Purely Joyful Movie!

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

WPIX (Channel 11 in NYC) used to show this movie when I was a kid and I always loved it. WPIX had all those schlocky graphics for their 8 O'clock movie. I also recall them showing this on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. I think I saw it about 4 times in total. Fascinating story. I haven't seen it in 20 years probably but would love to see it again.I loved the music -- there was some big band numbers that they tended to repeat over and over again -- presumably because they were the only songs they knew how to play. I seem to recall the production quality was a bit weak but it was pure fantasy so who really cared.

It just baffles me that they lived down there. I think that it would be kinda hard seeing that they are under water and it seems that it is surprising that the ship hasn't decade or just went and just gave way to the water pressure. It is also surprising that the people didn't just die down there with out the proper medical equipment. Plus that the other people from below the main part of the ship never wanted to live with the rest of the people. I just don't see how any one could handle being under the ocean for that long without any kind of wanting to get back to the real world instead of staying where they are. Plus it is also surprising that the little kids never wanted to know about life outside of the ship and also what the world is bigger then any what they are use to.

This was the film that first introduced me to the actor, Duncan Regehr, who played the leader of the Bow people. His performance and that of Christopher Lee as the conflicted leader of the sunken Goliath were the only bright spots in this sci-fi thriller. It could have been a great picture for the idea was fascinating, but the writing was heavy-handed. Even such top-notched character actors as Jeanette Nolan, John McIntire,John Carradine, and Jean Marsh were hampered by the insipid dialogue. I love Frank Gorshin but his performance here was a comic book caricature and unworthy of him. Both Mark Harmon and Emma Samms were pretty to look at, but bland. Duncan Regehr came across as sexy and powerful, and one of the film's implausibilities was that the heroine would prefer Mark Harmon over him! Duncan Regehr and Christopher Lee, were the only actors who gave a three-dimensional performance to what was written as one-dimensional characters. Still it's not a bad picture-- it is a interesting picture, but not a compelling one!

An ocean liner goes down during WWII and a number of passengers survive and establish a civilization under the sea in the wreck. The film starts out good but then begins to wither. Too many little subplots are injected into the story, which sink it. (No pun intended) It begins to take on a Voyage to the Bottom of The Sea TV series episode type plot and the chilling Twilight Zone potential of the picture is lost. Christopher Lee does a superb job as the ship captain and is the film only really interesting character. A man who has gone from captain of the ship to absolute God in his underwater kingdom. The other characters particularly the Navy personnel who discover the wreck are weak to say the least. John Carradine co-stars as a silent film star who was aboard the liner when it went down and is now revered by the younger generation as one of the `Elders' Frank Gorshin is also aboard as the captains sinister law enforcer.