temporalcoldwar24 It's easy to dismiss today the "slanty eyed Japs" statements and atmosphere in this film (why is "Kraut" not deemed "racist"?). However this took place only four years after the Imperial Japanese carried out the most appalling atrocities in China ( See here. WARNING EXPLICIT PHOTOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre#Massacre ). Compare with similar ISIS/Daesh atrocities and Presidents Trump's statements about Jihadist terrorists being "dirty, sneaky rats" and this film takes on an interesting dimension. At one point the intelligence agent refers to the Japanese 5th columnists as "rats". So where this film is relegated to obscure Freeview channels, deemed to be of exclusive interest to war movie die hard's, it actually throws a light on the peculiar modern tendency to deem criticisms and lurid remarks about the enemy as "racist" when lives are at stake. As noted above, the plot, acting and effects are not top notch but this piece has an interesting 1940's feel to it that can appeal to an audience beyond that of the historian.

rdfarnham In an era when propaganda films were coming out of Hollywood in a rush there were many that were A class, some which were B class, and then there was this one. I won't even comment on the bone-headed decisions the the two ship captains make or the historical accuracy that was missing. Rarely have I seen such obvious special effects such as planes making almost 90 degree turns in flight and clearly light weight model planes landing on the Japanese carrier. This was poorly written and planned and must have been rushed into production with a budget of about $1.38. If you want a good WW2 sub movie watch almost any film but this one.

skyking-14 As a WWII history buff, I try to watch every WWII film I can find. This one was watchable, but for the informed it was more for comedic effect and an understanding of the racial prejudices of the time than for anything else.I don't even know where to start with this one but it plays to all of the boogeymen of the immediate pre and post Pearl Harbor attack with it's focus on subversion and sabotage when we later learned that even the Japanese themselves put little faith in the Japanese-Americans in Hawaii.Perhaps the most laughable aspect was the presentation of a SINGLE Japanese aircraft carrier as being capable of the destruction wrought at Pearl Harbor, when, in fact, it took SIX carriers and on top of that, they portrayed the carrier as operating completely ALONE, when nothing of the sort would've happened.There is also a scene in which the US Submarine remains on the surface with a single gunner dueling with the attacking Japanese plane when Navy doctrine would've had the sub crash diving upon detection of the incoming plane.All in all, there are simply too many factual errors to even believe that this film actually had a technical adviser... at least one who had ever gone to sea in anything bigger than a rowboat! The only misinformation missing from this film that I can see is that they didn't try to pin on the blame on FDR as many other crackpots did!

Kittyman Atrocious thy name is "Submarine Raider." Oh, it's not that the acting is bad. It isn't. Old friends Philip Ahn, Bruce Bennett, Richard Loo, Keye Luke, and Forrest Tucker perform well. However, a major character is miscast, special effects suck, there is no understanding of naval procedures, and the plot advances only because of stupid and wrong-headed behavior.Nino Pipitone should not have been cast as Captain Yamanada, the Japanese carrier's commander. Kangaroos look more Asiatic then he did. Instead, First Officer Philip Ahn should have played that role.The Japanese carrier, which is presented as the only one responsible for the Pearl Harbor attack, is depicted as having no screening ships (cruisers or destroyers) at all. It just blithely sallies forth alone. Then, there is the carrier's nemesis, an American submarine. Its Captain chooses to surface, with no weapons broken out, just after having received a nearby yacht's distress signal about a Japanese attack. When a Japanese plane is spotted, the sub doesn't dive for safety. Instead, it remains on the surface to fight with its only anti-aircraft weapon, a single machine gun.As to wrongheaded, the yacht's survivors clamor aboard a lifeboat never thinking that that too might be attacked by the Japanese. As a pilot starts to strafe them, they don't slip over the side into cover. Instead, one-by-one, they stand to face the plane, thus becoming easy targets. And, meanwhile, back in Hawaii, an American agent dooms himself by talking loudly about sensitive issues while potential (and, of course, real) Japanese spies surround him.Oy vey! What a turkey.