Commander James Ferraday (Rock Hudson, PILLOW TALK, TOBRUK) of the US nuclear submarine Tigerfish is ordered to take his boat to the North Pole to mount a rescue of the scientist of Ice Station Zebra.
The rescue mission is, however, merely an excuse to go as Ferraday and his crew are joined ... Read review
The U.S. nuclear sub Tigerfish churns toward the North Pole. Its mission: rescue the ... more
imperiled members of weather outpost Ice Station Zebra. On board are Cmdr. Ferraday and his crew, several unexpected arrivals with secret orders... and enough suspicio...
A classic thriller from the bestselling master of action and suspense. The atomic ... more
submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: to sail beneath the ice-floes of the Arctic Ocean to locate and rescue the men of weather-station Zebra gutted by fire and drifting with the ice-pack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say what the Dolphin will find if she succeeds - that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was sabotage and that one of the survivors is a killer!
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Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Advantages: Enjoyable action, good cast, some amusing lines. Disadvantages: Never really surprises, some poor sets and effects.
...rescue of the scientist of Ice Station Zebra.
The rescue mission is, however, merely an excuse to go as Ferraday and his crew are joined by the mysterious David Jones (Patrick McGoohan, SILVER STREAK, SCANNERS), Russian Borris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine, THE BLACK HOLE, GATTACA) and Captain Leslie Anders (Jim Brown, THE DIRTY DOZEN, 100 RIFLES) with his team of marines.
It soon becomes apparent that the real reason to ... ...the book by Alistair MacLean, Ice Station Zebra is a by the numbers Cold War action thriller with few real surprises but it is not a bad film all the same. There is the nearly sinking to the bottom of the ocean scene, which seems almost obligatory in films with submarines and the usual guess who the enemy agent is.
The acting is solid enough with some entertaining exchanges between McGoohan and Hudson –
Commander James Ferraday (Rock Hudson, PILLOW TALK, TOBRUK) of the US nuclear submarine Tigerfish is ordered to take his boat to the North Pole to mount a rescue of the scientist of Ice Station Zebra.
The rescue mission is, however, merely an excuse to go as Ferraday and his crew are joined by the mysterious David Jones (Patrick McGoohan, SILVER STREAK, SCANNERS), Russian Borris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine, THE BLACK HOLE, GATTACA) and Captain Leslie Anders (Jim Brown, THE DIRTY DOZEN, 100 RIFLES) with his team of marines.
It soon becomes apparent that the real reason to get to the Pole is to recover film of defence information vital to both the Russians and Americans from a crashed satellite. The race is on to get there before the Russians but a saboteur is determined to stop them.
Directed by John Sturges (THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED) and based on the book by Alistair MacLean, Ice Station Zebra is a by the numbers Cold War action thriller with few real surprises but it is not a bad film all the same. There is the nearly sinking to the bottom of the ocean scene, which seems almost obligatory in films with submarines and the usual guess who the enemy agent is.
The acting is solid enough with some entertaining exchanges between McGoohan and Hudson –
Jones (McGoohan): Refreshingly informal, your Navy.
Ferraday (Hudson): On submarines, anyway, living as close as we do. We operate on a first name basis. My first name is Captain.
The film is slightly let down by the outdoor Polar sets which, at times, look fake being studio based as they are. The effects of the Soviet jet fighters also could have been better.
The music by Michel Legrand (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, LE MANS) is adequate but not overly memorable with perhaps the exception of the main title theme.
Overall this is a film I enjoyed, there is not really any doubt where it is heading but it’s an enjoyable journey with a few tense moments, some clever lines with a pleasing and satisfactory outcome.
DVD Technical Details (Region 2) Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic. Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital, 2.0 Dolby Surround Languages: English, French and Italian Subtiles: English, French, Italian, Dutch and Arabic Run Time: 143 minutes.
DVD Extras Vintage Making-of Featurette “The Man Who Makes the Difference” – showing the work of John M. Stephens, second unit cinematographer. Trailer Gallery – Posters and trailers for “Bad Day at Black Rock”, “Giant” and “Ice Station Zebra”
Ice station Zebra really appeals to me because i love zebras. I always have even since i was small, i can still remember the first time i saw a zebra.....memories.
I think you will like this film, i did. Im not going to tell you what happens, because i may spoil it for you. Its has its powerfull moments that may suprise yopu. Zebra Zebra Zebra.
I think the film is aimed at all age groups, you know, one for all the family type of film. There are ... ...So overall i think you will like it and will probably want to watch it agian and again and again and again. But then again you may not. Thanks for reading my review of Zebra ice station.
I hope you enjoy watching this film, good luck
My word!
Zebra ...
martyrandy20000 13.04.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Ice Station Zebra (DVD)
John Sturges's adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel stars Rock Hudson as submarine commander James Ferraday. When a weather-monitoring station near the North Pole is nearly destroyed by fire, he's ostensibly sent to find out what went wrong. But since he's been ordered to bring along Capt. Leslie Anders (Jim Brown) and a platoon of Marines, British agent David Jones (Patrick McGoohan), and Russian defector Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), he realises he's being kept in the dark about the true nature of the mission. Eventually it becomes clear that the USS Tigerfish is in a race with a Russian sub to recover reconaissance film crucial to national defence that was being carried aboard a spacecraft that crashed near the polar ice cap. When the sub is sabotaged--causing it to sink perilously close to a depth that would lead to an explosion--it becomes clear that a double agent is on board, but Ferraday doesn't have enough evidence to arrest anyone. Although the film is often remembered as the one chosen for ad nauseam viewing by Howard Hughes, it's a well-made combination of action and suspense, boasting a fine score by Michel Legrand.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
02/05/2005
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
D 065248
Barcode
7321900652483
Screenwriter
Alistair MacLean
Author
Alistair MacLean
Languages
Main Language
English
DVD Description
John Sturges's adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel stars Rock Hudson as submarine commander James Ferraday. When a weather-monitoring station near the North Pole is nearly destroyed by fire, he's ostensibly sent to find out what went wrong. But since he's been ordered to bring along Capt. Leslie Anders (Jim Brown) and a platoon of Marines, British agent David Jones (Patrick McGoohan), and Russian defector Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), he realises he's being kept in the dark about the true nature of the mission. Eventually it becomes clear that the USS Tigerfish is in a race with a Russian sub to recover reconaissance film crucial to national defence that was being carried aboard a spacecraft that crashed near the polar ice cap. When the sub is sabotaged--causing it to sink perilously close to a depth that would lead to an explosion--it becomes clear that a double agent is on board, but Ferraday doesn't have enough evidence to arrest anyone. Although the film is often remembered as the one chosen for ad nauseam viewing by Howard Hughes, it's a well-made combination of action and suspense, boasting a fine score by Michel Legrand.
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