Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It is a performances centric movie

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

THE LAST VOYAGE is a little-known but surprisingly excellent American disaster movie from 1960. It feels very much like the producers saw and loved A NIGHT TO REMEMBER and wanted a slice of the same action. This film's gimmick was that they sunk a real ship for greater authenticity, although some superimposed special effects are stil utilised. The film starts the disaster action from the get-go and never lets up until the final scene. It feels very much like a precursor to the disaster cycle of the 1970s and is easily on par with THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. Robert Stack is the dogged hero trying to rescue his trapped wife and George Sanders the idiot captain who refuses to call for help. My favourite character is hulking crew man Woody Strode, stripped to the waste and helping out at every turn. The film's remarkable suspense scenes and incredibly realistic climax help to lift it into classic status and I look forward to revisiting it in future.

The Last Voyage (1960) *** (out of 4)A ship is on its final voyage but after a boiler explosion it begins to sink. The Captain (George Sanders) believes that it can be saved so his main focus is on the boat and not necessarily the safety of the passengers. Also happening is a husband (Robert Stack) tries frantically to save his wife (Dorothy Malone) who finds herself trapped under a large piece of iron.THE LAST VOYAGE is a pretty good movie on its own merits but I'm sure many people will watch it and find it old-fashioned or "not entertaining enough" because of the disaster films that would follow more than a decade later. When people think of a sinking ship they obviously go towards the Titanic, which plays a major role in the plot here. Outside of that when it comes to movies THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE comes to a lot of people's mind. That film certainly seems to have been influenced by this one.Again, people should remember that this was made more than a decade earlier than THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, which is reason alone to be even more impressed by this film. The special effects are quite excellent as they were using a real ship and tried to re-enact everything that they could. The scenes towards the end of the ship sinking looked extremely good and I must say that they contained a great amount of suspense as a group of men struggle to save the wife. These suspense scenes didn't happen throughout the film but they clearly saved everything for the finale.The performances for the most part were good too. Shack is a sympathetic character than one can easily connect with and the actor is fine in the role. Malone doesn't get too much to do other than wait to be rescued. Sanders is very good in his role as the Captain who never seems to be saying or doing the right thing. Woody Strode is the real stand out in his supporting role. Edmond O'Brien is also wonderful in his part. Both Strode and O'Brien easily steal the movie.THE LAST VOYAGE certainly has some flaws including the lack of suspense throughout the first seventy five minutes of the movie. Still, everything really picks up during the finale making this a successful disaster movie.

it is a special film. not only for story or for cast. but for extraordinary care for details. for the art to give soul to a spectacular subject but almost common in a period of catastrophic scenes. a kind of gem , realistic, touching, fresh at each new discover. because a gray story becomes, in this case, a lesson about powerful art. a splendid contribution - George Sanders in an ambiguous - convincing role. the other - the admirable work of Woody Strode. its virtue - science to transform the story in a different case by disaster movies. and brave science to transform a personal case in key of tragedy. impressive, admirable, perfect work, it remains a brilliant model for this genre of movie.

This early disaster movie is dated and hackneyed but it manages to build to a suspenseful conclusion.What would you do in a similar situation -- drown with your spouse or jump aboard a lifeboat so your only child wouldn't become an orphan? This movie was striking for the moral dilemmas that it raised; I watched it with my 8-year-old son and it was interesting for us to weigh these questions together.Yet "The Last Voyage" is full of clichés and weirdness. How preternaturally happy the central couple seemed together before the crisis hit -- I didn't believe that a married couple would act this mutually bewitched. Their daughter struck me as a mini-adult in a child's body -- her screeches were so uncharacteristic of a young girl that I wished she would slip as she blubberingly crossed a plank over an abyss. And how anachronistically odd to see the only black person on board appearing bare-chested throughout, as if he were a modern incarnation of Melville's Queequeg.The film's conclusion was suspenseful and somewhat moving despite my conviction throughout that this movie would end happily. Various illogicalities jarred along the way -- how 'bout that wife appearing glamorous throughout her ordeal? And how the hell can she stand on her own just moments after being cut from the debris? Despite such quibbles, this movie kept my interest.