I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

"Around the World Under the Sea" (1966) has both its admirers and its detractors. The truth, of course, lies between these two extremes. I agree, however, that there is no excuse for a shoddy print. M-G-M did not release the 70mm version in my home city, but the print I saw of the 120- minutes (sic), Panavision and Metrocolor version on first release back in 1966 was very good. I liked the cast too. I thought Lloyd Bridges had the knack of making both his heroics and clichés passably convincing. And, of course, I loved Shirley Eaton. She is one of my favorite stars. I agree that some of the other acting was not the best, and it was very disappointing to find Gary Merrill in such a small and unrewarding role. Nevertheless, Andrew Marton's direction, although typically straightforward, was pretty well on target so far as the action episodes were concerned. In all, back in '66, I thought the movie made a fair diversion for underwater-thirsty action fans.

Enhanced by beautiful underwater cinematography – complements of Clifford Pollard – Lloyd Bridges gave a spectacular performance recapturing my fond memories of "Sea Hunt". I seem to be giving this film the only positive comments however, I really did enjoy the adventure, suspense, and even the somewhat "campy" personal interaction between the characters. Also, excellent performances by David McCallum and Brian Kelly – whom I remember very fondly from "Man from Uncle" and "Flipper". I found the plot as plausible as other "diverting natural disaster" type films both present and past. As the film begins, increased seismic activity throughout the world is threatening to produce more frequent and stronger earthquakes. Lloyd Bridges and his well trained crew – scientists and experts in their own fields – borrow a submarine from the military to place sensors in the ocean for early worldwide earthquake detection. Going along for the ride with the 4 men and 1 woman crew were 2 scientific experimental guinea pigs. Disaster threatens the mission a couple of times when a giant sea inhabitant becomes entangled in the sub after trying to eat one of the crew. Also, an underwater volcano erupts burying half of the sub in molten lava. However, quick thinking and fast action from our heroes bring a happy ending to the story. If you are a fan of "diverting natural disaster" films – you will enjoy this one – however – you need to catch it on TV because there is no DVD available and VHS is very limited.

I have seen this film only once - it was part of a holiday double bill with (I think, Captain Sinbad which starred Guy Madison). I must have been eleven at the time, and remember that my mother had agreed to take my younger brother and myself to see it at the ABC Haymarket cinema in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (happy days), on the strength of having seen the trailer, which made it look good. I remember to this day how I looked forward all week to seeing it, and how disappointed I was when I actually saw it. Seldom have I seen a film to compare, in terms of promising a lot and delivering nothing. Nothing happened of any consequence, until a scene between Lloyd Bridges and David McCallum - I recall the dialogue, something like 'where there are smaller fish there will be bigger fish' (sounds pretty innocuous now, I'm sure there must have been more menace in it than that). It must been pretty poor for me not to like an adventure film at the age of 11! And of course my poor Mum yawned her way through it too. She must have regarded it as a huge waste of money.

A familiar cast, colorful underwater photography and unintentional laughs help make this completely unrealistic adventure film palatable. Due to increased seismic activity around the globe, a team of experts is assigned to float around the oceans of the world in a tiny submarine, planting sensors that will help predict underwater earthquakes. Bridges and Kelly (who earned their fins on the TV shows "Sea Hunt" and "Flipper", respectively) head up the mission, each competing to see who can most often rip their shirt off at a moments notice in order to fix some problem. Other scientists on board are older, rather colorless Thompson, bespectacled McCallum, reluctant Wynn and curvy, brassy blonde Eaton who boards the sub in white heels and a dress with a slit up the side. They trot around the globe as if it's the size of The Gulf of Mexico, planting their sensors (which, ludicrously, must explode in order to be anchored to the ground!) and experiencing various inter-personal conflicts. Moments after the credits have ended, credibility has already been jettisoned. Kelly, in a diving bell, gets knocked by a whale and Bridges dives 150 feet down without benefit of air and leisurely peeks in the window and knocks on the door! Later, he swims down to Wynn's underwater lair and, when his tank runs out, Wynn somehow (by benefit of an unseen Bat Pole?) goes from casual street clothes to a skin tight diving suit within seconds to rescue him! Also, unbelievably, Thompson proposes marriage to Eaton, yet she's already shacked up with McCallum previous to the mission and now has her sights set on Kelly! Small world! She claims not to be leading any of the men on, yet continuously gives it the "look at my body" act, up to and including an Esther Williams-esque swim in which she swirls her blonde mane towards the sub window and extends her bikini-clad body to it's fullest extent! Term papers could be written about the many, many scientific implausibilities of the film, but it's more fun to just sit back and make fun of the hysterically bad plotting and direction. Watch as Eaton and Kelly stare longingly at each other JUST AS two fish swim by and seem to nuzzle each other before disappearing behind a rock to do God knows what. Then they share a Doris and Rock-style moment with them each in bed, back to back, aching for each other over a cigarette. Who cares if the world may explode any minute? They're hot for each other, darn it! There are two guinea pigs on board. Watch for the second time the sub pitches forward and one of them finds it's face buried squarely in the behind of the other. By the way, Thompson loses Eaton, but seems perfectly happy to have wound up with these two rodents as a consolation prize. If one decompresses his brain for two hours, the film does have some interesting imagery, creative situations and manages to have some degree of suspense wondering who, if anyone, will die. Viewers looking for logic, reality or even sense, will be highly disappointed.