Submarine films

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Submarine films are a subgenre of war film which takes place in a submarine below the surface of the ocean. Films of this subgenre typically focus on a small but determined crew of submariners battling against enemy submarines or submarine-hunter ships, or against other problems ranging from disputes amongst the crew, threats of mutiny, or life-threatening mechanical breakdowns.

1 Characteristics
2 List of submarine movies
3 Viral videos
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Characteristics

The danger from the extreme pressure of deep water dives and the claustrophobic, cramped submarine quarters imbues films of the subgenre with a great deal of dramatic tension. To heighten this tension these films often depict submarine commanders descending below "hull crush depth" to evade attackers. Films from this subgenre tend to feature dramatic scenes in which submarine-hunters try to destroy submarines with depth charges. A stock scene in the submarine genre film the depiction of a grim-faced submarine crew waiting in silence as depth charges explode overhead and bolts fly out of bulkheads in the submarine (they are dead silent because sound carries extremely well underwater, and so even the sound of men talking on a submarine would be picked up by normal sonar on other ships). Modern (post-WWII) movies often add conflict between different submarines, something that would have been next to impossible with the limited sensor equipment of earlier times.

Also a typical feature in all depicted eras is the sudden switch from hunter to hunted - stalking enemy ships or carrying deadly nuclear missiles, the submarine still often within moments becomes the hunted victim of overwhelming attack, fleeing for its life.

While submarine films do use dramatic battle scenes, much of the dramatic tension in these movies tends to be created using other devices, such as conflict between officers, a threatened mutiny, or life-threatening problems with the diving equipment or the engines/nuclear reactor. This sets this subgenre apart from its parent genre of war films, which tend to focus more on battle scenes.

[edit] List of submarine movies

This is a list of movies, grouped by era, in which a submarine plays a significant role in the storyline. Many submarine movies are set in World War II or during Cold War, with varying degrees of fictional elements. Some movies depict historical events from actual battles or incidents, such as Above Us the Waves, a 1955 film which depicts the true story of the British Royal Navy's midget submarines attacks on the Tirpitz. Other submarine movies develop a fictional plot created using submarine types and tactical or technological issues that are associated with these conflicts, such as the film U-571, which tells the story of a fictional U-boat in World War II; in some cases, these fictional submarine films may weave together some events from actual events. Other submarine films from the fantasy or science fiction film genres depict entirely fictitious events, such as the various film versions of Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.