Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Episodic, boring and about a half hour too long, this is a pure WWII propaganda film for the Merchant Marine. Watching this on DVR, I found myself fast forwarding thru much of the seemingly endless propaganda speeches that litter this picture. The performances are, at best, adequate and at worst, dreadful. Warner Brothers usual array of character actors provide little, if any, "action" to this film. Alan Hale, whom I normally find enjoyable, chews up scenery at every turn. Raymond Massey is, well, Raymond Massey. Bogie does his best with what he was given but even he can't save this turkey. Stereotypes and clichés run rampant throughout the film. Some pretty good battle scenes don't save this flick from being a two hour exercise in tedium. All-in-all, this film is best for Bogie fans and Merchant seamen.

During World War II, a Merchant Marine unit keeps getting into skirmishes with German U-boats as it tries to deliver supplies to the Russians. As the title indicates, there is a lot of action in this movie. Better than half of the film is devoted to extended battle scenes. While these are fairly well executed, they do become tedious as there is little dramatic tension. Scenes of civilian life represent a nice respite from the fighting but they are all too brief. In his follow-up to "Casablanca," Bogart isn't given much to do but he is always worth watching. There's a good supporting cast headed by the likes of Massey, Hale, Levene, and Clark.

Three cheers for "AITNA" because it salutes guys who are not saluted in war films, our Merchant Marines. Yes, of course we Americans pay homage to the brave peoples of Great Britain and Soviet Russia who respectively wore Hitler down and then chopped him to pieces however let us not forget that without ordnance and supplies of every type from us,both nations would not have been able to pull off their miracles.I suppose "AITNA" can be considered a movie about revenge, specifically about a certain German U-boat which did Bogart, Massey and the rest, dirt at the outset of the film however it goes deeper. It's more about the perseverance, determination and aptness of a free nation, us,to weather the storms and Nazi U-boat dangers during our runs to England and Murmansk, Russia.There are 109 acting credits assigned to this film, five of which are such Warner Brothers stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark and Sam Levene. The story line was most interesting indeed, the battle scenes were graphic and I found all 126 minutes to be of high quality and riveting viewing.

Frankly I wasn't expecting much from this flag-waver which I've never seen until today's screening as part of a Bogie retrospective at the NFT. I was aware that it formed part of Bogie's war-time CV and I had also read the oft-repeated story of how Bogie and Massy made an on-set wager as to whose stunt double was the bravest. That's what I KNEW. What I EXPECTED was a morale-booster laced liberally with not-too-subtle propaganda (given that the screenplay was by John Howard Lawson who never let a chance to praise Communism pass) and a cast of trained seals walking through it. What I GOT was actually very entertaining and informative, a movie that both invites and can withstand comparison with In Which We Serve. In both films a ship is blown out of the water in the first three reels, there are several survivors who eventually join another ship and sea-time is leavened by shore time. One (In Which We Serve) celebrates the Royal navy whilst the other (Action In The North Atlantic)deals with the Merchant navy and draws attention to the vital part the service played in the War effort. In Which We Serve on balance comes off marginally better but it did have the virtue of being written and co-directed by an exceptionally talented man, Noel Coward, who also played a leading role and apart from this Coward was able to lard his screenplay with a richer 'civilian' storyline inasmuch as England, unlike America, suffered heavy bombing resulting in thousands of civilian casualties. What we are left with is a fine film with realistic dialogue slightly more colorful than that in the British film, sterling performances from a typical Hollywood 'bomber-crew' including the ubiquitous Alan Hale, plus Sam Levene and Dane Clark. Ruth Gordon and Julie Bishop are stuck with the thankless roles of sailor's wives and for good measure Bishop gets to sing Cole Porter's Night And Day. It was a meister stroke to get a Hitler looka-like (complete with moustache to make sure we get it) to play the U-Boat officer behind the initial attack. There's probably little scope for further screenings outside of this kind of retrospective but it's definitely worth looking out for on DVD.