Steel Sharks

Steel Sharks may not the best or well acted movie ever made, but neither is it the worst. It is also not a rip off of "The Hunt for Red October". To say that it is, is like saying that "The Hunt for Red October" is a rip off of "Up Periscope". The films have nothing in common other than the fact that they have submarines in them. Steel Sharks is about a Seal Team rescue mission. It has nothing to do with stealing submarines from the Russians. It is a tight and fast paced story with little or no loose ends. "The Hunt for Red October" was a film with a message, Steel Sharks had no such lofty goals. It sought only to entertain, and it does. I was entertained.

One thing different with this movie is the pace. There is not a lot of wasted time or dialogue.

The acting may have not been the best, but having the opportunity to go to sea on an actual Los Angeles Class Fast Attack Sub, the acting presented a more realistic look at what I have experienced.

Gary Busey did a good job portraying the steely cool Capt of the USS Oakland, Billy Dee Williams on the other hand was a bit tight collared.

Anyone with a submarine movie collection should have this right besides "Hunt for Red October" and "Crimson Tide".

I would give this movie a rating of "8" counter-measures out of "10"

The movie starts very slow but don't judge the movie by its initial 40 minutes at least. Story line is pretty straight forward and easy to watch. The sequences in the submarine "hunter and hunted" scenes in the second half of the movie are excellent. Acting improves all the way in the movie. You will be gripping at your arm rest to know how it will end. Somehow it seems like acting school movie for both producers and actor/actresses. But the outcome is certainly watchable. Underwater filming of the subs in motion is commendable. And I feel the end scene could have been something more glamorous and looks like the film budget hit the wall here!

i'll be honest i only picked this up 'cause Busey was in it...usually like his roles, but i don't think I've ever seen an actor wing it in like Gary did here. Every single scene he's in he stands emotionless reading off his lines, an easy pay-day for Gary is suppose but sheer torture for his fans.

this film is basically a crap submarine rescue film, nothing interesting happens, the action is tame, the story is child like, the acting unspectacular.

avoid this forever, even if your a Gary Busey fan please do not watch this.

why do they bother?

This movie started out very slow, but then picked up the pace, and started to become more exciting. I nearly fell asleep during the first half hour, but sort of woke up during the last parts of the film, when you got to know the characters a bit better, and their escape from the submarine began.

I thought it was kind of funny that the foreigners couldn't decide on whether to speak in their native language, or to speak English, it just seemed like improvised play and/or poor planning.

I liked most of the actors though, and especially thought that Gary Busey's portrayal of the bizarre captain (he always said something weird in critical moments) was amusing. Seeing him in navy clothes brought back some memories of "Under Siege", where he also appeared in the same kind of outfit, and also acted crazy throughout. Shaun Toub does a good job as the rival Iraqi/Iranian submarine-captain too, albeit a quite typical "bad middle-eastern warmonger" portrayal though.

Overall, I have to give this movie 5/10, because it wasn't completely bad, and some of the settings were kind of cool, but it was just unexciting, dull, and lacked genuine thrills and excitement..

But to be honest, this movie just lacks the presence of Steven Seagal.. Billy Dee Williams giving orders through a walkie-talkie, and a crew of generic Navy Seals led by Billy Warlock doesn't quite cut it.