Mike_Yike This is up there on my list of war movies. It does not compare to Saving Private Ryan, but it's good movie nevertheless. If you did not know that age of the cast, you might think the movie was made 20 years later. In other words: it seems ahead of its time for a number of reasons.The new captain (Robert Mitchum) of a U.S. destroyer has to prove himself to his crew. He does that by initially outsmarting a German U-boat captain (Curd Jurgens) who is no idiot himself. It becomes a good cat-and-mouse story with the U.S. destroyer being more the hunting cat than the defensive mouse. The movie shows the hellish stress of being in a submerged submarine under attack.A good movie with solid performances.

elvircorhodzic THE ENEMY BELOW is a war movie, which is based on the novel by British writer Denys Rayner. The protagonists of the film, the captains of a US destroyer and a German submarine, trying to destroy each other in the South Atlantic. Both captains are beginning to show mutual respect for their skills in combat...Relationships and hostilities of the Second World War were significantly alleviated in this film. The action is reflected in the combination between the knightly competition and long-term game of chess. The story is, when it comes to the relationship between enemies, objective and balanced. Scenery is very impressive and visual effects were rewarded with a good reason. Mr. Powell has made a good balance in the story, so the audience empathize and sympathize with both sides. The focus is on an exciting and uncertain battle to the final destruction. The story has retained, despite the visible rivalry, a high degree of humanity.Robert Mitchum as Captain Murrell is seemingly cold, but quite calm captain of the US destroyer. He dominated in crucial moments and gradually acquire the confidence from his crew, which was shaken at the beginning of the film.Curd Jürgens as Kapitän von Stolberg is emotional and he reviewed the objectives of war and human relations during the war. He is faced with the fear and mistrust in some members of his crew. However, he will keep his ideas and principles to the very end.This is a very exciting movie, in which a person is more important than the ultimate war goal.

jimbo-53-186511 Somewhere in the South Atlantic during World War 2, an American Destroyer captained by experienced captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum) spots something close by on its radar screen and sets about trying to discover what is lurking in the vicinity. The crew on board the destroyer soon discover that they have in fact spotted a German U-Boat and set about trying to destroy it. However, the German U-Boat captain (played by Curt Jurgens) is an experienced captain and isn't prepared to give up without a fight. The two captains set about trying to destroy their opponents vessels by attempting to outwit each other, but who will end up prevailing?Whilst the likes of Mitchum, Jurgens and Hedison were all great here and worked well together I think what makes this film so great is Wendell Mayes wonderful screenplay. This is a classic example of a superb cat and mouse thriller/hunt or be hunted/battle of wits type affair. The film flits between the two vessels and shows the two men planning their attacks against the other and it's presented in a way that is both insightful and totally unpredictable. From about the 30 minute point, Mayes starts to crank the tension up and never really lets up. This is the same person that was one of those that were responsible for the wonderful screenplay for the original Poseidon Adventure (and this earlier effort is every bit as good as The Poseidon Adventure). Mayes is good at characterisation and here we don't hate the characters or pity them or necessarily like them, but we respect them and respect is clearly an important concept in this film.I was also impressed that Mayes seemed to keep bias out of the film and told the story pretty straight; it never felt like a flag-waver and felt more like an anti-war film but without all of the heavy politics or bias.The cinematography is fantastic and the direction is also superb. Mayes screenplay also gives the film a sense of urgency meaning that the film never lags or feels boring.The ending of the film may cause a problem to some people and I wasn't sure what to make of it myself; it didn't go in the direction I expected it to, but again due to the respect that the two captains showed for each other maybe this was the best direction for the film to take. Despite this though, I still enjoyed The Enemy Below and would definitely recommend this film. If you like cat and mouse type films then I guarantee you'll enjoy this.

edwagreen Yes, there is an anti-war message here. The German Commander, Curt Jurgens, showed a dislike for Hitler and the New Germany as told in the film.The film is naturally hampered by the scenes being mostly confined to the ship and the German submarine. Perhaps, the use of flashbacks would have enhanced the film.It's basically a story of a cat and mouse game to see who shall be blown to bits first.The last few minutes was by far the best part as we saw some humanitarianism between both groups.Who really cares about going in a parallel way so that one can take advantage and fire torpedoes?