Summary

There is a long list of memorable and acclaimedsubmarine moviesthat use confined outer space and tensity to lay up some thrilling plot of ground . Submarine movies have fascinated hearing since all the mode back in the mute film eraat the beginning of the 20th century . There is something both mesmerizing and forbidding about a human - made ship that can sink below the secret sea to wander the ocean trading floor . The best grinder picture apply these feelings of awe and threat to make a fib and tone akin to space movies .

bomber movies pressure a small ensemble cast into a compressed place where tempers break open , patience is little , and characters make life sentence - or - dying determination with little knowledge on paw . The claustrophobic setting is inherently compelling , with there always being a reason for character to be in the same room together or debate over the same job . In the same waythe best courtroom dramasoffer a single location for all the main role to interact over a critical number , so to do the good submarine movies point capable , intelligent , and gutsy fictional character together to make sometimes boneheaded , sometimes heroic decisions .

ocean monsters are a common figure of speech in the revulsion writing style , from Best Picture victor to enduring boron - moving-picture show classic , the brute are in some big motion picture .

Blended image of sea monsters in The Abyss, Godzilla, and The Host

20Ice Station Zebra (1968)

A Twisting Adventure In The North Pole

Cast

Ice Station Zebrais a 1968 film directed by John Sturges and starring Rock Hudson , Patrick McGoohan , Ernest Borgnine , and Jim Brown . The movie follow a US nuclear submarine , USSTigerfish , that pelt along to the North Pole to seemingly save the Americans strand there , but change trueness and double federal agent abound . The limited effects are solid for the metre geological period and while the character and plot are essentially stock , it ’s a rollicking escapade with fun twists throughout .

19The Enemy Below (1957)

American Destroyers Fight German U-Boats

establish on a novel of the same name by Denys Rayner , The Enemy Belowdepicts the battle between an American destroyer bodyguard and a German U - gravy boat during World War II . The moving picture earned an Academy Award for Best Special Effects and is an ambitiously grand film for the ' L . Capably acted , straightforwardly plotted , and not too long , The Enemy Belowis an admirable , if slenderly mundane torpedo movie .

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18The Command (2018)

A True Story Of A Doomed Submarine

Starring Colin Firth , The Commandtells the real history of the 2000 Oscar - classKursksubmarine disaster in the Barents Sea , whichis why the British name of the movie isKursk . watch out the sailors aboard the recessed Italian sandwich caught between a grinding and ancient bureaucracy and the inevitable wipeout of their ship is harrowing enough . When the audience is reminded that this really happen , The Commandgrows incredibly grim . This moving-picture show is notable for being one of the last movies featuring Max von Sydow released before his death .

17The Wolf’s Call (2019)

A French Thriller On Board A Submarine

InThe Wolf ’s Call , a French thriller , a submarine sonar hustler nicknamed " Socks " ( François Civil ) is the best in the French Navy , able to see sonar pings that no one else can . When a ploy by a terrorist organization turn two French submarines against each other , Socks must look his former captain and wise man . It ’s an ambitious story that claim place across multiple continents and various submarines , and its explosive and naturalistic natural action makes up for some predictable plot points .

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16U-571 (2000)

American Soldiers Storm A U-boat For A War Prize

Matthew McConaughey , Bill Paxton , and Harvey Keitel star inU-571 , a historical U-boat pic , as American sailors in World War II . In the film , the work party of the American submarineS-33infiltrate the German U - boatU-571to steal the Enigma car and unscramble the Nazi ’s secret code .

U-571has been criticize by war expertsand even former Prime Minister Tony Blair call the cinema an " affront " to the British sailors who were really responsible for the seizure of the machine ( viaBBC ) . Despite this , the film earned an Academy Award nominating speech for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing and is still a tense and ingenious movie with some wild motion-picture photography .

15Yellow Submarine (1968)

The Beatles' Surreal And Musical Tour

Yellow Submarineis an animated psychedelic comedy adventure indorse by the immutable music of the Beatles . Whilethe melodious did not bring in as much as it should have , Yellow Submarinewas game - deepen in how filmgoers regard animation . Suddenly , vivification was not only for children and Disney ; it could be for teens and adults and the medium of serious artist . The Beatles in the picture show , not voiced by the real dance band , astonishingly , travel through their magic world in the eponymous Yellow Submarine , which is now synonymous with what U-boat look like , with the Beatles , and even with the color sensationalistic .

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14Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)

A Star-Studded Old Hollywood High Seas Thriller

Burt Lancaster , Clark Gable , and Don Rickles , in his film debut , star inRun Silent , Run Deep , a WWII film set in the Pacific Theater . In the film , the vengeful Commander of the USSNerka , P.J. Richardson ( Clark Gable ) , chases after a Japanese boat that has slide down many American zep , and is willing to risk his crew ’s refuge and the commission to put down his quarry .

prevail Silent , Run Deepis a commixture betweenMutiny on the BountyandMoby Dickand has exciting elements of both . Despite the story and star great power , the film was a box office disappointment ( viaVariety ) .

13Black Sea (2014)

A Veteran Underwater Salvage Captain Goes For One Last Haul

Jude Law play Captain Robinson inBlack Sea , an underwater , disaster thriller . Robinson is a of late fired submarine captain for a commercial submerged salvage caller who is given a probability to take in a big haul on a grave missionary station in Russia ’s Black Sea . Law gives one of his best and most leave out performancesas the tired and desperate but honorable submarine captain . It ’s an effective and smart film that uses the language roadblock between the English and Russian crew to cliff-hanging effect .

12K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

Liam Neeson And Harrison Ford Square Off Underwater

Directed by Katheryn Bigelow and star Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford , K-19 : The Widowmakeris a historic submarine sandwich film based on an subaqueous disaster in 1961 . Captain 2nd Rank Alexei Vostrikov ( Ford ) and Captain 3rd Rank Mikhail " Misha " Polenin ( Neeson ) are the highest - ranking officers on the Soviet Union’sK-19nuclear submarine . ​​​​Though unlike in temperament and flair , the twain have to put their divergence aside to save their work party and avert nuclear war . While the film is not very historically precise , it ’s an exciting story that get more suspenseful with every move the commanding officers make . Ford toldTHR ,

" I ’m majestic of K-19 : The Widowmaker , where I play a Russian submarine captain . But I think they ’re good movies — that ’s why I ’m proud of them . "

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Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

111941 (1979)

Spielberg’s Underappreciated War Comedy

1941is one of thefew comedies in Steven Spielberg ’s life history , and its reception may be why he has not produced more in the genre since . This satiric war comedy is semi - base on a genuine storey about a Japanese submarine attack on Santa Barbara during World War II.1941focuses on the hysteric and over - the - top affright that results after the submarine attack . Originally panned as a chaotic mess , it has since gained cult status .

Not to mention,1941earned three Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography , Best Sound , and Best Visual Effects . While it may not be what Spielberg buff are needfully looking for , it ’s a riveting penetration into what the young director saw as doing " one for him"after the achiever ofJawsandClose Encounters of the Third Kind .

Keanu Reeves looking over one shoulder as John Wick in Ballerina

Collage of Crimson Tide, Run Silent Run Deep, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Custom Image by Zach Moser

A submarine bursting through the ice as men run to it in Ice Station Zebra.

Cast Placeholder Image

Navy soldiers looking through binoculars at something off screen in Enemy Below.

A submarine in a harbor in The Command.

Socks (François Civil) listening intensely to sonar as his crewmates look nervous in The Wolf’s Call.

Lieutenant Andrew Tyler’s (Matthew McConaughey) hands on “Rabbit” Parker’s (Will Estes) shoulders in U-571

Headshot Of Matthew McConaughey In The 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Headshot Of Bill Paxton

Headshot Of Harvey Keitel

Burt Lancaster as Lieutenant Jim Bledsoe standing at attention in Run Silent, Run Deep

Captain Robinson (Jude Law) stanidng on top of his submarine in Black Sea.

Headshot Of Jude Law

Headshot Of Scoot McNairy In The 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards

Headshot Of Ben Mendelsohn In The Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025

Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) looking serious in K-19 The Widowmaker.

Captain Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) smoking a cigarette in a pilot outfit in 1941.