Ice Station Zebra (1968) Retrospective
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- George discusses John Sturges' underrated Cold War action epic- Ice Station Zebra!
Sources and Interesting Links:
-Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges by Glenn Lovell, Wisconsin University Press
-Roger Ebert's Review: www.rogerebert...
-Spy Culture Blog article on Ice Station Zebra: www.spyculture...
- Air Force Magazine Article on the Corona Satellite program- www.airforcema...
- AFI article on the film: catalog.afi.com...
Buy the Blu Ray: www.amazon.com...
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The scene depicting recovering from the torpdo room flooding casualty is one of the most realistic Hollywood recreations of a naval evolution you'll ever see, and probably the most realistic submarine sequence in the history of the movies.
I love the choice of movies that you feature.
I guess I'm getting old but more and more I find myself watching older movies. The new stuff leaves me cold.
Thanks so much for saying this. I’m working to curate a collection of interesting films that are overlooked/ under represented in the UA-cam review community. Plenty of Marvel movie reviews- not enough cult classics, and if they do exist I sometimes find the quality lacking. Thanks for your engagement Walter! More to come! And if you have any recommendations for me- I’d love to hear them.
I am not interested in watching comic book based movies
"Jim" McGoohan?!
You mean Patrick McGoohan? Secret Agent Man! The Prisoner! Longshanks (from Braveheart)! Devereaux (from Silver Streak)!
Such a classic, and classy, actor!
And he's a New Yorker, not a Brit. That's the old Trans-Atlantic accent, a la Carey Grant, et al.
US born to Anglo-Irish parents. Grew up in Ireland.
And the warden in Escape from Alcatraz
DON'T FORGET McGoohan's teo appearances matching wits with Columbo.
And watch his role in the Disney movie The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.
@@jackpavlik563 untill 7 or 8 the grew up in England he dint relocate to the US until the mid 1970s
It’s a great film and really shows the ambiguity of the Cold War, especially with the ‘German Scientists’ quote.
One of the best scenes in the film.
Thank you for reviewing "Ice Station Zebra" George- I've always enjoyed this film! Agree with you wholeheartedly about the under-utilized and great Patrick McGoohan. He was the adversary in a few of the better "Columbo" TV Series installments, the memorable villain in "Silver Streak" w/Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor ('76) and chewed up the scenery as the Judge in the film version of John Grisham's, "A Time To Kill" w Matthew McConaughey & Sandra Bullock. Enjoy your content 👏 !
Thanks for the kind words man- and I will check that movie out!
Excellent video, good sir! It definitely is one of those movies that gets under your skin. You start out thinking what the heck did Howard Hughes see in this? And then fast forward a little bit and you've watched it 10 times.
Who the heck is “Jim” McGoohan?! 🤷🏻
Find episodes of "Danger Man" for classic vintage McGoohan. They're great, mainly because the man had intensity to spare.
I need to watch the Prisoner as well- will check out. because he really stood out to me in this film.
I love the whole movie, every bit of it. The ones who don’t like it aren’t paying attention.
Or simply dismiss it as old, without watching the film I the context of its time
"Space shuttle"?
The shuttle was years away when this movie was made.
I am guessing that Hughes (who was a virulent anti-communist, inveterate aviator and maker of spyships for sub recovery ie: The Glomar Explorer) probably saw a lot of his own life, interests and beliefs in the movie. It has been said that he also loved the panoramic sykscapes with the Russian MiG-21 jets screaming across the artic wastes.
I too have watched this cold war thriller many time, though I'm sure not as often a Howard Hughes. The cinematic music is awesome and the submarine scenes the best of its day. Considering the alternative at the time was Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
I wish I’d been able to include this in the review but people actually could tell when Hughes was in Vegas by wether or not Ice Station was playing on TV. They’d switch on the set, Zebra was playing, “oh shit, Hughes is in town!”
Better Call Saul is where I first heard of this film.
Haha oh really? I need to watch that show
Always a favorite of mine as well as Hunt for Red October.
Love your analysis and review almost as much as I love the movie. Ironically, watching it gives me a warm feeling. Thank YOU!! I', going to check out more of your reviews asap.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the kind words! Really helps!
Very enjoyable film but I do smile when seeing Rock, at 6’4” being rather tall for navigating a cramped submarine.
One of my favorites. Saw it in a Cinerama theater. Great review & clips. "But get me there!" is indeed a highlight. Jim Brown vs. Borgnine ironic scene is enough to justify the last part of the movie.
Well Done !
Thanks!
It's 'Patrick' Mcgoohan,
i remember seeing this as kid on tv. thanks
Absolutely! Thanks for watching!
Roger Ebert got it wrong. I love this picture and there is nothing wrong in the third act. The Russian jets flying across the ice is magnificent. Patrick McGoohan as the secret agent is God's gift to 16 year old spy fans.
One of my top 10 favorites. Love the line from Ernest Borgnine to Jim Brown: Do you want to die like a bull in the ring or a steer at the slaughterhouse. The bull has a chance.
I really love the Lloyd Nolan sequence...
One of those movies I'd seen as a kid, big movie house, me all wide eyed and ga-ga by the spectacle of it all. I remember liking it and may never see it, again, just to keep that feeling...
Revisit it!
This movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be. An action movie, submarine drama, spy movie, or cold war standoff movie. It's like they couldn't decide what kind of movie they wanted so they crammed it all in. And the running time shows.
Always loved that film..
Would love to see this movie in its original Cinerama format !
Tribute to Jim Brown (1936 to 2023)
jim brown sports dual silver bars - A captain, an O-3 in the marine corps
Top five Xmas movie.
Nice Hughes anecdote.
Howard Hughes was actually involved in a C.I.A operation to salvage a Soviet nuclear submarine that went missing in 1968. He provided a "research platform" to hide an underwater rig from spy satellites and reconnaissance aircraft. As a giant claw was used to retrieve the sub from an ocean trench, 2 thirds of the vessel broke apart(the recovery team didn't know if the nukes were armed at the time).The whole operation cost around 800 million dollars and the remaining section contained 2 nuclear torpedoes and valuable military technology. The mission happened two years before Hughes' death.
I remember this, the recovery gear was camouflaged within a civilian ship that was attempting to search for gold on the ocean floor. This was one of the secret operations that led to senate hearings into the CIA’s inner workings and found they were doing a lot of really illegal activities under the banner of national security. In the end a new director was brought in to reform the agency. His name? George Bush.
SAw these movies at the theater as a kid thanks great work on the review! I remember getting yelled at by some older teens for running down the aisle when Marooned was playing lol
I saw this at the Stanley Fort army camp cinema in Hong Kong when it first made the rounds. It's one of the first movies I remember, and it certainly made an impression. I'm with Howard Hughes - I'll watch it any time.
"Jim" McGoohan? Otherwise, well done.
I was waiting for someone to call me on that. You got me brother.
@@FilmJournal Sorry about that, Chief. I agree with you about Michel Legrand's score. He got the assignment after Jerry Goldsmith wasn't available. And Ransohoff once described an all hell's broken loose finale, but any ground conflict between Russians and Americans would invariably mean WW III and he felt it was preferable to show a standoff with the dentate dénouement. "For Your Eyes Only" imitated it.
Great review and great recommendation! I finally was able to see this after tracking down the blu ray. I was a little apprehensive given that I find Sturges' work started to loose steam later in his career (he essentially told Michael Caine on the set of Eagle Has Landed that he was only there to collect a paycheck and it shows). I loved this one! I agree that the final act is a little clunky, and features yet another premature end to Jim Brown (Hollywood had no idea what a star they had), but I was quite entertained. As you said the Arctic sets were a little fake but I was getting real John Carpenter's The Thing vibes from the whole atmosphere. I imagine he saw this. Would love to see you take on Guns of Navarone. I know its considered a classic, but I actually think it does not get as many views these days as it should. Or Frankenheimer's The Train. I'm always shocked when I talk to other movie heads and they've never even heard of it. A real underseen gem in this "Men on a Mission" subgenre that I give a full recommendation to is Dark of the Sun from 1968. It's terrific and the Warner Archive disc is excellent.👍
I did a review of Force Ten From Navarone in which I talk about "Guns" quite a bit. Glad you enjoyed the review!
That's a fair point.
Patrick Maghooan also played the suitably nasty King Edward I in Braveheart
A very underrated film. I too have it on blu ray.
I also tracked down the vinyl soundtrack- which is so excellent!
Patrick McGoohan portrayed King Edward Longshanks in Brave Heart.
fantastic channel thank you 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
You made my day! :)
@@FilmJournal I direct films and I'm always looking to the past for influence, my new film is inspired but De Palma's Blow Out - when we release it, it will be interesting to hear what you think 😂 It's called Warhol. Have a great weekend, Brother. A
I think Gregory Peck was right. The one big weakness of this film is the lack of character depth. Anyone who can't see Ernest Bornine's angle from the get go shouldn't be watching anything after 8pm.
Borgnine was almost so brazen in acting suspicious I almost felt it had to be a red hearing as it was too obvious!
Read the book a long time ago and saw the movie. Can’t really recall how much it deviates from the book aside from the fire-sabotaging incident. The scene with the torpedo room incident is one of my all time favourites. However, I found out awhile ago that the internal torpedo door is designed in such a way that it can’t be fully opened right away precisely to avoid this type of incident. Apparently a sub suffered a situation like what’s shown in the movie and the redesign of the torpedo door was done and implemented on all subs newly constructed. Even knowing that, it still remains one of my all time favourite movie scenes. Anyway, great job with the review. I think you were spot on about everything. Patrick McGoohan was fantastic and really nailed it.
I’ll check out some of your other reviews. Not sure if you’ve seen the movie El CID(1961) with Charlton Heston? Pretty good movie but a bit long. It has my all time favourite scene that involves a jousting & sword fight match to decide who owns a particular city. Absolutely riveting. It really looks like these guys were trying to kill each other.
I will check out El CID for sure. I read the book to prepare for the review- just to see if I could mine any interesting comparisons from it but mostly the biggest difference is that the Patrick McGoohan spy character is more prominent, less opaque in his motivations, and more take charge. MacLean was British and he tended to write the American characters as sort of nationalist goofballs playing second fiddle to the clever Brits.
No, Rock Hudson's speech about how you can't have both ends of a submarine torpedo tube open at the same time is one of the most true things you will ever see in a naval movie. The excuse (McGuffin, really) that Patrick McGoohan comes up with is just a lot of mumbo-jumbo and pure rot. This has been true on American submarines probably from the very earliest years of naval submarine operations.
Just discovered your channel. Excellent work. Subscription was an easy choice. Best wishes.
Thanks so much!
One of my all time favorite movies but I have to say - did you actually watch this movie? The spacecraft was Soviet NOT an American satellite. There is famous lines talking about British Camera made by their German scientists with film from the US made by their German scientists put in a Russian spacecraft made by their German scientists The Marine was a Captain you said Sergent in your review. I never got to see this in a theater it always at home and when showed on broadcast TV it was shown over two nights.
You caught me- I didn't actually watch the movie
Clint Eastwood used a few of the Submarine model shots from this film in Firefox
I think Howard Hughes liked ISZ because he was probably trying to figure out how he would shoot an action movie on a submarine and/or on location in the arctic.
Jim Brown plays a CAPTAIN not a sergeant! He brought a platoon of Marines - not a battalion.
I am now killing my self by ritual of sepiku
Good narrative. But as a typical civilian, mis-describes certain military aspects. Calls Jim Brown's character a Sergeant. He's a commissioned officer, Captain. Also that he has a "battalion " with him. That's 1500 men. The Marine group on board is little more than a squad. Around a dozen.
Civilian- guilty as charged. Thanks for watching!
@FilmJournal It's still a very good commentary of a great film that you did. One of my favorites. I first saw it on the first TV showing of it in the 60s. It was a little over my young head. Later, while serving in the marines it was shown in the base theater. Naturally, they played a lot of military themed films to cater to the Gung ho nature of us.
What did Patrick McGoohan say in Russian at the end of the movie?
very informative. What's up with Howard Hughes?
Love this review and then Midland pics told me to sub, so I did!
Thanks brother!
Hi there , is there any reason why you never mentioned Jim Brown’s military service in the US Army Reserve where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and why you called him a sergeant in his film role when his insignia clearly shows that he’s a Captain in the film? Just asking. Because you mentioned everyone else’s military service.
I don’t know much of anything about military hierarchy. Maybe that’s a blind spot on my part. Thank Jim Brown for his service, if I’d know- I’d have included it.
Queue the intermission. Thats funny. In some theaters they were prolly served dinner. A cognac. A cigar.
Wouldn’t that be the life?
@@FilmJournal still is. thats why i watch movies at home.
Patrick!!!!! …… not Jim!!
Ernest Borgnine sounds more Spanish than Russian.
Was Jim McGoohan Pat’s brother?
What did Howard Hughes see in this picture? One word, cinematography --- great cinematography. Very much like Kubrick's 2001 a Space Odyssey and more recently Denis Villeneuve's Arrival. And, you have to love a movie that includes an Overture and an Intermission. Not to mention a very hot Rock Hudson and a very cool Patrick Mcgoohan. Hughes might have been crazy, but he wasn't stupid.
Eating lime icecream
I loved the book... but never saw the movie.
Nailed it! Thanks... "Liked" "Subscribed"
Huge! Thank you!
Cool background info
Thanks brother!
What are some movies like this?
Check out Heroes of Telemark, Guns of Navarone, and check out John Sturges movie Bad Day at Black Rock
It was Patrick Mcgoohan; Not Jim
Nope- pretty sure it was Jim. You might want to do some more research!
On the whole, your analysis is very good. You just need to tighten up on the details.
First saw this on a first date. My first film in cinemascope. I was down low and the screen curve was almost distracting.
Hopefully the date went well though?
What a Don Juan you must have been . . .
No, I was a clueless 17 year old. It was a first date.
@@Jim_Welch_OK hahahahahahahaha
Was a good movie I saw it in Australia when it first came out. American Russian standoff was best.
Better call Saul!
All about the great McGoohan. He was TOO major an actor not to have a lot more major motion picture starring roles to his name, though since he was both central to the greatest television series ever made--Danger Man, aka Secret Agent Man--AND responsible for the greatest MINI-SERIES ever made--The Prisoner--I totally forgive him and recommend everyone do the same. Oh, plus watch those two series.
Can You Review On This Movie Please, Krakatoa: East Of Java (1968) Starring Maximiliam Schell And Brian Keith. The Full Movie Is On UA-cam.
Try to get the names of the actors right
Thank you for the comment and engagement it drives the algorithm
Does anyone else think Ice Station Zebra should be remade?
No.
Jim Mcgoohan????
😂 I get about one of these a month. Thanks for driving traffic to my video by commenting!
i've never seen the entirety yet - but i wondered while watching this if Patrick McGoohan ever used the british pronunciation of "zebra" - short "e" - and then switch to the long "e" for the americans - i thought Jim Brown was mechanical - probably closely directed cuz he didn't really have acting skills - the fake ice landscape scenes were too typical of the time - and the fake jets - that was annoying even back then since other filming choices could have been made
Mc goohan was excellent as always
I’ve watched this movie at least every other years or so, since I was 10 years old back in 1990. It’s a great movie, although with distinct flaws and a horrible arctic landscape set. It’s still great though. Those fantastic long scenes with technical talk are completely gone in modern movies. This movie doesn’t treat the audience as bumbling idiots.
Jim McGoohan???
Yeah he’s a great actor
I'm well aware who "Patrick" McGoohan was
@@robertshanks3674 I think you mean “Jim”
Its PATRICK McGoohan!!!!
😖 I FUCKED UP!
Jim McGoohan? Do you mean Patrick McGoohan?
No, I meant Jim McGoohan.
@@FilmJournal ok my bad. It’s just it was Patrick McGoohan that was in the movie that was all.
I saw this film as a teenager and my eyes glaze over still to this day whenever it is mentioned. Boring.
Thanks for contributing!
Hmmm. I thought this was a great book when I first read it 50 (!!) years ago, but now I reallize it is crap.
Pronounce Alistair's name correctly.
How’s it pronounced?
The satellite was a RUSSIAN satellite.
Source?
I watched the movie. Just for clarification; it was a Russian satellite, with a British camera, and American Film.@@FilmJournal
The actors name is Patrick Mcgoohan , not Jim!!!
No- it's Patrick- get your facts straight.
The actors name is **,Patrick McGoohan
You're the first person to point out this mistake! But my slip up had an amazing effect- It's driven comments on the video and increased the view count!
@@FilmJournalalso the author's name is pronounced 'McClane' (not McCleen), yup also just discovered your channel, subscribed. Cheers
This movie has a strong place in my heart. However ..in watching again last week I realize how truly terrible the direction is. Rock Hudson and Patrick McGoohan do their very best to elevate this movie but it barely holds up. The submarine parts are reasonably well done but the actual Ice Station Zebra segments look really bad. The confrontation between the Russian spy and the American soldier (Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown) is so bad it's laughable. The U.S. soldier does exactly what the spy wants even though it makes no sense. Turn around and walk away...the spy won't shoot you in the back, he"ll expose himself as a traitor if he does. Problem solved.