Down Periscope (1996)
Maverick Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Dodge will never be a textbook officer, but he's a brilliant seaman who's always wanted to command a nuclear submarine — he's been given one last chance to clean up his record. Unfortunately, Admiral Graham, his nemesis, would rather sink the fleet than give Dodge his own boat. So, Graham stacks the deck against him and assigns Dodge to the Stingray, a diesel-powered WW2 submarine that can barely keep afloat. To make matters worse, Dodge's crew is a collection of maladjusted, mistake-prone misfits. Then, he's tagged the "enemy" in a crucial war game, and ordered to take on the U.S. Navy's best.
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This movie is well over 20 years old and it still makes me laugh. Kelsey is hilarious and witty, and the cast keeps up with him very well. See it, you won't be disappointed.
My kids love watching this film. They (aged 15, 13 12) all enjoy this humorous, but undoubtedly inaccurate, representation of the submarine service in the USN. We have watched together numerous submarine films (e.g. Operation Petticoat, The Hunt for Red October, Crash Dive and numerous others) but this is the submarine film to which they always want tor return. It is certainly not the best comedy film ever made but it has an enduring charm that should give a greater score than the 6.0 average score awarded. The characters are likable and unlikeable as is appropriate to the script, the single love interest is minimised (as is suitable in a film about a serving military vessel) and there are numerous amusing sidelines. My kids would award at least 8 out of 10.
Down Periscope (1996): Dir: David Ward / Cast: Kelsey Grammar, Lauren Holly, Rip Torn, Rob Schneider, Harland Williams: Washout comedy that gives new meaning to low budget. Kelsey Grammar has a dream that unfortunately doesn't involve pulling the plug on this project. He wishes to command his own submarine and crew, which he eventually does but the sub is a rust bucket. Among the crew is Lauren Holly who wishes to become the first female submarine commander for the Navy. The crew play mean spirited pranks on her such as stealing her bra. Title indicates unsuccessful misfits but we already know that they will be rewarded for putting up with each other. David Ward, who previously made The Program, directs this film like a really bad sitcom with a budget of all of five dollars. Grammar is basically reciting his Fraser role. We know that he will gain respect in the conclusion but nobody really cares. We also know that Holly will prove herself and become higher rank and nobody cares about that either. Rip Torn and Rob Schneider are wasting time when they could be looking for better film projects. Harland Williams appears to be under a worst joke than drinking urine in Dumb and Dumber. It regards underdogs or underachievers, which pretty much sums up the screenwriter's ambition when penning this dreadful sinker. This film should be sunk down a toilet. Score: 1 / 10
I really do not understand how this has an IMDb rating of 5.5. It was really relaxing and cheerful and had plenty of chuckles along. Each character got its own development and screen time. Kelsey Grammar's character is very likable and the characters are interesting enough for a movie of this type. Even the numerous jokes about his infamous tattoo are strangely funny, even though in another film they might put one off.A really fun movie that I would definitely recommend it for some laughs. Cheers.