Full Fathom Five (film)
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| Full Fathom Five | |
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| Directed by | Carl Franklin |
| Produced by | Rodman Flender |
| Written by | Bart Davis |
| Starring | Michael Moriarty, Maria Rangel, and Diego Bertie |
| Distributed by | Concorde Productions |
| Release date(s) | 1990 (USA) |
| Running time | 82 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | low |
| IMDb profile | |
Full Fathom Five is an action film from 1990, written by Bart Davis and directed by Carl Franklin, starring Michael Moriarty, Maria Rangel, and Diego Bertie.
[edit] Synopsis
Full Fathom Five, based on the novel by Bart Davis, is set in the days preceding the United States's invasion of Panama in 1989. USS Aspen, a fictional Los Angeles-class submarine, rescues agents from Panama, and Peter MacKenzie (Michael Moriarty), the submarine's commanding officer, promptly falls in love with the beautiful Justine (Maria Rangel). Meanwhile, Panamanian rebels seize a Soviet submarine (the "Alpha Victor Three class submarine CCCP Kirov," a completely nonsensical name) and threaten America with a nuclear attack on Houston, Texas. Only to MacKenzie and his crew can stop the villains.
[edit] Criticism
Full Fathom Five has obvious flaws, but Carl Franklin earned praise for his ability to work on a low budget. However, technical accuracy was not a priority; the submarine warfare tactics used are absurd and the military structure, uniforms, insignia, and jargon — including those purporting to be the United States Navy — are entirely imaginary. Two blatant examples are the odd insignia worn where the rank designations should be on the American's khaki uniforms, and the name of the Soviet boat "Alpha Victor Three class submarine CCCP Kirov." There is an Alfa class of submarines, there is a Victor III class of submarines, "CCCP" is probably faux Cyrillic for Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), and the lead ship of a class of battlecruisers was named Kirov, but the combination is ridiculous. The novel, Full Fathom Five, however, has no such technical flaws, and has been published in several languages, including Chinese and Japanese.
