0:00:05 > 0:00:08Ah, the sea.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11For centuries it has washed up great stories.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Of Jason and the Argonauts, of Horatio Hornblower, of Moby Dick.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19But in more recent times, it has given up a different kind of story,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21one that, until the last century or so,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23remained hidden beneath the waves.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26But because of countless films,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30we instantly recognise it in all its nerve-shredding glory.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Incoming torpedo!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Oh, my God!
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Yes, the pressure cooker that is the submarine movie
0:00:43 > 0:00:45has been with us since the dawn of film.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47But why has it gripped us so?
0:00:47 > 0:00:49To find out, let's bring on the subs.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I've loved submarine films since I was a boy.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06The fact that I didn't learn to swim until I was nearly 40
0:01:06 > 0:01:08never put me off the subaquatic life.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12The submarine, for me, is still one of the most incredible pieces of kit
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I've ever encountered.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17But for filmmaker, the humble submersible
0:01:17 > 0:01:19is an excuse to take us places
0:01:19 > 0:01:21we'd probably never get to go in our lives,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26and in so doing, delivers all the elements that great drama requires.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30But, bless my white, ribbed seaman's polo neck, the submarine movie
0:01:30 > 0:01:33has created its very own cinematic language
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and no great sub movie would be the same without...
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Excessive periscope action.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Down periscope.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Testosterone-fuelled power struggles.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46- PING - The ping of the sonar.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49One ping only, please.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Booming depth charges.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Courageous John Mills.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56- Dive, dive.- Dive, dive, dive, sir.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Plummeting pressure dials.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Whoosh of torpedoes.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Sweaty but meaningful looks.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Valiant John Mills.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Looks as if we've got it on a plate.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14The Russians. The Germans.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19The Japanese. Gung-ho Americans.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21Plucky Brits.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Blimey. We're through.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- And the fearless John Mills. - Stand by and hold on tight.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31People in a locked, trapped environment.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35It is claustrophobia, fear.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37It's about fortitude.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42It's like being buried alive.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44The stakes are immense.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47You are in a very free world in an un-free environment.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50That's unique to the submarine genre.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04It is my mission to dive deeper to discover
0:03:04 > 0:03:07not just why submarine movies hold us in thrall
0:03:07 > 0:03:11but also to recall some of the real events that inspired these films,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15and to bring to the surface the undercurrents
0:03:15 > 0:03:16that these films reflect.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24This is the River Medway, about 30 miles south east of London
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and I'm looking for an intriguing relic of the Cold War
0:03:27 > 0:03:29that's hereabouts.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38And here's what I've been looking for.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43U-475 Black Widow.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Russian hunter-killer class.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Built in 1967. Saw active service in the Russian Baltic fleet.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54She was once armed with 22 torpedoes,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and here's the bit that makes people nervous - two nuclear warheads.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Brought to the UK as a tourist attraction
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and now fallen on hard times,
0:04:05 > 0:04:10this Black Widow still offers a rare chance to see, first hand,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12a once-feared predator.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Submarines were never more impressive
0:04:14 > 0:04:16than during the Cold War era.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Hollywood knew this better than anyone
0:04:19 > 0:04:21and built submarine movies to match.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32The film that best captured the conventions of this period
0:04:32 > 0:04:34is The Hunt For Red October,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37which was based on Tom Clancy's bestselling techno-thriller.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Once more,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43we play our dangerous game.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47A game of chess against our old adversary.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49The American navy.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Sean Connery plays a Soviet submarine captain who,
0:04:54 > 0:04:55along with his crew,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58is apparently about to defect to the United States.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00His boat, the Red October,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04is equipped with a revolutionary new silent propulsion system,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08making it virtually undetectable to the Americans.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Sonar is working, Captain. The Russian disappeared.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21The Hunt For Red October has various things. It's a Cold War thriller.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25It's big budget submarine movie.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30It's a vehicle for Sean Connery doing one of his maverick noble
0:05:30 > 0:05:31authority figures,
0:05:31 > 0:05:37and here's this sonar-inaudible device, now that's really scary.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48And they will tremble again, at the sound of our silence.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51The order is engage the silent drive.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Aye, sir. Open outer doors.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Diving command, engage caterpillar and secure main engines.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05If film producers wanted to capture the majesty
0:06:05 > 0:06:08of these multi-million dollar machines at sea
0:06:08 > 0:06:10they had only one option.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14They had to do a deal with the US Navy.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Passing Thor's Twins, sir.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Bob Anderson is the director
0:06:24 > 0:06:28of the US Navy's Office of Information in Los Angeles.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32If a major studio wants to use one of their submarines for filming,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34he's the man they have to convince.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Our charter from the Department of Defence is that the script
0:06:39 > 0:06:43must be accurate, must reflect accurately what the military does,
0:06:45 > 0:06:46so we have to look at that.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Has to be of informational value to the American public
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and it doesn't hurt if it helps recruiting!
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Deck nine, what you got, Jones?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Distant contact, probably submerged.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00It's a wild guess, but I'd say we hit a boomer coming out of the barn
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Could be a missile boat out of Polijarny.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09- OK, start your track, I'll be there in a minute.- Sonar, aye.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11We put a lot of effort into making sure that they don't
0:07:11 > 0:07:14give away classified information but when we deal with something
0:07:14 > 0:07:17like a submarine security system or something
0:07:17 > 0:07:20we go to the people who are involved in that
0:07:20 > 0:07:22and get the unclassified version
0:07:22 > 0:07:25and get the elements that they can put into the film.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29You juggle that with a tremendous opportunity to inform the people
0:07:29 > 0:07:34about what our submarines do and what those people are out there doing.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48But this drive by film makers
0:07:48 > 0:07:53to get the US Navy's most impressive war machines on the big screen,
0:07:53 > 0:07:58leaves a wishy-washy liberal like me just a tad concerned.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Because somewhere along the way, the line between
0:08:01 > 0:08:06entertaining feature film and highly elaborate recruitment tool
0:08:06 > 0:08:08became very blurred.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14For the US Navy, any movie in which they are involved
0:08:14 > 0:08:16is viewed as a recruitment opportunity
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and they will even hand out promotional material
0:08:19 > 0:08:23to members of the public inside the cinema where the film is playing.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27We do that for just about every military picture,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31they invite the recruiters down to set up tables
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and meet people that come out of the film and might be interested in
0:08:34 > 0:08:36getting more information on the Navy.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41We've had a very good relationship with theatre operators to do that.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44We're very grateful that they do.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Diving officer, make a depth 1200 feet, 20 degree down.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52While it may be that the US Navy simply want to
0:08:52 > 0:08:54use the movie for their own purposes,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and, reportedly, recruitment did surge
0:08:56 > 0:08:59in the year following the film's release,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02for director John McTiernan the opportunity for actors
0:09:02 > 0:09:07to experience life on board a real, operational submarine,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11helped them to achieve a more authentic performance.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16The Navy guys taught our actors to be a lot less gung ho
0:09:16 > 0:09:22and a lot less emotional and a lot less warrior-like
0:09:22 > 0:09:24because that isn't what the real men are like.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30Men on a submarine behave the way men do in a monastery.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33In fact it's very much like a monastery.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Well, I'll be damned. Now what?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38'Submariners speak softly.'
0:09:38 > 0:09:39All right. If defection...
0:09:43 > 0:09:45'They never move quickly.'
0:09:45 > 0:09:48They don't make very large gestures when they talk,
0:09:48 > 0:09:49they make small gestures.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54mr Thompson, call Chief Watson to the conn with his sidearm.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'It showed them as men who were not in the least eager
0:09:57 > 0:09:59'to go to war with anyone.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02'It showed them as intelligent and the Navy liked all that.'
0:10:02 > 0:10:04They really did.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10However there are occasions when the US Navy isn't always on board
0:10:10 > 0:10:12with the filmmakers.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16- Control, bridge, sounding. - Bridge, control.
0:10:16 > 0:10:22Crimson Tide was a 1995 release directed by Tony Scott
0:10:22 > 0:10:24from a screenplay by Mike Schiffer.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25Lookouts, clear the bridge.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Clear the bridge, aye, sir.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Set just after the Cold War, on a US submarine,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent
0:10:35 > 0:10:37his captain launching a nuclear missile
0:10:37 > 0:10:41against a group of Russian rebels.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42You continue upon this course
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and insist upon this launch without confirming this message first.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47And by the rules of precedence...
0:10:47 > 0:10:50As captain and commanding officer of the USS Alabama
0:10:50 > 0:10:53I order you to place the XO under arrest on a charge of mutiny.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I say again, I order you to place the XO
0:10:56 > 0:10:59under arrest on a charge of mutiny.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07For the US Navy, an onscreen mutiny was totally unacceptable
0:11:07 > 0:11:10and they pulled the plug on their support.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14There was one in 1849, there was a small mutiny on board a ship there,
0:11:14 > 0:11:21but we've never had one and it's just such a strong thing with us
0:11:21 > 0:11:26not to portray the reality of something like that happening
0:11:26 > 0:11:28because we don't feel it ever would happen.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33We gave the producers several other scenarios that they could choose
0:11:33 > 0:11:37and, for reasons that you would have to get from them,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40they wanted to stick to the one they had
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and we helped them up to the point as far as we could
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and then we had to break off and let them go their own way.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49- Control ready?- Aye, sir.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- Launcher ready?- Aye, sir.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Initiate fire.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Freeze, hold it! Drop the weapon now!
0:11:57 > 0:11:58Move, move. move!
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Fire one!
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Number one did not fire, sir.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Sir, the captain's key has been removed.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Hunter.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13I felt that every great movie about submarines
0:12:13 > 0:12:19and many great movies about the Navy involve this kind of power struggle.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Run Silent Run Deep, The Caine Mutiny.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Mutinies are part of the lore of great navy tales but they decided
0:12:26 > 0:12:29because there was a mutiny on board they wouldn't support it
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and we were very disappointed.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The biggest loss would have been
0:12:34 > 0:12:37the loss of these beauty shots of the submarines at sea.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Once you're underneath it you have to build a set anyway,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42you're not going to shoot in a live submarine.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45And Tony Scott, God bless him, went to Hawaii,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48rented a helicopter and cowboyed those shots
0:12:48 > 0:12:52of the USS Alabama submerging, which are beautiful.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54I think he got ordered out of air space!
0:12:54 > 0:12:56I really think he stole those shots.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59I'm eternally grateful.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03These high-concept blockbusters may be the biggest manifestations
0:13:03 > 0:13:05of the submarine movie,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08but there were many others that set sail before them.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11From the moment the very first submarine was built
0:13:11 > 0:13:14it gripped the imagination of writers and filmmakers.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17In fact, the first fictional submarine
0:13:17 > 0:13:21was planted in the public's imagination in 1870 by a Frenchman,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23the writer Jules Verne.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26In his novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29a renowned professor sets off to investigate
0:13:29 > 0:13:32the mysterious disappearance of ships in the Pacific Ocean.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36He encounters the anti-hero Captain Nemo,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40in his futuristic submarine, Nautilus.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44It was Verne's wonderful science fantasy that, a few years later,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47would inspire a new breed of storyteller.
0:13:48 > 0:13:55In fact, one of the first films ever made was a submarine movie in 1907,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59directed by George Melies, a pioneer of early cinema.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03His 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea film
0:14:03 > 0:14:10features a fantastic journey done with big cardboard cut-out sets,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13and then you get a line of very pretty chorus girls
0:14:13 > 0:14:15who come on and do a very elegant ballet.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18It's in line with the kind of stage revue
0:14:18 > 0:14:21that you would have seen at the Moulin Rouge or the Folies Bergere
0:14:21 > 0:14:22at that time.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26It's a long way from Jules Verne's story about, you know,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29hard-bitten adventurers facing incredible risks.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31It's really a different world.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37This is a very rare print of Melies' work.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41In 1913, his company went bankrupt and the French Army
0:14:41 > 0:14:46seized some 500 of his films in order to use the cellulose
0:14:46 > 0:14:49to make boot heels for their soldiers in the First World War.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54As a result, many of his films no longer exist.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02But it wasn't just Melies who took inspiration from Verne.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07In 1916, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was re-made
0:15:07 > 0:15:10by Glasgow-born director Stuart Paton
0:15:10 > 0:15:12for Hollywood studio Universal.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17This feature-length version was much more faithful to the Verne story
0:15:17 > 0:15:18and was applauded
0:15:18 > 0:15:20for its groundbreaking underwater photography.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Perhaps not a great film in the annals of cinema,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27but it really does take seriously
0:15:27 > 0:15:29how to produce those under-sea effects.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34And the diving sequences looked very convincing.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Much more convincing than anything that had been done before.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39We really believe that we're under the sea.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45This was the start of our obsession with the submarine
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and the story-telling opportunities it presented.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52If early filmmakers used it as a springboard for the imagination,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56there was one further element that would establish
0:15:56 > 0:16:00the cinematic submarine story and that was the Second World War.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06There were a handful of submarine movies made before World War II,
0:16:06 > 0:16:07including a couple of talkies
0:16:07 > 0:16:09directed by John Ford and Frank Capra.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12But it wasn't until the outbreak of that war,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15where submarines played a vital strategic role,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18that the British public became fascinated with the submarine movie.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23None more so than the 1943 classic We Dive at Dawn.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Stop starboard, slow port.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Destroyer, maybe a screen.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29- You getting anything?- No, sir.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Wait a minute. Picking her up now.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34- Two of them.- Up periscope.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41The film stars plucky John Mills, yes, it's him,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44in the first of his many Second World War submarine pictures
0:16:44 > 0:16:46as the captain of HMS Sea Tiger
0:16:46 > 0:16:50on a top-secret mission to sink the German battleship, the Brandenburg.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Plate, plate.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04It's her, the Brandenburg.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06Blow up all tubes.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Blow up all tubes.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Made at a time when allied forces were suffering severe losses,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20the film, with its message of solidarity, was intended
0:17:20 > 0:17:24as a morale booster to calm public anxieties regarding Britain's role
0:17:24 > 0:17:25in the Second World War.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Confound it,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30she's dancing about like a pea in a blasted drum.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Making films about the Second World War was pretty difficult
0:17:34 > 0:17:37while the war was still on because there were tremendous restrictions
0:17:37 > 0:17:38about what could be shown.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- Fire!- Fire!- Fire!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43And there were real anxieties about alarming the public,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48so there was a bit of a prohibition on being too realistic.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It was very important that no-one was seen to panic,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58'so nobody panics, but they sweat.'
0:17:58 > 0:18:00EXPLOSION
0:18:03 > 0:18:06- Pump all engine room bilges. - Pump all engine room bilges.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09It was also trying to send a message back to the home front
0:18:09 > 0:18:11that in the dire circumstances
0:18:11 > 0:18:15we really had to pull together and forget old differences.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19There's a leak in the water room and we can't get a suction on the pump.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Right, get a bucket team going.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Right, get all the buckets you can find and bring them on.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38The home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service during the Second World War
0:18:38 > 0:18:40was HMS Dolphin, at Gosport.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Now it is the location of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and I have come here to try and understand
0:18:46 > 0:18:49what it was really like for the men who served on submarines
0:18:49 > 0:18:51during the war.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56This is HMS Alliance.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Launched towards the end of the Second World War,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02she is the only surviving example of her class.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11The simulated depth charge experience on board Alliance
0:19:11 > 0:19:15is probably as close as I will get to the real thing.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19SONAR BEEPS
0:19:21 > 0:19:23RUMBLING
0:19:35 > 0:19:39There's no point denying it - I jumped at a sound effect.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41That was terrifying.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Blimey.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Dive, dive, dive.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Life on a submarine during the Second World War
0:19:48 > 0:19:50was hard for the men on board
0:19:50 > 0:19:53who had to be ready for action at any time.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56You obviously survived the conflict, but did you ever have...
0:19:56 > 0:19:58'Two men who remember it well
0:19:58 > 0:20:02'are Cyril Sothcott and Captain Michael Crawford.'
0:20:03 > 0:20:10In 1941, aged 20, Cyril joined the 9th Flotilla, based in Dundee.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17When war broke out, Michael was then a sub-lieutenant
0:20:17 > 0:20:23but by 1942, aged only 25, he took command of HMS Unseen,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27operating out of Malta in the Mediterranean.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33The most frightening experience I had was being depth charged off Toulon.
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Our Q tank, which was the quick diving tank, flooded
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and we started plummeting down.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47At more than you wanted to do go.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Much more, in fact we nearly went to double the safe diving depth
0:20:52 > 0:20:54so it was very frightening.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58One or two close encounters with...
0:20:58 > 0:21:03mine cables slapping down the side of the ship.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08You're just hoping that the cable won't snag on anything
0:21:08 > 0:21:12and pull the mine down on top of you,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15but it does tend to concentrate the mind!
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Our losses were very heavy.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25You never thought about it but that was the case.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Having watched dozens of submarine movies,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37the question which continues to haunt me,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39and now I feel it more acutely
0:21:39 > 0:21:42having just met these brave, former submariners,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45is could I do what they've done?
0:21:45 > 0:21:50I'd like to think that I could, but I'm really not sure.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52I'm going to read a quote from Winston Churchill.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56I'll read it to make sure I get it just right.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00"Of all the branches of men in the Forces, there is none
0:22:00 > 0:22:04"which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariner.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08"Great deeds are done in the air and on the land.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12"Nevertheless, nothing surpasses your exploits."
0:22:12 > 0:22:15I wouldn't disagree with that,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17not for a second.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Leaving harbour.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31From 1950 to 1959 there were more naval war films made
0:22:31 > 0:22:33than any other branch of the military,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37and more submarine movies than at any other time,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39which kept John Mills very busy!
0:22:39 > 0:22:44In Britain, this post-war period proved to be a difficult time
0:22:44 > 0:22:46as the nation was struggling to deal with the debt
0:22:46 > 0:22:49of the Second World War that was crippling the economy.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55These nostalgic films reminded audiences how great Britain once was
0:22:55 > 0:22:57when Britannia ruled the waves.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06There are a couple of submarine pictures from this period
0:23:06 > 0:23:08which are reliving moments of heroism,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11particularly heroism against all odds,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13when the outcome was not so very wonderful.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16For instance, a film like Above Us The Waves,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18which I remember seeing in the cinema,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21left a tremendous impression on me.
0:23:25 > 0:23:26Hold it. Hold it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Above Us The Waves stars...John Mills, as the skipper once again
0:23:30 > 0:23:35but this time in a film based on the true story of a World War II attack
0:23:35 > 0:23:36on the German ship the Tirpitz.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Mills is captain of an X Craft,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42otherwise known as a midget submarine.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46These tiny subs were able to creep under enemy torpedo nets
0:23:46 > 0:23:49to carry out highly dangerous missions.
0:23:49 > 0:23:57- Blimey, we're through. - Do you know, I believe we are.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01- Periscope depths. - Periscope depths, sir.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05There was room for only four men on board
0:24:05 > 0:24:09and so the feeling of claustrophobia was intense.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21This is HMS X24, the only remaining X-craft to have seen service
0:24:21 > 0:24:24in World War II.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28At just over 50 feet long and with a beam of 5'9",
0:24:28 > 0:24:33in its day it was capable of diving to depths of 300 feet.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38Midget submarines of this class received no less than four VCs.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49You can see how tight a space it is
0:24:49 > 0:24:53and how claustrophobic it would have been for the four crew members.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56In fact they nicknamed them madmen.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01It really isn't very nice in here.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04In fact, can I get out now?
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Get ready to bail out.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Above Us The Waves really does seem to capture the risks and the heroism
0:25:14 > 0:25:17of the submariner during the Second World War,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and John Mills epitomised the British spirit
0:25:20 > 0:25:22of grace under pressure.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27But in America, it was a rather different story.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Steady, chief!
0:25:33 > 0:25:35The role of the US submarine captain
0:25:35 > 0:25:39was one of rugged masculinity and prowess.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Who better to lead a crew into battle
0:25:41 > 0:25:44than the Duke himself, John Wayne?
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Even though it's only a small plastic boat in a tank!
0:25:49 > 0:25:54For Hollywood filmmakers, the submarine became the perfect setting
0:25:54 > 0:25:58for an all-out action-packed, star-studded
0:25:58 > 0:26:02naval drama where the skipper is king.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Put air pressure in that compartment.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Put air pressure in that compartment.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I think for quite a number of years
0:26:08 > 0:26:11doing one of those war action movies and on a submarine was regarded
0:26:11 > 0:26:17as no bad thing because you could be a kind of tough guy hero
0:26:17 > 0:26:20when men were men, in a confined space.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25You're in charge, you're god of this universe, and wasn't it fantastic?
0:26:25 > 0:26:31And of course a lot of those actors gave very powerful performances.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36One film that featured not one but two Hollywood alpha males,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43was the 1958 classic, Run Silent Run Deep.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Right full rudder, come right to course 030.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48'Open outer doors of tubes one and two.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Open outer doors of tubes one and two.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Deep in the pacific, Clark Gable plays a submarine commander
0:26:53 > 0:26:57on a revenge mission to sink a Japanese destroyer, The Momo.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01He is accompanied by Burt Lancaster as his first officer.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Angle on the bow now, starboard 70.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Complete a spread, one right, one left.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Everything set, sir.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13But Gable's authoritarian style of command
0:27:13 > 0:27:17clashes with Lancaster's more democratic approach
0:27:17 > 0:27:21and the film cements what was to become a staple of the genre -
0:27:21 > 0:27:24the head-to-head power struggle.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26We have operational orders. They are explicit.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29The crew that expects the captain to follow them.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32You know as well as I do that a captain can redefine orders
0:27:32 > 0:27:33if he feels he has an advantage.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- What advantage? - You just named it, a bow shot.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39We proved we could do it with the Momo, we can do it again.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44This pointed to wider concerns about the best style of leadership
0:27:44 > 0:27:50to deal with the new enemy in 1950s America - communism.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Although it's ostensibly about the Second World War,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56there's a lot being dramatised which is about...
0:27:56 > 0:27:59you know, Eisenhower's America and how it faces up
0:27:59 > 0:28:01to the communist threat.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Destroyer's angle at the bow now zero. Bearing?
0:28:04 > 0:28:10Harold Hecht, who was the producer, had been one of the stool pigeons
0:28:10 > 0:28:12at the House of Un-American Activities Committee.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15He'd named names, only 18 months before.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21And the film can definitely be interpreted as,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24what's the best style of leadership for taking on the Commies?
0:28:24 > 0:28:27The democratic style, represented by Lancaster,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29the authoritarian style, represented by Gable.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34We're going to have to be very ingenious and nimble on our feet
0:28:34 > 0:28:36to cope with the Commies.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39And that comes displaced into this,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42the 32-second bow torpedo followed by a quick dive.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44If you had any questions about the drills,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46I think you'll have them answered now.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50We're taking on the Momo. Right standard rudder.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Come right to course 045.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Down their throats. It's a bow shot.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59It's a clever manoeuvre that Clarke Gable's worked out
0:28:59 > 0:29:01to outwit a Japanese destroyer.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05- Fire three.- Fire Three. Three fired, sir.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09You get less films about the Nazis in the fifties at that time,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12but the Japs were still the bad guys and that was OK.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15So, there's a lot of sort of gung ho kind of chauvinism.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- We got him!- 32 seconds!
0:29:30 > 0:29:34At the end of the '50s came one last World War II submarine movie
0:29:34 > 0:29:39that would take on both the Japanese and gung ho chauvinism,
0:29:39 > 0:29:44bringing the red-blooded crew of a US submarine to their knees.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46- Good morning.- Morning, sir.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50In Operation Petticoat, Cary Grant and Tony Curtis would discover
0:29:50 > 0:29:56exactly how chaotic things can get when you let real women on board...
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Good night, Marilyn.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08As the crew of USS Sea Tiger sets off on patrol in the Pacific
0:30:08 > 0:30:10they come upon a group of survivors
0:30:10 > 0:30:13who have been stranded on a remote island.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16- Women!- Wow!
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The captain is forced to do the gentlemanly thing.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Am I going down right?
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- Sorry?- Is she going down right?
0:30:25 > 0:30:27- She sure is!- Good morning.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Though set in the Second World War,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33the usual conventions of the submarine movie
0:30:33 > 0:30:34are blown completely out of the water
0:30:34 > 0:30:36by the arrival of the nurses on board.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41And the submarine, far from being a confined, claustrophobic space
0:30:41 > 0:30:47is transformed into a hotbed of sexual innuendo and excitement.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Operation Petticoat is very much of its moment.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54It's very much a 1950s film about men being in charge
0:30:54 > 0:30:58except when they're slightly befuddled by sex.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00- Excuse me.- Yeah.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04It's very '50s because it's absolutely fixated on breasts.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Which is a very 1950s Hollywood thing.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Think about Marilyn Munro, Eva Gardner.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10The Japanese have nothing like this.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12'I always think of the '50s as the era in which'
0:31:12 > 0:31:16America regressed into infancy and developed a breast fixation.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21If anybody ever asks you what you're fighting for, there's your answer.
0:31:23 > 0:31:30The final feminisation of the boat occurs when poor, emasculated
0:31:30 > 0:31:35USS Sea Tiger, due to a lack of supplies, is painted not regulation
0:31:35 > 0:31:38battleship grey, but...
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Pink.
0:31:40 > 0:31:4525 years I've been in the navy. I ain't never seen nothing like this.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50As the concerns of war faded,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53the submarine movie withdrew from the front line
0:31:53 > 0:31:58and re-focussed on the realms of fantasy and adventure.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00It would take on more forward-looking aspects
0:32:00 > 0:32:05and these colourful creations would occasionally conceal powerful ideas,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09sometimes from the most unlikely film makers.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18In 1954, more than 80 years after Jules Verne first published
0:32:18 > 0:32:22his classic undersea tale of the Nautilus submarine,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Walt Disney decided to revisit this story
0:32:24 > 0:32:27that had so inspired the early filmmakers.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32Only this time, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea would be Walt's first
0:32:32 > 0:32:37cinemascope live action feature film, shot in glorious Technicolor.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41The motion picture screen explodes with unprecedented power
0:32:41 > 0:32:46as the two masters of imagination, Jules Verne and Walt Disney,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50join to bring you a shattering new experience in entertainment.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55All stations ready, prepare for diving.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57It's a natural conjunction.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Disney was aware that submarine movies were becoming very popular.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05We're right in the heart of the peak production period
0:33:05 > 0:33:08from the mid '40s to the late '50s of submarine movies.
0:33:08 > 0:33:14Don't leave us! Help! Help!
0:33:14 > 0:33:17After their ship is sunk the professor and his crew come across
0:33:17 > 0:33:22a strange submarine-like vessel and decide to investigate.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Is anyone down there?
0:33:29 > 0:33:33When Captain Nemo, played by James Mason,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36returns to find the intruders on board the Nautilus,
0:33:36 > 0:33:38he is less than happy.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42James Mason as Captain Nemo is brilliant.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Dark, saturnine, seriously believable as a man
0:33:45 > 0:33:48who has a grudge against humanity.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50When he sits down and plays at the organ,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53that is one of the great moments when you really do believe
0:33:53 > 0:33:58this kind of fantasy world that he's built for himself under sea.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Disney, of course, was very interested in the new technologies
0:34:05 > 0:34:07that were being developed for, well, military purposes.
0:34:07 > 0:34:13And yes, he was aware of the looming nuclear standoff.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16And it's very natural if you're making an up-to-date version
0:34:16 > 0:34:19of the Verne novel that you will incorporate nuclear power
0:34:19 > 0:34:24because the source of the Nautilus' power in Jules Verne is mysterious.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Now the mystery is solved. It's nuclear.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36It had its roots in the Victorian gothic
0:34:36 > 0:34:38but it's actually coming up into the present.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49The end when Nemo decides to self destruct,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52you not only get a mushroom cloud
0:34:52 > 0:34:55but you get a voice over from James Mason saying,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59"One day the world will be ready for this. In God's good time."
0:35:00 > 0:35:04This is hope for the future.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08When the world is ready for a new and better life,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12all this will some day come to pass,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14in God's good time.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23It's no coincidence that the same year
0:35:23 > 0:35:26that 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was released,
0:35:26 > 0:35:30the US Navy launched its first ever atomic-powered submarine -
0:35:30 > 0:35:32the USS Nautilus.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36And by 1957 it had achieved 20,000 leagues...
0:35:36 > 0:35:39that's distance, not depth,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43thus matching Jules Verne's fictional vessel.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46More than that though, it became apparent that Disney
0:35:46 > 0:35:49was helping to promote a positive role for the atom in general
0:35:49 > 0:35:53and atomic submarines in particular.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Take a look at this for an early Disneyland ride.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02And now for the ride that I nominate as the most unusual
0:36:02 > 0:36:05and completely fascinating that I have ever enjoyed.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10The General Dynamic Corporation which had built the USS Nautilus,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13built for Walt Disney the atomic submarine ride
0:36:13 > 0:36:15for Disneyworld in Anaheim, California.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20So I mean there was a complete connection between
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Disney making 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea '54,
0:36:23 > 0:36:24and what was going on in the real world
0:36:24 > 0:36:27with the development of nuclear submarine technology.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29It's quite an extraordinary moment.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Who would have thought that the man who brought us the Magic Kingdom
0:36:33 > 0:36:35would treat the children of the 1950s
0:36:35 > 0:36:39to a Disney ride on an atomic submarine?
0:36:39 > 0:36:42With make-believe missiles, of course.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Furthermore, Disney produced,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48with the US Navy and the General Dynamic Corporation,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51a film called Our friend the Atom,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54which predicted a bright, clean future where the atom
0:36:54 > 0:36:56"..will truly become our friend".
0:36:59 > 0:37:01I remember watching it at school.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Here's America and the use of the nuclear power
0:37:04 > 0:37:07with an amazing sequence where they show
0:37:07 > 0:37:12how a nuclear explosion occurs with the aid of hundreds of mousetraps.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13Watch.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23An atomic chain reaction works in exactly the same way.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28Our Friend the Atom. In medicine, in hygiene, in energy,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31in transportation, the atom is going to sort out all our problems.
0:37:31 > 0:37:36And then, the atom can run our ships.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42'Disney loved new technology,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45'he loved American ingenuity, Yanky ingenuity.'
0:37:45 > 0:37:50And of course, the atomic submarine already exists.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54Like everyone else he was... the Sputnik goes up
0:37:54 > 0:37:57and they're very, very paranoid that the Russians are getting
0:37:57 > 0:37:59rather better at this than the Americans are.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01So they redouble their efforts to show
0:38:01 > 0:38:03how American ingenuity leads the world.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15But not everyone shared Walt Disney's optimism.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19The catastrophic events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
0:38:19 > 0:38:21were still in people's minds
0:38:21 > 0:38:26and there was significant anxiety about the dangers of nuclear power.
0:38:30 > 0:38:36These concerns were captured in the 1959 melodrama On The Beach,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39based on the novel by Nevil Shute.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43And our scientists disagree as to when radiation will reach Australia.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47The atomic war has ended but the Prime Minister reports
0:38:47 > 0:38:51no proof of survival of human life anywhere except here.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Any contacts topside?
0:38:54 > 0:38:56'No contact, sir.'
0:38:56 > 0:39:00An atomic explosion in the northern hemisphere
0:39:00 > 0:39:02has wiped out all of humanity.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05All that's left is a US Submarine.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14The given is so gloomy, the only safe place in the world
0:39:14 > 0:39:17is inside a metal tube and the moment you surface you've had it.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20So you don't need the Japanese and the Nazis,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22you just need to breath the air.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29It's the last vessel that can explore the ruined world
0:39:29 > 0:39:31that they have destroyed.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35It's the last place that they can hide in.
0:39:35 > 0:39:40It's the last place they can escape to before it's all over.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Up periscope.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47When it's up periscope it's not to see a predator,
0:39:47 > 0:39:48it's to see the real world.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51It's information about civil life that they want
0:39:51 > 0:39:55through the periscope rather than information about the enemy.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04It's downhill all the way. It begins downhill and it gets worse
0:40:04 > 0:40:07until, at the end, they all kill themselves.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12'You cannot imagine a big-budget film with a star like Gregory Peck
0:40:12 > 0:40:14'being made about that now.'
0:40:14 > 0:40:17It gives an idea about the atmosphere of the time.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Although the nuclear threat still hovered
0:40:24 > 0:40:28at the beginning of the '60s, it felt like things were looking up.
0:40:28 > 0:40:29Space was now the place
0:40:29 > 0:40:32and new frontiers were presenting themselves.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37You're listening to the sound of a completely new screen experience.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41A startling new kind of excitement.
0:40:41 > 0:40:4320th Century-Fox plunges you
0:40:43 > 0:40:46into the most incredible adventure that man could ever achieve.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56With the Fantastic Voyage,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58the submarine movie proved how adaptable it was.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00The journey was not to the bottom of the sea
0:41:00 > 0:41:05but to inner space, inside the human body itself.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Inject.
0:41:07 > 0:41:08Wasn't so much that sinking feeling
0:41:08 > 0:41:12as that shrinking feeling as a group of scientists were miniaturised
0:41:12 > 0:41:15in order to enter the patient's bloodstream.
0:41:15 > 0:41:21But this was back in 1966 and things were getting groovier, so obviously
0:41:21 > 0:41:26one of the scientists had to be played by Raquel Welch.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Oh, yes! Take me down, doctor!
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Phase 1, phase 1.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Scanner, computer, nine, five.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Dr Duvall? What could those be?
0:41:50 > 0:41:53It's interesting to see when women come on board submarines
0:41:53 > 0:41:55in the guise of scientists.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Raquel Welsh, pretty much a classic example of that.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01The film spends about 30 seconds, you know,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03informing us that she's very, very smart
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and then she never does anything intelligent again.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11She's there in a very tight-fitting suit so we can admire her figure.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15But what the Fantastic Voyage lacked in its commitment to women's lib,
0:42:15 > 0:42:19it more that made up for in scientific innovation.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23It was the swinging '60s but it was also that thing where
0:42:23 > 0:42:26technology was moving really rapidly
0:42:26 > 0:42:31and the submarine was still very much at the forefront of technology.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36It had moved from being this quite crude weapon
0:42:36 > 0:42:40that was there to blow up ships in the great films of the '40s and '50s,
0:42:40 > 0:42:45and suddenly it was a pioneering scientific exploration vessel,
0:42:45 > 0:42:50exploring things that other people couldn't explore.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57The film in 1966 is anticipating being able to insert humans
0:42:57 > 0:43:00but also technology into the bloodstream and the brain
0:43:00 > 0:43:03and do operations with lasers on the brain, etc.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05It's very prescient in that sense
0:43:05 > 0:43:09and anticipates a lot of things that would then come true.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13The submarine was at the cutting edge of innovation and technology.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20And where that cutting-edge technology
0:43:20 > 0:43:23intersects with cold war espionage,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28you will find only one man, James Bond.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33Surface. Full ahead.
0:43:33 > 0:43:34In The Spy Who Loved Me,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37a British Polaris submarine has been captured.
0:43:37 > 0:43:38Oh, my God.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42For Bond, it's a race against time as he tries to locate the submarine
0:43:42 > 0:43:44before its nuclear warheads are fired.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Can you swim?
0:44:02 > 0:44:06The most audacious scene in the film comes as Bond's Lotus Esprit
0:44:06 > 0:44:11morphs into...a midget submarine.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20It's time we said goodbye to an uninvited guest.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31Brace yourself.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36Of course, being 1977, the action just has to be played out
0:44:36 > 0:44:39to an exceedingly cheesy disco score.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40Look.
0:44:41 > 0:44:46Midget submarines don't get more bling than this. Stunning.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56Submarine movies found themselves rather becalmed in the late '70s,
0:44:56 > 0:45:01with only the occasional, admittedly spectacular, foray onscreen.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04The Spy Who Loved Me delivered the required subaquatic thrills
0:45:04 > 0:45:10and all without breaking a sweat or chipping its nail varnish.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17EXPLOSION
0:45:20 > 0:45:23But just when you thought the submarine film
0:45:23 > 0:45:26had all gone a bit silly, from out of nowhere
0:45:26 > 0:45:28a film surfaced that would become
0:45:28 > 0:45:31the towering achievement of the genre.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45This is the naval base of La Pallice, in La Rochelle
0:45:45 > 0:45:47on the French Atlantic coast.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51It was from these brutal concrete submarine pens
0:45:51 > 0:45:54that the German U-Boats departed.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57It is also the setting for the opening of one of the finest,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59most realistic submarine films.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02At just under 5 hours running time,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06director Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boat is a brilliant study
0:46:06 > 0:46:10of the terrifying psychological effects of waging war
0:46:10 > 0:46:13from a cramped, underwater, metal prison.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17As is often the case, though, the story starts on a sunny day
0:46:17 > 0:46:18with dreams of heroism.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27One of the most expensive German films ever made,
0:46:27 > 0:46:29Das Boat was released at a time when Germany
0:46:29 > 0:46:33was finally ready to dramatise its role in the second world war.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41The story follows the crew of a U-boat
0:46:41 > 0:46:43as they set off on patrol in the Atlantic
0:46:43 > 0:46:45in the early years of the war
0:46:45 > 0:46:50and is told from the point of view of Lt Werner, a war correspondent.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Lt Werner is our guide to both the fearful nature of life on board
0:47:20 > 0:47:26and to the stoicism of its captain, played by Jurgen Prochnow.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Das Boot is one of the great contributions
0:47:47 > 0:47:49to the celluloid history of war.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52It's no two ways about it.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55He's an action filmmaker, Wolfgang Peterson,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57he wants to hit you in the chest,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00he wants you to feel it there and Das Boat does that.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06You live the experience with them,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09because of the verisimilitude of the technology,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11the sound, the look, the claustrophobia.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13The details of the engineering.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22I think it's a remarkable film,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25I think it's one of the best submarine films ever made, actually.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38The extraordinary thing about war films generally
0:48:38 > 0:48:40is that the focus is on the action.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43They're not described as action films for no reason.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47And I think if you ever talk to any serving soldiers
0:48:47 > 0:48:50the thing the always stress isn't the action itself
0:48:50 > 0:48:53but it's the long gaps between the action.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Long gaps in which there is time for self-reflection,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59there is time for fear to develop,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01there is time to get anxious about what's going to happen next
0:49:01 > 0:49:03and how they're going to respond to it.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06I think what's exciting about Das Boat
0:49:06 > 0:49:10is that it very much puts that psychological perspective
0:49:10 > 0:49:11at the forefront of the film,
0:49:11 > 0:49:15which is you understand something about their fears and anxieties
0:49:15 > 0:49:18and anything that does happen in the film happens with that
0:49:18 > 0:49:21as the obvious psychological backdrop.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29The crew face a constant barrage of physical and psychological pressure
0:49:29 > 0:49:30throughout the patrol.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33But nothing pushes them further to the edge than when,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36to avoid enemy fire,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40they are forced to take the boat to a depth way beyond its limit.
0:49:52 > 0:49:58When they're stuck in the depths and you hear the pressure on the metal
0:49:58 > 0:50:01and the bolts start unscrewing and everyone feels,
0:50:01 > 0:50:05"My God, this machine is about to implode with us all stuck inside it."
0:50:16 > 0:50:19No-one had ever done that before. Submarines had got stuck,
0:50:19 > 0:50:23but you'd never quite seen the engineering effect of that.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27Very frightening.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31I even dreamt about it after I saw the film.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35It got to me that scene. What would it be like to be in that situation?
0:50:35 > 0:50:39When you can do absolutely nothing about it and you can see your
0:50:39 > 0:50:43environment implode around you very slowly as the pressure builds up.
0:50:43 > 0:50:44Yes, I think that was very effective.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58We like to watch the character losing it because, in some sense,
0:50:58 > 0:50:59they represent us.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02We know, I know that if I was in that situation I would be that character.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05And what's interesting, from a psychology point of view,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08is that fear is a very contagious emotion.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Human social groups evolve successfully because
0:51:10 > 0:51:13if one person felt fear there was usually a good reason for it
0:51:13 > 0:51:16so we had to pick up on that and work out where the threat was.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27In some sense what's wonderful to watch is that if someone
0:51:27 > 0:51:30shows extreme fear how does everyone else react?
0:51:34 > 0:51:37That's the beauty of the film, which is, you feel sympathy for
0:51:37 > 0:51:40these people because this is not part of the great Third Reich.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45This is not part of the, you know, the blitzkrieg across Europe.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49This is human beings, like yourself, very vulnerable.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51HE SHOUTS OUT
0:52:05 > 0:52:08It must have seemed pretty risky, you know,
0:52:08 > 0:52:12was the public ready to sympathise, as you have to do, really,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15with German submariners who are actually kind of, you know,
0:52:15 > 0:52:20cutting up convoys that are coming from America to Britain.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22As it turned out they were.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36You've got a very conscious attempt to exorcise the Second World War.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39Germany was ready to make films about the Nazis in 1981.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42It had taken a very very long time.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Hollywood had been making films about the Nazis,
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Britain had been making films about the Nazis.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49French had been making films, but the Germans had not
0:52:49 > 0:52:52and suddenly, they found a way of doing it.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Which is maverick people
0:52:55 > 0:52:58who feel a long way away from Berlin.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59And that's what Das Boat does.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16It was director Wolfgang Petersen's aim to take cinema audiences,
0:53:16 > 0:53:21as he put it, on a journey to the edge of their minds.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26For me, no other submarine film before or since Das Boat
0:53:26 > 0:53:29has been able to give us quite such a brilliantly realistic
0:53:29 > 0:53:33and visceral cinematic experience.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44At the end of the '80s, the Berlin Wall came down
0:53:44 > 0:53:47and the Soviet Union's power began to crumble.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52Britain and the US lost their naval enemy.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56Despite the success of blockbusters like The Hunt For Red October,
0:53:56 > 0:54:02the days of the cat-and-mouse cold war movie were now numbered.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06Film makers had to find a new focus for the submarine film.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10It is turbulence. We're in a quake.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12- Help. All stop.- Oh, my God.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15One director in particular showed the way
0:54:15 > 0:54:18as he created a curious cinematic hybrid,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22fusing the submarine to elements of science fiction
0:54:22 > 0:54:25and state-of-the-art CGI.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29In The Abyss the technical wizardry of director James Cameron
0:54:29 > 0:54:32rebooted the genre.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37All right, just continue forward and along the hull.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41The film is about a group of scientists on a mission
0:54:41 > 0:54:45to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a US submarine
0:54:45 > 0:54:47and the search for survivors.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52In the process of trying to mount the rescue, things start to go wrong
0:54:52 > 0:54:55and the scientists discover that they are not alone.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10The Abyss is a sort of submarine movie.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13What Cameron did in 1989 was he reached back
0:55:13 > 0:55:19to the imaginative space that the submarine movie and TV series
0:55:19 > 0:55:22of the 1960s gave and said,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25"Actually, it's not necessarily up there
0:55:25 > 0:55:27"where the imaginative space is,
0:55:27 > 0:55:32"it's not necessarily in outer space, maybe it is in inner space
0:55:32 > 0:55:33"or in sea space."
0:55:37 > 0:55:43It was at the absolute limit of what CGI could do at that time.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49It was a very expensive and very brave film for 1989.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54It was really quite out of kilter, this sort of hybrid
0:55:54 > 0:55:58but it confirmed what a distinctive and original director he was,
0:55:58 > 0:55:59at doing things with genres,
0:55:59 > 0:56:03and with that technology and submarine and undersea technology
0:56:03 > 0:56:05that other people just hadn't thought about.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17The Abyss grossed 90 million and won an Oscar for visual effects.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21But you have to wonder if it left the submarine movie in,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23well, a bit of a trough.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Maybe underwater warfare just won't be the same
0:56:26 > 0:56:29without those plucky Brits and maverick U-boat Kapitans.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32The genre still has life in it
0:56:32 > 0:56:37and you can still use modern technology to tell submarine stories,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40but you can't tell them with the old bad guys, in the old stories,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43in the old contexts with the old politics.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45I think all that's gone.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50If the history of cinema tells us anything it tells us that, you know,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55there is really no such thing as a genre that absolutely dies.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58After the bunch of films that we saw in the 1990s,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Crimson Tide, for instance, I think there's no reason
0:57:00 > 0:57:02why there shouldn't be new submarine films.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04There will be new filmmakers who feel that
0:57:04 > 0:57:06they have a story they want to tell.
0:57:06 > 0:57:11Personally, I would love to see the first submarine film in 3D.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15It could be absolutely terrifying.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22It's difficult to see how the submarine
0:57:22 > 0:57:27or the sea and submarine genre can regain its space
0:57:27 > 0:57:29unless somebody of that ilk,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32unless it is Steven Spielberg or James Cameron just says,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34"No, I am going to do that."
0:57:34 > 0:57:36And if they decide to do that
0:57:36 > 0:57:39everyone will be talking about it all over again, I think.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47The sea remains one of our deepest metaphors
0:57:47 > 0:57:52and the submarine is what takes us under the surface, to face what?
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Our fears? The unknown?
0:57:54 > 0:57:56The shortcomings and heroism of our fellow man?
0:57:56 > 0:57:59For what seems physically very limiting,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03the submarine is a great cauldron of emotion.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09With one inescapable element that will always remain...
0:58:09 > 0:58:11absolute,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13primal,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15raw fear.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24I'm still gripped by submarine movies
0:58:24 > 0:58:26and deeply respectful of real submariners.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30But it would be dishonest of me not to confess that there are times
0:58:30 > 0:58:34when this particular doggy paddler just wants to head for the shore...
0:58:34 > 0:58:35and stay there.
0:58:42 > 0:58:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:45 > 0:58:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk