pou010504
I saw that movie 20 years ago, so I don't remember it too much, excepted that the idea of the sunk ship was damn good. Many years ago I played and loved the BIOSHOCK video game, an absolute must have. I then realized that its story was so near from that "old movie I had seen late one evening". In fact the mythic BIOSHOCK largely relies on GOLIATH AWAITS, that makes out of this movie a real MUST HAVE !All BIOSHOCK elements are in the movie : Graphic style are comparable though not identical (BIOSHOCK is "art deco", GOLIATH is 1930s style), atmosphere is dense, there is an "end of the world" feeling, the boss is a "bad guy", life of peoples is awful, its cruel, dark, gloomy ....It's not at all official that GOLIATH AWAITS is the main inspiration of BIOSHOCK, but for one knowing this game there is absolutely no doubt. And there is no shame to have taken ideas from GOLIATH AWAITS, the movie has so many good ones. A remake would be welcome. What is funny is that GOLIATH became a game ... that will become a movie ! !
Tom
I recently watched this movie again for the first time in 20 years! I purchased a VHS tape of the movie on Ebay for around 14 dollars.I first watched this movie when I was 11 years old. I remember my buddy and me were laughing all the way through it. Needless, not much has changed in 20 years! The movie quickly opens up with the Mark Harmon character investigating the wrecked ship when he sees a very beautiful woman peer though a small portal window. Some how he manages to convince the US Navy that he is not mad and that he actually saw a woman inside the ship! Thus, a full blown research dive unfolds! The Christopher Lee character is simply funny! I kept waiting for him to pull out a light saber and go mad! What really cracks me up is all the shooting of guns inside the hull? Did anyone think about a bullet piercing the weak frail hull under 1000 feet of water? I don't need to explain what would happens next if a round pierced the hull. Even more funny are all the sun tans the survivors have. None of em have pale skin and they look like they all got back from a vacation in the Florida Keys. The knock out blow for the movie revolves around the "Hitler" like society the survivors made for themselves.... all led by the Christopher Lee Character.... In addition, the Mark Harmon character is simply awful! He screams and hollers throughout the movie... and I just couldn't stand him! Never the less, this movie makes a nice addition to my collection. It's worth a good view, but I doubt I'll revisit this movie anytime soon. Ah yes.... "happy days are hear again... da da da blah blah blah"
xbrad68
Goliath Awaits came out in 1981 and the special effects for it are aging gracefully. The notion of people living in a sunken ocean liner may seem far fetched but as Neil Peart of RUSH wrote "We suspend our disbelief and we are entertained." Director Kevin Connor does a nice job of directing thus helping to salvage a soggy script. The mysterious disease that befalls the passengers of the GOLIATH makes the viewer curious about its origins. Later in the movie it is revealed that the ships Doctor is singling out people that he doesn't approve of. The doctor is of course extremely bigoted and wrong to use euthanasia on the ships passengers. The luxury of unused sheets of paper to the children of the ship is revealed. The Captain of the ship seems well meaning but the thought of using geothermal vents for power and oxygen is far-fetched given the ships level of technology. Who knows if Aliens could be powering underwater spaceships from geothermal vents. If so then the Aliens have accomplished an impressive feat. Goliath Awaits inspires humans to think about living in underwater homes for years at a time. Such an underwater project should be made part of the NASA space program. Humanitys survival in a big bad universe might depend on underwater habitats. In Goliath Awaits you feel sorry for the passengers stuck shoveling coal at the same time you are wondering why they have never run out of coal. I gave Goliath Awaits a 10 out of 10 for its novel plot.
KDWms
I know...I know: it's difficult (if not paradoxical) for there to be such a thing as "believable" fantasy. But, to me, there is also such a condition wherein TOO MUCH UNbelievability interfere's with, or distracts from my overall opinion of the movie. The latter was the case for me with regard to Goliath Awaits. Not only did I have too many unanswered questions concerning the storyline, but some of the acting, too, I thought, was a bit over-the-top. (Maybe, though, it was the writing: asking them to recite too many trite, predictable, cliched (over-?) reactions.) Others have said enough about the plot. I just wish that it was done - and, I think that it COULD have been - more convincingly. P. S.: This is a FRESH comment about this film - I just finished watching it a couple of minutes ago; not a recollection from years ago.