The Cruel Sea

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Forrest L Superb film about the sea battles between the convoys with their escorts against the deadly U-Boat threat. To get this story right, the film makers found the correct type of ship - one of the last left afloat in the world - and brought it up to operational condition as the centerpiece of this story, the fictional Compass Rose. Even more rarely, the filmmakers conducted the firing of the cannons with live ammunition and well-trained Royal Navy gun crews, which added an authenticity to the action almost never seen in any war movie: probably caused their insurers to have grey hair! The story follows the basic outline of Nicolas Monsarrat's superb book, but omits some of the extra characters and overwhelming and unrelenting violence of the book to give a trim, satisfying story that gives great testimony to the sacrifices and heroism of those men who sailed forth in small uncomfortable ships to save their country. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/17/23 Full Review Jan C I'm a big fan of the book. What can I say. I'm a bit disappointed. It's an okay movie, but the book is so much... bigger. This movie captures maybe 15% of it. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member An excellently done British war film focusing on the navy escorts during WWII. The acting is strong enough and in the latter half of the film it gets quite dark and more thoughtful. It was atmospheric and tense too. A fine early war film. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member World War 2 historian James Holland said The Cruel Sea the most realistic war movie he had ever seen. A glowing recommendation, and having seen the film, I can see what he means. It's a very stripped down, almost mechanistic film, with little fluff or meandering, focusing instead on the harsh realities of battle, as well as the perils of mother nature's wrath. Jack Hawkins, an actor who pretty much owned the 1950s, plays the role of a stern but not unfeeling Lieutenant Commander in charge of a ship sailing back and forth across the Atlantic. The film's greatest strength is how it doesn't sugar-coat the ugliness of war. Regardless of which side you're on, there will be casualties, and not just from bombs and bullets. The Atlantic Ocean is almost an enemy in itself, swallowing up anyone who's unlucky enough to be on a sinking ship. It also demonstrates the difficult choices that ship commanders are forced to make, and how any decisions ultimately fall on them, as well as the consequences. It doesn't hit as hard as films like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon, but considering it was made in the 50s, there's only so much they would have been allowed to get away with. But for what it is, it's a fascinatingly dark window into the lives of navy men in the heat of battle, and a war film that more people need to see. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Well acted, well directed film which recounts a captains ww2 experience. There is not much of a story as such but its worth watching. There are many better ww2 films from this era though. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Is an excellent film to watch if you are a fan of the British Navy during ww2. It is set mostly in the Mediterranean and in Plymouth port. In the story we follow the crew of an escort ship to one of the many convoys that set sail from the channel to a number of different locations during the war. My opinion of the characters was that the actors played their parts very well but the Director made a few slip-ups in the pace of the story. For example the relationship of the leading actor and actress sped along awfully quickly but nothing more drastic than that. My favourite part of the film was by far the sets and costumes as I thought the costumes were magnificent and the sets were not without some small flaws but the authenticity out weighed the flaws. To the modern day viewer the fact this film is a black and white may be considered a drawback but after a few minutes you begin to perceive colour therefore it is still as enjoyable as a modern day film. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Cruel Sea

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