"Great Naval Movies (20th Century and Beyond)" Topic

I have big Naval Thunder game coming up and want to get in the mood. So what are people's nominations for great naval movies? I'm itching to see some naval action on film. Even films that include great scenes of naval action.

If possible, I'd like to exclude submarine movies (not that they aren't good, but I'm itching to see some great surface action movies, and it seems there are sooooo many submarine movies).

I don't care whose navy or what country the movie was made in. I'm fine with subtitles.

Movies Off the Top of my Head:

Shout At The Devil- Decent enough movie about derring do in East Africa at the start of World War I. Has an attack on the Blucher (because the action against the Koningsberg, which actually served there wasn't considered interesting enough?) On Netflix streaming.

Under Ten Flags- Italian movie about the raider Atlantis. Actually quite good, and on Netflix streaming too boot.

Sink The Bismarck- Good movie, if a little over concerned with people and events that are less interesting than the battle. Dana Wynter was easy on the eyes as well.

Midway- Super cheesy, but one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Great best of the 70s stars and action.

Bridges of Toko Ri- Not the greatest movie, but it gives a good indication of carrier ops from the time.

Action In The North Atlantic- I caught this on tv late one night. I thought it was pretty gripping.

Admiral- You can find this one on YouTube. It's about Admiral Kolchak who led the Whites in the Russian Civil War. There are only a few scenes of naval action, but what is there is fantastic.

Movies I haven't seen and would like comments on if you've seen them:

Yamato (anyone know where to get this?)
In Harm's Way
Dive Bomber (it has Errol Flynn!)
In Which We Serve
Corvette K-225

What am I missing? Any good German surface naval movies? Any good World War I naval movies? I'm truly surprised there's no Jutland movie. Any Tsushima movies or Spanish American War movies (ok the latter is pre-20th century, but close enough…)

The Cruel Sea. This really drives home the danger and boredom of the Arctic convoys.

What was the movie with Sidney Poitier aboard a US destroyer during the cold war (that then goes nuclear hot by accident)? Probably not what you are looking for, though.

Rob

Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier are in The Bedford Incident from 1965.

link
Battle of Tsushima from the Big Bad Battleship site
1969 movie

here's two I would suggest

The Enemy Below
is a 1957 war film which tells the story of the battle between the captain of an American destroyer escort and the commander of a German U-boat during World War II.

and

The Sea Chase (1955)

As World War II begins, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich tries to get his ship back to Germany through a gantlet of Allied warships.

Seriously? You haven't seen "In Harms Way"? You must be a youngster (I grew up with it on TV at least once a month).

John Wayne and Michael Douglas…Great Director….Great Score…Great movie (yeah cheesy effects but pretty good for the time).

Not strictly a naval movie – Tora! Tora! Tora!. I second Sink the Bismarck and Enemy Below. I'll add Das Boot, but I can't think of others off hand. I know there's a few, including one from the Pacific but can't think of it right now. Of course, there's always Operation Petticoat and Mr. Limpet.

Edit: Sorry, didn't see your caveat on submarine movies.

Nitpick, "In Harm's Way" has daddy Kirk Douglas not son Michael.

"The African Queen" has another East Africa sequence with some big German ship at the end.

"Hunt for the Graf Spee" combines some vintage footage with IIRC a Baltimore class cruiser acting as the Graf Spee.

I Which We Serve – the ultimate destroyer movie, Dad said it was very realistic (he was in everything from CVs down to BYMS during WW2). Definitely should be on your "must see" list.

To which should be added "Battle of the River Plate" – which starred one of the ships that was actually at the battle, one of the ships that nearly made it, and a ship that you cn still visit today (USS SALEM played the part of the Graf Spee). Actually you can still visit ACHILLES' "Y" Turret – at the naval base in Auckland, New Zealand

Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Master and Commander
Hornblower Series
Horatio Hornblower (Gregory Peck)
Damned the Defiant
Men of the Fighting Lady
Hunt for the Red October
Wings of the Navy

In Which We Serve. British Movie about a DD.
They Were Expendable. PT boats with a good attack scene.

In which we serve is an excellent movie. Damn the Defiant is good as well.

There is "The Sand Pebbles" naval action on a river in China. You could also include "The Caine Mutiny" and "Mr Roberts" is truely a classic about the drudgery of rear area supply duty.
There is also "The Final Countdown" where the Nimitz is accidently transported back to 1941 just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Nice to see F-14's and Zeros going at it.

Dive Bomber, while an excellent movie, is about aero-medical stuff (overcoming G-force induced blackouts and altitude sickness) rather than combat. But it has shots of a lot of otherwise obscure between-the-wars USN aircraft.

Having looked at the title, and looking at some of the recommendations from people who have apparently not read all of the title, I do not hesitate to recommend Ben Hur.

John,

Rick

Sailor of the King.

Jeffrey Hunter takes on a German cruiser armed only with a rifle, earning a VC in the process. Whether it is posthumous or not depends on which of the two endings they happen to be showing.

Ben Hur is good enough that it gets on every movie list, irrespective of theme.

Star Blazers has some really good naval battle scenes. Just because they're set in space doesn't make them any less naval: the Japanese continue to re-fight WWII over and over until they get the "correct" outcome.

Battle of the River Plate.

…Oh! When the Exeter pulls out of line, making smoke…

I'll add a few more to the mix
"The Yangtse Incident" imdb.com/title/tt0051209
"Gift Horse" imdb.com/title/tt0044658
"The Key" imdb.com/title/tt0051816
There was also an excellent Channel 4 TV documentary on the sinking of HMS Glorious by the Scharnhorst. It occasionally appears on TV
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"I'm truly surprised there's no Jutland movie"

Ther eis one apparently in development hell. Sir Ben Kinsley is said to be involved.

I'll second recommendations for 'In Which We Serve' and 'Sailor of the King' as well as 'The Cruel Sea'.

The Yamato movie is worth watching, but is hamstrung by poor subtitle translations – unless you happen to be fluent in Japanese. It is also three hours long and tries to be a cross between Titanic and Saving Private Ryan. I forget exactly where I got it, but there are online specialty dealers that handle hard-to-find movies like that. You'll probably have to pay $20 USD – $40 USD for a copy though.

Let us know how the game goes!

How about "Away All Boats"?

link

Wackiest Ship in the Army?

Listed below is a few more films worth consideration;

"The Wings of Eagles" carrier action in the Pacific.
"Wing and a Prayer" carrier action in the Pacific.

In Harm's Way
Sink the Bismarck
Battle of the River Plate (this was on TV commercial free not too long ago. I made a copy).

Thanks,

John

"Sailor of the King"

A remake of "Brown on Resolution", starring Sir John Mills. I like the two endings of SotK, but have a fondness for Blighty's very own.

How about the 50s b@w movie about the HMS Amethyst,the Royal Navy DD that was besieged by the chinese during the cold war.Filmed aboard her i believe,quite a dashing story.

The Yangtze Incident
Another good one is "Western Approaches"