Down Periscope (1996)
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A capable but unorthodox Navy officer must lead a crew of misfits to win a high-stakes naval war game aboard a rusty World War II-era submarine.
The story
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge is a capable U.S. Navy officer who has been repeatedly passed over for promotion due to his unorthodox command methods. To save his career from being reassigned to a desk job, he is selected by Vice Admiral Dean Winslow to lead a naval war game. Dodge is tasked with restoring the USS Stingray, a rusty, obsolete World War II-era diesel-powered submarine, to 'invade' Charleston Harbor undetected. To succeed, he must lead a 'crew from hell'—a group of misfit seamen and a female surface-qualified officer—while navigating the sabotage efforts of a bitter rival, Rear Admiral Yancy Graham, who seeks to bury Dodge's career.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge, an unorthodox Navy officer with a past involving a 'brushing' incident and a penile tattoo, is given a final chance to lead a submarine. He is assigned the USS Stingray, a rusty WWII-era diesel sub, and a 'crew from hell' including Lieutenant Martin G. Pascal, a civilian contractor, and a female officer, Lieutenant Emily Lake. The goal is to 'invade' Charleston Harbor and sink a dummy warship in Norfolk Harbor. Dodge wagers that if he succeeds, he will be given a nuclear submarine. Using a storm as cover, the crew disguises the Stingray as a fishing trawler to infiltrate Charleston. However, their rival, Rear Admiral Yancy Graham, sabotages the game by shrinking the containment area. After a failed attempt at Norfolk, Dodge hijacks his own boat to break contact with the Navy. Pascal attempts to usurp command, but the crew turns on him, leading Dodge to stage a mock execution where Pascal walks the plank. In a final daring maneuver, Dodge passes the Stingray between the propellers of a commercial supertanker to evade detection. He successfully fires two live torpedoes at a target ship in Norfolk Harbor, winning the war game. Winslow denies Graham a promotion and promotes Dodge to Commander, allowing him to keep his misfit crew.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 89
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David S. Ward
- Writers
- Hugh Wilson · story; Hugh Wilson · screenplay; Andrew Kurtzman · screenplay; Eliot Wald · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Kelsey Grammer · Lieutenant Commander Thomas "Tom" Dodge; Lauren Holly · Lieutenant Emily Lake; Rob Schneider · Lieutenant Martin G. "Marty" Pascal; Harry Dean Stanton · Howard; William H. Macy · Commander Carl Knox; Bruce Dern · Rear Admiral Yancy Graham; Rip Torn · Vice Admiral Dean Winslow; Ken Hudson Campbell · Culinary Specialist Second Class Buckman
- Genres
- military comedy; submarine film; comedy
- Themes
- leadership; military life; underdog
- Tone and mood
- comedy; crude; frivolous
- Premise and plot tags
- military; submarine; comedy; war game
- Source material / true-story basis
- A play on the title of the 1959 World War II drama Up Periscope.
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavorable reviews, with critics noting its low energy and lack of a well-written script, though some praised its 'crude fun' and 'amusing bits.'
- Production trivia
- The film's title is a play on the 1959 drama Up Periscope.; The film features a music video of the Village People and the cast performing 'In the Navy' over the closing credits.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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