Main Cast: Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty, Stephen McHattie
Release Year: 1977
Country: US
Run Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
When the nuclear submarine he captains is rammed by a freighter while surfacing in Atlantic waters just off the coast of Rhode Island, Navy Captain Paul Blanchard (Charlton Heston) is able to radio for help. However, his sub's condition calls for urgent attention. Downed in extremely deep water near an even deeper ocean trench, the sub is perched precariously in waters too deep for conventional rescue efforts and is in danger of plummeting into the ocean trench. When the sub's escape hatch is blocked by debris from an undersea earthquake, the situation becomes even grimmer. Despite assurances that all will be fine, Captain Bennet (Stacy Keach), who is coordinating the official Navy rescue effort, has already warned Blanchard's wife to expect the worst. However, another Navy captain (David Carradine), who is working on an experimental deep-sea exploratory vessel for the Navy, hears of the incident and volunteers his help. This story is based on the novel Event 1000 by David Lavalle. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
Having read the original novel that David Greene's Gray Lady Down was based on, and having actually seen the movie itself in a theater (mostly because Close Encounters was sold out on two other of the multi-plex's screens), this reviewer can safely say that he invested a lot of time and energy in being prepared to like this movie. And the disappointment engendered is all the greater, ss a result. If a by-the-numbers undersea disaster/rescue drama is your cup of tea, one need look no further than Gray Lady Down, which took David Lavalle's original story -- a taut and finely etched piece of fiction -- and flattened out its most interesting points, and stretched and pulled its plot all out of shape to accomodate the needs of the three lead actors. Charlton Heston evidently found little real challenge in his role of the captain of the stricken sub, and never stops being, well, Charlton Heston. Stacy Keach gives a one-and-a-quarter note performance (in a role written that way) as the hardnosed leader of the rescue operation. And that leaves David Carradine, supported by Ned Beatty, as the iconoclast navy researcher and his assistant, to bring anything like real characterizations to this picture, which they succeed at; but they don't have quite enough of the movie to carry it all. The rest, as is typical of pictures like this, offer actors caught up in grisly ways to die, which is half the "fun" of pictures like this. Ronnie Cox has two good scenes, and one can spot Christopher Reeve, Dorian Harewood, and other soon-to-be more familiar faces in the cast. But otherwise, apart from Carradine and Beatty's scenes, one will find much more interesting viewing in the Voyage To the Bottom Of the Sea episode "Submarine Sunk Here". ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Mack Bing - First Assistant Director, David Greene - Director, Robert Swink - Editor, Jerry Fielding - Composer (Music Score), William Tuntke - Production Designer, Stevan Larner - Cinematographer, Walter Mirisch - Producer, John M. Dwyer - Set Designer, Curtis Dickson - Special Effects, John K. Kean - Sound/Sound Designer, Kevin F. Cleary - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank P. Rosenberg - Screenwriter, Howard O. Sackler - Screenwriter, James Whittaker - Screenwriter, David Lavallee - Book Author
An aging, respected commander (Charlton Heston) is on his final submarine tour before his retirement. Surfaced and returning to port, the submarine, USS Neptune, is struck by a giant freighter in heavy fog, and sinks to a depth of 1,450 feet on canyon ledge above the ocean floor. A US Navy rescue force commanded by Stacy Keach arrives on scene, but Neptune is subsequently rolled by landslide to a greater angle that does not allow the Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) rescue submarine to complete its work.
A small experimental submersible, Snark, is brought in to assist with the rescue. Snark is very capable, but run by a nonconformist navy officer misfit, David Carradine. The tiny submersible is the only hope for a rescue.
Ronny Cox plays Neptune's executive officer, scheduled to take over command from Charlton Heston, Ned Beatty plays the Snark's second crewman, and Christopher Reeve appears in his first film role in a bit part for the sharp-eyed viewer.
The movie re-used submarine special-effect footage from Ice Station Zebra, as well as the large-scale submarine model, with that film's submarine (Tigerfish) appearing as the USS Neptune.
The movie is adapted from the novel Event 1000 by David Lavallee (1971).
