Now I have always steered from watching this film most notably because of the distinctively average reviews it appears to get. A perfect example of ignore other reviews and enjoy it. After all a certain late Howard Hughes did! There are plenty of examples of films I liked better than the critics!
It has plenty of Cold Ward action as the US (aided by Britain) and the old USSR race towards a crash landed Soviet spy satellite with some juicy photos on board, in the Polar landscape of the North Pole. With a screenplay based on a literary work by Alistair MacLean who has had several successful films based on his books to note. If you like submarine films (like me) then this film is for you with a US nuclear powered sub racing to the North Pole under the ice-cap.
The director John Sturges had plenty of experience with ensemble casts and big budget films and this film doesn't disappoint in that respect. I'm thinking along the lines of The Great escape (1963) and The Magnificent Seven (1960).
I watched the film on a large screen TV. Watching some of the photography and seeing it was filmed in the old Cinerama, 70mm process I bet it looked amazing on big cinema projections? Indeed I believe it got an Oscar nomination for its cinematography.
The music has one of those chords that you just hum for hours. It also had an intermission in the cinema which I bet was amazing.
The cast put in good performances including Rock Hudson and Patrick MacGoohan, better known to British television audiences perhaps? (The Prisoner).
In my humble opinion a Cold War thriller worth the viewing.
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