Ice Station Zebra (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ice Station Zebra | |
|---|---|
 Original movie poster |
|
| Directed by | John Sturges |
| Produced by | James C. Pratt Martin Ransohoff John Calley |
| Written by | Alistair MacLean Douglas Heyes Harry Julian Fink W.R. Burnett |
| Starring | Rock Hudson Ernest Borgnine Patrick McGoohan Jim Brown |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | October 23, 1968 |
| Running time | 148 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | unknown |
| IMDb profile | |
Ice Station Zebra is a 1968 action film directed by John Sturges, starring Rock Hudson as a submarine captain, Ernest Borgnine as Boris Vaslov, Jim Brown as a Marine Captain, and Patrick McGoohan as a British agent. It is loosely based upon Alistair MacLean's 1963 novel Ice Station Zebra.
Contents |
[edit] Story
A spy satellite malfunctions and drops its film cassette over Zebra. The photos taken are of both Soviet and Western facilities. The international humanitarian rescue mission is actually a race for strategic military top secrets; a Soviet task force is also sent. The character names are changed, and the plot makes considerable departures from the novel, including the resolution.
[edit] History
The nuclear-powered Dolphin (renamed Tigerfish (SSN-509)) was portrayed in the movie by the diesel-electric submarine USS Ronquil (SS-396).
Ice Station Zebra was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Daniel L. Fapp, and was presented in 70 mm Cinerama in premiere engagements. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, in the special effects category (2001: A Space Odyssey won instead) and Best Cinematography (won by Romeo and Juliet).
In an interview with Dinah Shore not long before his death, Rock Hudson stated that Ice Station Zebra was his favorite film.
[edit] Cast
- Rock Hudson .... Cmdr. James Ferraday
- Ernest Borgnine .... Boris Vaslov
- Patrick McGoohan .... David Jones
- Jim Brown .... Capt. Leslie Anders
- Tony Bill .... 1st Lt. Russell Walker
- Lloyd Nolan .... Admiral Garvey
[edit] Cultural impact
Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who had experience both as a movie producer and a defense contractor for the U.S., is said to have watched Ice Station Zebra dozens of times in his private hotel suite during the years prior to his death. VCRs and Laserdiscs weren't yet available: The film was shown in the form of a spooled print running through a film projector onto a traditional screen.
"Arctic Splashdown", an early episode of the popular Jonny Quest prime-time cartoon series of 1964, seems to be closely based on the Ice Station Zebra plot.
In the 1986 animated series Defenders of the Earth, Ming the Merciless' Antarctic base of operations is known as "Ice Station Earth," a possible nod to the movie Ice Station Zebra.
In the original 1999 edition of Unreal Tournament, one of the deathmatch levels is named Ice Station Zeto, in honor of the movie Ice Station Zebra.
Watch for a cameo of Harry Julian Fink as an orderly in the ship's cafeteria. Fink was one of the principal writers for the movie, and later called the acting experience the greatest of this career.
An episode of the animated series The Venture Bros., called "Ice Station -- Impossible!", takes the inspiration for its name from Ice Station Zebra.
An episode of Sealab 2021 has researchers in the Antarctic trapped on 'Ice Station Zebra'.
[edit] Quotes
- Ferraday: We operate on a first name basis. My first name's Captain.
- Jones: I know how to lie, steal, kidnap, counterfeit, suborn and kill. That's my job. I do it with great pride.
- Jones: The Russians put our camera made by our German scientists and your film made by your German scientists into their satellite made by their German scientists.
[edit] External links
- Ice Station Zebra at the Internet Movie Database
- Alistair MacLean at the Internet Movie Database
- Movie review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)
| John Sturges | |
|---|---|
| 1940s | The Man Who Dared | Shadowed | Alias Mr. Twilight | For the Love of Rusty | Keeper of the Bees | The Sign of the Ram | Best Man Wins | The Walking Hills |
| 1950s | The Magnificent Yankee | The Capture | Mystery Street | Right Cross | Kind Lady | The People Against O'Hara | It's a Big Country (with Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis and William A. Wellman) | The Girl in White | Jeopardy | Fast Company | Escape from Fort Bravo | Bad Day at Black Rock | Underwater! | The Scarlet Coat | Backlash | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral | The Law and Jake Wade | The Old Man and the Sea | Last Train from Gun Hill | Never So Few |
| 1960s | The Magnificent Seven | By Love Possessed | Sergeants 3 | A Girl Named Tamiko | The Great Escape | The Satan Bug | The Hallelujah Trail | Hour of the Gun | Ice Station Zebra | Marooned |
| 1970s | Joe Kidd | Chino | McQ | The Eagle Has Landed |
