Down Periscope

Down Periscope

Directed by David S. Ward
Produced by Robert Lawrence
Screenplay by Hugh Wilson
Andrew Kurtzman
Eliot Wald
Story by Hugh Wilson
Starring Kelsey Grammer
Lauren Holly
Rob Schneider
Harry Dean Stanton
Bruce Dern
William H. Macy
Rip Torn
Music by Randy Edelman
Cinematography Victor Hammer
Edited by William M. Anderson
Armen Minasian
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
 March 1, 1996
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $31 million[1]
Box office $37,553,752[2]

Down Periscope is a 1996 20th Century Fox comedy film, produced by Robert Lawrence and directed by David S. Ward, starring Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly and Rob Schneider and co-starring Bruce Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, William H. Macy, and Rip Torn.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge fights to save his naval career while also being saddled with a group of misfit seamen brought together as the crew of his first command, a rusted but recommissioned WWII-era diesel submarine, the USS Stingray, set to participate in a special naval war-game.

Plot

Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer), a capable yet unconventional US Navy submariner, is about to be passed over a third time for command of his own nuclear submarine because of his unorthodox methods and because of a notorious genital tattoo ("Welcome Aboard!") received after getting drunk and passing out while on shore-leave. Failure to secure a command will result in Dodge being dropped from the Navy's command program and an assignment to a desk job, and that means he will resign from the Navy. During his career, Dodge has made an enemy of Rear Admiral Yancy Graham (Bruce Dern), who strongly speaks out against Dodge's command promotion.

Vice-Admiral Dean Winslow, ComSubLant (Rip Torn), who likes Dodge and his unorthodox methods, finds the perfect use for the Commander: Winslow launches a war-game to test the Navy's defenses against possible attack by older Soviet diesel-powered submarines in the hands of US enemies. Among those defenses being tested is the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Orlando, commanded by Commander Carl Knox (William H. Macy), Dodge's former commanding officer. For this purpose, Dodge is selected to captain the World War II-era Balao-class diesel sub, the USS Stingray, SS-161. Winslow tells Dodge to "think like a pirate" and stick to his unorthodox methods, while promising that if he can win the war-game, including sinking a dummy target ship positioned in Norfolk harbor, Dodge will be considered for command of a nuclear submarine.

Graham, however, motivated by his dislike for Dodge and his own ambition for promotion, arranges circumstances to make Dodge's mission much more difficult. Graham handpicks a crew for the Stingray consisting of the "crew from Hell" as Dodge initially refers to them: hot-tempered and uptight Lt. Martin Pascal (Rob Schneider) as XO; crusty CPO Chief Engineer Howard (Harry Dean Stanton), a civilian contractor hired for the job since no active Naval personnel are familiar with a Balao-class engine system; rebellious Engineman 1st Class Brad Stepanek (Bradford Tatum); sharp-eared Sonarman 2nd Class E.T. "Sonar" Lovacelli (Harland Williams); compulsive gambler Seaman Stanley "Spots" Sylvesterson (Jonathan Penner); former US Naval Academy basketball player Planesman Jefferson "R.J." Jackson (Duane Martin), who has dreams of playing in the NBA; shock-prone (and shock-addled) electrician Fireman Nitro (Toby Huss); and the not-so-culinary cook Seaman Buckman (Ken Hudson Campbell). To further frustrate Dodge, Graham also uses the Stingray to institute a Navy pilot program for evaluating the feasibility of women serving on submarines, knowing that the cramped diesel boat is unsuitable for mixed-gender living; Lt. Emily Lake (Lauren Holly) joins the crew as Diving Officer.

Using unorthodox tactics to offset their huge technological disadvantage, Dodge and the Stingray crew attain their first objective by getting into and setting off signal flares in Charleston Harbor. Desperate to defeat Dodge, Graham then cuts the war-game containment area in half without Winslow's authorization.

Running into trouble on their first attempt at Norfolk harbor, Dodge leaves the reduced containment area. Irate at this lapse in protocol, the always strident and by-the-book Pascal, for whom the crew have no respect, attempts to take command of the Stingray; none of the crew support his action. Dodge then charges Pascal with mutiny and, in mock pirate fashion, forces his blind folded XO to "walk the plank" ... into the raised fishing net of a waiting trawler, who will take him ashore.

During the Stingray's second attempt at Norfolk, Graham assumes personal command of the Orlando. Dodge uses an incredibly dangerous maneuver to sneak past the defenders of Norfolk, but the Orlando is able to locate and chase her down. However, before the Orlando's shooting solution is obtained, Dodge launches two live torpedoes into the anchored dummy ship at Norfolk, which gains the Stingray the final war-game victory. Upon return to port, Winslow, after chastising Graham and denying his promotion, welcomes Dodge back and confides that Engineman Stepanek is actually his son, using his mother's name. The Admiral then informs Dodge that he will not get his own Los Angeles-class submarine, as the two had previously discussed, but instead a new Seawolf-class submarine (the USN's most advanced), plus a proper crew to man her. Dodge at first declines but respectfully requests that his entire Stingray crew be transferred with him to his new command. After the Stingray's crew is dismissed to begin a well-earned shore leave, Lt. Lake poses a query to Dodge now that the two are shipmates and have come to know each other: "What exactly is this 'tattoo' I keep hearing about?"

Cast

Production notes

The name of the film is a play on the title of the 1959 World War II drama Up Periscope and spoofs several titles in the submarine film subgenre, including Cold War drama The Hunt for Red October.[3]

Down Periscope began shooting on May 6, 1995 and finished on July 27.[4] USS Pampanito, a Balao-class submarine from World War II, now a museum ship and memorial in San Francisco, played the part of the USS Stingray. The nearby Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet played the part of Naval Station Norfolk.

The film makes use of both standard US Navy stock footage as well as scenes shot specifically for the film. The scenes of the fictional USS Orlando were taken of the USS Springfield, home-ported at the New London Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut, during a one-day VIP cruise for the christening committee of the USS Seawolf.[5]

The target ship that is torpedoed and sunk, ending the film's war-game, is both naval stock footage of the USS Fletcher and a prop shooting miniature. The Fletcher is one of the most decorated ships in US Navy history.

Over the closing credits a music video is shown of the Village People and the film's cast performing "In the Navy" aboard the Stingray.

Release

Down Periscope had its US theatrical release on March 1, 1996.[4] The film grossed $25,785,603 domestically and $37,553,752 worldwide; it currently sits at the position of 2,315 for all-time domestic gross. The film was released five months later on home video on August 6, 1996.[4]

Reception

Critical reception was generally negative; the film holds a 12% positive rating from the film aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[6] Despite this, the film has been called an accurate depiction of life on board a submarine by a US Navy submarine officer. [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Down Periscope | PowerGrid". Powergrid.thewrap.com. 1996-03-01. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  2. ↑ Down Periscope at Box Office Mojo
  3. ↑ Chapman, James. War and Film. Reaktion Books, 2008, p. 229.
  4. 1 2 3 TCM Notes Misc. Notes
  5. ↑ Personal recollection of James Covington, LT USN (Retired), CSO of USS Springfield from September 1994 to August 1997
  6. ↑ Down Periscope at Rotten Tomatoes
  7. ↑ 7/02/15 9:56am (2015-06-30). "Confessions Of A U.S. Navy Submarine Officer". Foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com. Retrieved 2015-07-14.

External links

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