Hell and High Water

By now you have the story line and sorry I'll spoil part of it for you "boy gets girl". As some of the other reviewers stated if you switched some of the countries around this story could work today. I gave the movie a Five Star rating for a number of reasons, most are hard to explain until you see this picture, and as one other mentioned it's one of few "war" pictures that the whole family can watch and enjoy.

Top score restore of a great old adventure movie. I am a big Widmark fan. Loved watching it over and over. More Widmark movies need to be restored. Come on guys. Waiting for Montezuma blu ray and the others.

Another good Navy story. Richard Widmark was very convincing as the captain and the plot was very right for the time. Some of the effects of the explosion did not seem as accurate as we now might know but a good story just the same.

Set at the height of the Cold War, this Sam Fuller thriller has Richard Widmark as a former navy sub commander recruited by a private group to stop Red China from getting the bomb. Action packed with a cast that includes Cameron Mitchell, a lot of fun. Sure it's dated. Love it anyway.

There is absolutely nothing in the product ad presentation that warns that this Blu-ray disc of "Hell and High Water" will not play on USA systems unless they are all region. The notice pops up the second it is inserted in the player. A small global "B" is on the bottom of the back cover, to be discovered only after purchase. Maybe I am the only guy left with a single region player, but the region is important and should be in the product description. *** Edit based on purchase and play of the DVD. This is a decent period piece, well done considering the technology at the time. It is over-acted in the stage-play fashion popular back then, like "Cool Hand Luke" and 'Assault on a Queen"; lots of yelling and loud talking when normal method dialog would do. Take this from a reviewer who was a crewmember on a diesel submarine before the Vietnam war: almost nothing that goes on inside the sub is realistic. The set is a basic Gato boat layout with lots of license to fit a camera crew alongside. They did a decent job for back then, when ultra-realism wasn't a priority. They used the conning tower for much of the action when it would have actually occured a level below, in the control room, I guess because the periscope needed to be used a lot. The control room is where all the diving and decisions are normally accomplished. Another head scratcher is everyone entered and left the boat through the highest hatch possible, the conning tower, when the much lower and easier after battery compartment hatch is the usual point of entry, probably because many of the scenes were stuck in the conning tower to begin with. Small gripe; the torpedos were far too pretty and clean. And, the usual clique of small bit actors played an overly large role in helping the captain do things, as in most later sub movies, when the only people he would have talked to back in those days would have been the Chief of the Boat, his executive officer, the officer on watch, and maybe the sonar operator. The captain on my sub spoke to me only one time in six months, and my compartment was next to the control room. The boat used for surface shots, with no credit given I could find, was a Gato class or a cousin, not a Japanese sub. And, obviously, underwater, neither of the two submarines would have been visable to cameras in reality due to depth and lack of light. The best sub movie made is "Das Boot". Just ignore all the Hollywood panicked screaming. My 37 years experience in the Navy and Army Infantry and Armor is that people either function roughly as trained under stress, or they freeze and do nothing, with not even the will power to yell.

This was such a disapointment. Truly outstanding cast ... very qualified all ... yet the movie, the scripting is a disaster!!! Why? In what might have been, could have been, a really outstanding, exciting, adventure story and plot ... is sickeningly ruined by the introduction of an utterly silly, and truly STUPID "romance" pile of baloney. Richard Widmark was a great actor, super person, yet he, and the female lead as well, are totally "submarined", victimized by story line evolving into a very shallow, transparent, utterly predictable and sappy "romantic" direction. The story has potential to become a spectacular and great adventure yarn ... but is so badly mis-written and conceived, as to render the movie the equivalent of a grade B childish soap opera. The submarine set and scenes are okay .... but, again, very much soap-opera level stuff. Not a good recommendation.

The concept of a secret Chinese Communist base in the Arctic planning a false flag nuclear attack on North Korea that would be attributed to the U.S. and ignite a world war was probably believable during the Cold War years of the mid-fifties. If you can suspend disbelief and place yourself back in that era, it is an interesting plot. The characters however tend toward being caricatures. I knew a lot of guys who were in the service during WW II and their attitudes and prejudices were more or less accurately written into Widmark's character. Even so, his performance was over the top. Similarly for the other crewmen. The brainey female scientist was probably a novelty for the era. Predictably she and Widmark's character fall in love. (She probably married him and gave up science to take care of cooking, cleaning and having children.) There were exciting moments like the battle with the Chinese sub, infiltration of the islands, and, finally, the shooting down of the false flag bomber - and the resulting nuclear detonation. The novelty of the concept and the fairly well done (for the period) action scenes will probably keep you awake and watching to the end. If you like old movies revolving around submarines, nuclear weapons, and secret mission to the arctic, you will find it moderately entertaining.

Widmark has a razor edge to his style, almost always the gangster. It's a great story and the special effects for the time are pretty good. The music is excellent. Another one of a kind movie.

This is a Blu-ray review of this film which I have never seen on DVD or TV. The film claims a 4K restoration and while the film generally isn't super sharp, it is clear and there are no specks, spots, flicker or anything like that. Nor are there any obvious reflections as if the film has been filmed from a big screen and copied, unlike some supposed restorations that are not what they claim. No, this looks to be the 'real deal' and a true restoration. The film is colour with mono sound and the sound is clear. You get a booklet about the film (which I haven't read yet) and a 40+ minutes special feature about Richard Widmark that I might or might not watch.The film itself has a good story, unpredictable for the most part and with lots of action. A large amount of the film takes place on a submarine and occasionally I wondered about the accuracy of the content. On the other other hand, I was impressed with a constant dribble of water running down the periscope which even if not accurate suggests that this really is an old sub. It's apparent some of the backgrounds are matte paintings and some of the action used models, but so what? Certainly, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the film. My only criticism is that some dialogue is in french between two french characters and since I don't understand let alone speak french I don't know what they are saying. There are subtitles which I switched on but they just said 'speaking in a foreign language' - so much for that! There is also some conversation in Chinese which I didn't bother to check for subtitles for but guess that's not translated either. So, having spent a lot of time and money on a 4K restoration it seems no-one bothered to translate what the characters say in other languages or are supposed to say and add them to the subtitles. Spoiling the ship for happ'nth of tar? A minor gripe then on what is otherwise a very good film, with a first-class story. Bella Darvi? Never heard of her but if seamed stockings (or tights?) are your thing, she comes down the conning tower of the sub in a long dress, early in the film wearing them.

Over many years I have purchased DVD's, CD's and Blu-ray discs from this seller and never had any problems, prompt delivery and the items have always arrived in good condition, and this purchase of ''Hell and High Water'' Blu-ray was no exception as it's also a high quality disc.''Hell and High Water'' the movie itself is interesting enough with a cast of good actors, the story is based on the tensions between the West and the Soviet Union after WW2 with the development of Nuclear weapons. This movie is relevant today in 2022 as it would appear that not much has changed in 70 years with the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, and we are still living with the same tension and fears of a standoff between two different ideologies looking to maintain their power and control with the imminent threat of a Nuclear war.

仕様も生産国もメディアも異なる商品頁のレビューが共有されているがASIN：B000RWDYAE、EAN：5055201801012、 英import DVD. リージョン2, PAL盤（Optimum社。英語音声。残念ながら英語字幕なし）レビュー。簡単な仕様は文末にあります。邦題「地獄と高潮」、原題Hell and High Water、1954年、米、カラー、103分、監督サミュエル・フラー（「拾った女」「裸のキッス」「ショック集団」「最前線物語」等）。リチャード・ウィドマーク、ベラ・ダルヴィ、ヴィクトル・フランサン出演。英語字幕がないため、海外db等で基本設定とあらましを頭に入れ鑑賞。1953年、冷戦時代。日本北方の海域で核爆発が起こる（この爆発映像は米政府が提供した実際の核爆発らしい（wiki. en.）。そして核の世界的権威の博士（フランサン）が失踪。元米海軍潜水艦長のジョーンズ（ウィドマーク）は謎の人物から東京に呼ばれる。共産国の原子施設が北極海の南方に建設され、不審な貨物船も出入りしているらしい。そして博士は消えたのではなく、この解明に呼ばれ、東京にいた。ジョーンズはしかる筋から、報酬と引き換えに、博士とその美しい助手（ダルヴィ）とともに実態解明の任に就く。そして旧日本海軍の潜水艦をリペアし、元同僚とともに、日本の北、不穏な海域に極秘裏に潜行。核弾頭がからむ第三次世界大戦誘発計画に行き当たる・・。原題は、前門の虎後門の狼、背水の陣、たとえ火の中水の中、みたいな意味らしいが、「ナバロンの要塞」みたいなテイストではなく、上記の設定の字面から想像するような派手さはない。当時の東西冷戦・極東情勢が背景にあるが、共産圏の国名は明確には描いていない（おそらくCn.）。フラーの真意はわからないが勧善懲悪というわけでもなく、思想・体制憎しというようには描かれていない印象を受けた。ウィドマークに頭にあるのはあくまで核爆発阻止というミッションの遂行だ。フラーはここではやや不徹底ながら、人物の綾の描写と、要求されたスペクタクルあふれる娯楽性のバランスをとっている。本作の魅力は、まずこの頃Fox社が開発した新方式のシネマスコープの迫力ある。前半は概ね潜水艦の中が舞台だが、そのような狭い場所をうまくスコープで切り取ることに成功している。そしてきのこ雲、北の海・島々や艦どうしの駆け引きなどを降りませながらこれぞスコープという雄大な画作りの後半。本作の海はみなスタジオだそうだ。ミニチュア特撮や特技も今の映画には見られない味がある。潜水艦映画には、例えば「眼下の敵」「Uボート」「深く静かに潜行せよ」「北極の基地 潜航大作戦」「原子力潜水艦浮上せず」「1941」「レッド・オクトーバーを終え！」「クリムゾン・タイド」があるが、本作も外してはならない作品と思う。もうひとつの見所は他の方もご指摘のように、この潜水艦に若き女性を乗り込ませたこと。これによりユニークな動性・絵面が持ち込まれた。他の潜水艦映画と一線を画する設定だ。潜水艦映画は割と観たが他にない設定と思う。この異質さが本作の肝であり、本作を特徴づける。フラーにはあの有名な発言以外に「カメラを動かすこと、人物を動かすことは必ずしも必要ではない。重要なことは、観客の感情が動くということだ。私はそれをエモーションの映画と呼ぶ」（Garnham, Nicholas, Samuel Fuller. New York： The Viking Press, 1971. p. 34）というものがある。フラーを凡庸な監督と隔てるものは何か。それにはまだフラー作品を観なければならないが、ひとまずそれは本人の上記発言にそのまま表れていると思う。しかし本作は、相対的に他のフラー作品（例えば「拾った女」「ショック集団」「裸のキッス」等）と比して、ひりひりするエモーションはやや控えめ。そんな中でウィドマークの過去の悔恨とその再現のエピソード（ここは「拾った女」のセルマ・リッターのあるシーンを思い出させる）や、ダルヴィが否応なくあることを余儀なくされるシーンなどなどに死の影が漂い、そしてウィドマークとダルヴィの、夜間赤色灯の中での硬質で節度あるラヴシーンに2人の静かなエモーションが息づいている。代表作を挙げきれない名優ウィドマークはいつもながら自然かつ存在感がある（この人は声も良い）。他方、博士と助手は、設定・役者さんの芝居等やや描写が弱い気がしないでもない（ダルヴィのスキャンダラスな私生活と悲惨な最期、セルズニックとの関係はwikiにある）あくまで相対的にだが。同監督の「東京暗黒街 竹の家」の前に東京を前半の舞台にしている点も我々の気を引くが、特撮同様に主要人物の顔が映るショットはみなスタジオで撮られているようだ。屋外カットは第二撮影班や既存フッテージを使っているのだが、あまり違和感がない（ただ日本の潜水艦やドックにようわからない漢字らしきものが書かれているのはご愛嬌だが・・。また科学的・潜水艦等軍事装備・設備の正確性は詳しい方に譲ります）。撮影は名手ジョー・マクドナルド、音楽は20世紀Foxの総音楽監督であったアルフレッド・ニューマン（44年のドキュメンタリー「The Fighting Lady」の流用）。観た中だけでいうと個人的にはフラーのベストではないが、無骨な真摯さ、安易で感傷的なヒロイズムに堕することない人の尊厳や意地。異質なものの同居と有機的変化、火器や核描写は迫力で、汗蒸すような艦内の様子も良い。映画は実質星4つ半。画質・音質も4つ半。★オリジナルデータ：原題 Hell and High Water, US, 1954, 20th Century Fox・20th Century Fox ,aspect ratio 2.55:1（CinemaScope）,103min、Color (Technicolor), 4track stereo, 35mm Film★画質：レストアされたらしく傷・パラ・滲み・甘味はほぼない。ややちらつきありだが、諧調も明度もあり、自然な色合いで光を感じる。ディテール表現も合格。この時代の作品のDVDとしては優。合成画面部分はやや粗が目立つ。音声は明瞭。ステレオ感が良く感じられる。★ASIN：B000RWDYAEの商品：リージョン2, PAL、英盤仕様は16：9、画面アスペクト比2.35：1（劇場時の2.55：1ぐらいありそう）98分（PAL盤のため4％早い）、片面？層、カラー音声：英語, Stereo　字幕：なし映像特典：米劇場予告編、2分20秒、16：9仕様で2.20：1ぐらい、画質は良くない音声特典：なしメインメニュー、チャプターメニューあり、ピクチャー・ディスク付属物：なし発売：20th Century Fox・販売：英Optimum Releasing社 2007年、OPTD1034★本サイトでヒットする他の商品（Hell and High Waterで検索。データは内外アマゾンより総合判断）：〇米盤DVD：リージョン1、米Fox社、2007年。スコープで英語字幕ありの模様。やや高い。ASIN：B000NO1XJA、EAN：0024543436645〇欧州盤：英盤DVDが本商品。〇邦盤DVD：1種、2014年、Fox社。中古なら安め。〇邦盤BD：未発売。Import BDは本サイトでは確認できなかった。関連キーワード（未見の方はスルーして下さい）：日本北方、北極海南方、共産国、原爆、カモフラージュ、潜水艦、女性科学者、B29、東京、水葬

A very entertaining action film . A restored print , presented in 2.55:1 and 5.1 sound .

Happy to have it.