loveablejohn-26233 This movie was decent overall even with some major goofs as it had action along with comedy and romance. The acting was excellent but the cinematography and the script could have been better which is why I gave it 7 stars.

JLRVancouver John Wayne headlines this tale of the USN Thunderfish as it takes on the Japanese Navy early in WW2. Admittedly, I thought the submarine's exploits were pretty much unbelievable until I read that many of them were based on actual incidents (not all involving the same submarine and crew of course). Despite that "Operation Pacific" is pretty weak. Much of the film was shot in studio and it shows, especially in the dockyard and underwater scenes. The best sequences (such as dive-bombing and torpedo runs at Leyte) are archival footage that are often not well matched to the newly filmed material. The 'on the beach' storyline is a tedious triangle between Wayne's character ('Lt Cmdr. Duke E. Gifford'), his ex-wife (a too young Patricia Neal) and "Lt. Bob Perry" the brother of Duke's buddy and "CO 'Pops' Perry" (played by Wayne perennial Ward Bond). Neither interesting nor believable, the love story requires lots of predictable coincidences in order to run its course and really slows the film down. The rest of the cast are OK, playing the stereotypical sailors found in these movies (the wiseacre, the loose cannon, etc) but their interactions with their commanding officers (including Wayne) never rang true to me. Some of the battle sequences are OK but the 'action footage', especially the obligatory depth-charging scenes, lacked the tension that makes for a really good submarine yarn (such as "Hell Below" or "Das Boot"). Good for die-hard fans of the Duke or the genre, otherwise, not a must-see.

grantss Lightly entertaining John Wayne submarine drama.The Pacific Theatre of WW2. Lt Commander Duke Gifford (played by John Wayne) is the Executive Officer of a US Navy submarine, the USS Thunderfish. The submarine fleet, incl the Thunderfish, is suffering from malfunctioning torpedoes. Meanwhile Commander Gifford is also trying to win back his ex-wife...A stereotypical John Wayne movie, i.e. overly gung ho and not that accurate, militarily. Some quite unrealistic battle scenes. The relationship side is mildly interesting but also overly melodramatic and complex. Not all bad though, as long as you don't think too much. The battle scenes are quite exciting and there are some insights into submarine life.

wprigmore I love this movie for two reasons:1) It causes me to relive my submarine war patrols in WWII. 2) It's a typical John Wayne movie.It would probably not excite a viewer who does not care for John Wayne or war movies, but for anyone who participated in WWII in submarines, it's a must have.For the current generation, it would be worthwhile just to get the feel of how things were in those days. For many of my vintage, watching this movie over and over, as I do, is a priceless reminder of those days when a few did so much for so many.