaneuver the larger Establishment experts with their high-tech machinery. No matter how improbable or ridiculous, Hollywood will not stop that formula Nonetheless, it's decent lightweight entertainment with a nice, sentimental ending.

Odd, though: what I remember most is the guys stuffing cotton swabs up their nose! If you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about.

This is one of those movies the critics really missed the mark on. This movie is practically McHale's Navy for the 90s or Police Academy at sea. Grammer proves he can play roles other than Frasier as he outwits and outfoxes the Navy in order to get his own sub. Rob Schneider is as wormy as usual, the same in every role he plays, and Lauren Holly is the local sexpot albeit with a brain. Ken Hudson Campbell is as funny as usual with almost every line a catch phrase. The movie has a wonderful intelligent plot and a non-predictable script that still surprises me every time I watch it. Many of the Navy phrases and terms go over my head, though, but it's a small obstacle for the sheer accuracy and realism of the movie and its characters.

Frasier plays an unconventional navy captain given the chance to lead a rag-tag crew of sailors on a submarine war game mission. Hilarity ensues.