normstobert Bad acting all round here - amazing what Charlton Heston and Ned Beatty descended to to make a movie. Dumb story and anything but "gripping" as the description says. Unfortunately just another flavor of 70s disaster movies in the same vein of Posiedon Adventure, Towering Inferno and Earthquake. I predicted the end of this movie about 20 minutes in and was right on the money! Don't waste the time unless you really like naval movies that seriously stretch the imagination about how sea rescues really work or if you just have to see Charlton Heston in another mediocre role just to say you've seen them all. Special effects aren't bad given the era.

dennrho Used to watch this one stretched out on the deck on the Mess Decks at #%@$%& feet down and hiding from the Russ..... when it first came out. Not the Russ...., the flick. Pretty good. Recommend it. Almost gave it a 9! Pretty good plot, good set. Almost, almost realistic. But it IS a flick. Don't expect too much realism or too little space. The choice of cast is almost as entertaining as the story itself. Just can't get Charleston to stay ON TOP of the water. Walked through it at Sinai on dry ground. Lays on ocean floor UNDER it on continental shelf. Enough tension to keep one's attention but not so much that it makes a joke of "real life" with "Steely Eyed Killers Of The Deep." Better all around flick than Ice Station Zebra or Red Dawn. And no, the reactor does not glow purple or red! Good plot, good acting, and credible effects makes this one a winner.

innocuous A better-than-average disaster movie, due mostly to the absence of any ridiculous scenes. (There are no overweight older Jewish women who won swimming medals many years ago trying to reach the sub, for example.)On the other hand, Ronnie Cox as the first officer goes to pieces very quickly and you wonder why the Navy ever thought he'd be able to command a sub of his own. Also, you've got to ponder the initial collision. The sub's crew basically just lets a freighter in open water run them down, not even noticing that the freighter is in the area until it's too late to do anything about it. Kind of makes you wonder.Heston is restrained in his role, which works out pretty well. Everybody else does a good job (except for Cox) and the special FX are average for the time.Definitely worth watching.

brelsa This movie was great! The acting is outstanding. David Carridine was riveting. This was Charleton Heston's last major action movie. It has you on the edge of your seat until the very end. In particular, some unanticipated acts of altruism take your breath away. Stacey Keach plays a good part. The rest of the cast (all of whom are still alive today except for Christopher Reeve) are all very good. Do not pay any attention to the negative comments that others have left here. They simply do not make movies of this caliber very often, especially these days where everything is about sex and stupidity. This is a thinking man's movie, very realistic in a lot of respects and ahead of its time in others. I learned things and was entertained at the same time.