Lack of good storyline.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

THE BEDFORD INCIDENT is a Cold War thriller like no other. It's set on an American destroyer sailing off the coast of Greenland and looks at the psychology of the dedicated, over-zealous captain leading the mission to hunt a Russian submarine. Richard Widmark has a long career of playing officers in war pictures but this is his most developed part, a study of a man for whom winning means everything.Sidney Poitier plays a writer who acts as the eyes and ears of the audience. What a refreshing change to see no mention made of his race; he's just an ordinary guy and it's a sign of the times that he was accepted as such by the men on the warship. Martin Balsam has a good role too as the ship's doctor with his own cross to bear.For the most part, THE BEDFORD INCIDENT is quite a slow-paced story with plenty of dialogue and just a few suspense sequences to keep the viewer absorbed. However, things begin to gel together more and more as the film goes on, leading to a wildly impressive climax that'll have your jaw dropping. It puts the rest of the movie into a different perspective, that's for sure. Watch out for a youthful Donald Sutherland playing one of the ship's medics.

You can't watch this movie without being impressed by the performance of Richard Widmark. He was absolutely outstanding as Captain Eric Finlander - a totally obsessed Cold Warrior in command of an American warship off the coast of Greenland. Having detected a Soviet submarine in the same area, Finlander becomes fixated on forcing the sub to surface. It might be "peacetime" (even if it is the Cold war) but Finlander wants to prove to the world that the Soviets were where they shouldn't be. The best moment of the movie probably came when the West German commodore and former U-Boat commander in World War II (played by Eric Portman) aboard Finlander's vessel the Bedford described Finlander as "frightening." That pretty much summed things up - and Widmark captured the description perfectly. There's a strong supporting cast in this (it includes Sidney Poitier as a reporter on board and Martin Balsam as the Bedford's new medical officer) but it's Widmark's movie from start to finish.This would be best described as a tense and suspenseful movie but there are scattered times throughout when you start to wonder if this is all worth it. It is, after all, depicting the COLD War. Nothing's really going to happen as a result of all this. It looks like an interesting depiction of a cat and mouse game between the Bedford and the sub, but really it comes across as more of a psychological study of Finlander himself and you do wonder if the tension and suspense are going to lead up to unrealized potential and leave the viewer frustrated. They don't.The end of this movie is quite shocking, and captures what the fears of a lot of people during the Cold War were - the fears of a nuclear accident or even an accidental nuclear war. Those fears were very real in people in the era, and this movie plays on those fears. The end actually is quite stunning. It grows out of the psychological study - Finlander having ridden a young officer (played by James MacArthur) so hard that he was so afraid of doing something wrong that you almost knew he would have to do something wrong. He does. This is a very well done film. (7/10)

Having served on a US Nuclear Cruiser in the late 80's and 90's, I can attest to the Captain Queeg personality. Richard Widmark as the captain brought back some interesting memories for me. As to the movie, my wife was not especially interested to seeing "just another war movie". But after she saw the end of this movie and the look on her face was priceless. One of the best endings to a movie that I have ever seen. I was stunned and my feelings were still deeply affected hours after watching. Sydney and Richard's portrayal of their characters really immersed you into the the feelings of that time in our history. A very well done movie. It is in my top 50 DVD's that I have.

Except for that last scene, I would have enjoyed serving under Finlander. Abrasive to goldbrickers, egotists, newcomers, outsiders and slouches, Finlander indeed had great affection and concern for his men; his actions and reactions always done for effect, deliberate 180-degree switches in attitude depending on whom he was addressing and what he felt he had to accomplish. Imperfect but decent, the Captain is a fascinating study in command and leadership. Reporter Ben Munceford recognizes this, and goes and gets his story, taking extreme chances and getting under the personality at last, gaining Finlander's respect. Eventually, we all watch helplessly as Finlander leads too much by example, becomes what he hates most, an egotist, and completely without knowing it. In the end, this turn of personality kills them all.