Goliath Awaits (1981) User Reviews (36)

A good movie if you can stretch believability

[yonhope · 8/10 · 11 March 2004]

Hi, Everyone,

I worked on this movie at The Queen Mary (ship) in Long Beach in May of 1981. The crew and cast were fun to be with. I was an extra who was supposed to be a passenger on the Goliath down at the bottom of the ocean. We were all still alive years after the ship sank.

A group of us were taught the dances of the 1920s (Lambeth Walk, Charleston). We worked in the cargo hold of the Queen Mary for some of our scenes. There were good guys and bad guys. Frank Gorshin and Christopher Lee were the villains. Christopher Lee was the Captain who kept the people alive and wanted to stay underwater when the rescuers arrived.

John Carradine was a very pleasant man to work with in his scenes. He had arthritis but he managed to negotiate the stairway that led down into the hold of the ship. Mark Harmon was the hero who arrives to rescue the passengers.

This movie was originally shown over a two night period on TV. It later was packaged as a VHS movie with some scenes edited out, but the short version seems the better and more fast paced of the two.

There is one scene where the music does not match the dancing in the background. Watch for dancers moving at the wrong tempo. The scene was rehearsed at one speed (No music actually is played. The dancers are given a tempo and they dance without music while the dialog is being recorded. The music is inserted later.)and different music was put in for some reason.

I liked the movie but it was not great. It was an interesting idea that will hold your attention for a couple of hours. If you like ship movies, try "Sea Chase" with John Wayne and Lana Turner or "Assault on a Queen" with Frank Sinatra.

Tom Willett

Oddity

[adriangr · 7/10 · 28 February 2010]

Well I thought this was going to be really cheesy but I was pleasantly surprised. The initial idea is fun - a cruise liner sinks to the bottom of the sea and 40 years later a salvage crew discovers it - plus a whole community of people who have somehow managed to stay alive inside it! The beginning of the story is the best, when a diver catches a glimpse of a girl's face through a grimy porthole, followed by the first divers surfacing inside the shipwreck. The drawbacks are mainly the impossibility of the people actually surviving at all - the explanations for how they have been breathing, eating and so on for 40 years trapped underwater really fell flat for me, no spoilers here about that as I couldn't actually understand that part at all!

The film sags a little after the surface people are inside the ship, but picks up quite well as we learn more about some quite sinister rules of the "society" down below, however there is a really, REALLY pointless sub-plot about a top secret document that could have been totally cut out of the whole plot with no ill-effects at all. The surface people even say that the document must be retrieved and then destroyed, which is ridiculous because it's already at the bottom of the sea! The movie comes to quite a dramatic close, with an almost ridiculously drawn out struggle for survival by the main characters right at the end. The acting is mostly good, well it's got Christopher Lee after all, and he's never let a film down that I have seen.

Effects are fairly good, lots of real ship and diving hardware on view, and the sunken ship exterior looks reasonably ominous. So it's 3 hours of fun (I watched the full version), and I wonder why there has not been a DVD rediscovery of it, like there was with Salem's Lot, which also saw the light of day in a truncated version before being released in full. Sadly the only commercial release of Goliath Awaits was a feature length re-edit, which is a shame, as it's really not bad at all.

Great idea, many flaws

[moofyieman · 7/10 · 19 October 2016]

When I saw this mini-series in 1981 I was very young and it made a real impact on me. The idea of a ship that sunk 42 years ago (1981-1939) and still had survivors is a great idea for a movie, or mini-series in this case.

As a viewer you have to buy a lot of unbelievable stuff to still enjoy it. First the enormous pressure at a depth of 300 meters to which the ship sank in matter of minutes. Somehow this pressure was no issue for all the people aboard but for the divers in 1981 it was because they have to compress and decompress for days! Then somehow the ship didn't leak at all at this depth and didn't so after 42 years in saltwater! Air, drink water, food and electricity made possible by the genius leader of the survivors. If you buy in to that, you are set to go. Oh, and there are the bow people who can survive by stealing from the others for years despite being hunted down with guns. How difficult would it be to just bar the entrances to the bow? Then, nobody - NOBODY- is happy to see the divers after 42 years. The leaders OK, they have their little empire to lose, but the hundreds of people who are treated as slaves? No cheers, laughs, clapping or happiness at all? And the first two questions what comes to mind, -who won the war and how is this rescue mission going to be organized- are addressed only after a day or so.

BUT, as a film lover you must have a flexible mind and then a very interesting en nice story will unfold. If some producer would remake this movie, it surely must address the plausibility I wrote above. The story of people stranded together making a new society with all the good and bad human qualities is worth any storytelling. Therefore it is after 35 still a good story to tell and to watch with good actors like a young Mark Harmon and Christopher Lee.

Lost Gem

[Reno-007 · 23 April 2003]

I remember this when it premiered in Nov. of 1981 when I was in the 7th grade. I remember the specifics very well, however other reviewers are wrong about a few of the facts. First off Christopher Lee's character was NOT the captain, he was the third officer of the ship and was in charge of the engine room. Second, the movie was not made to be a horror flick. I remember the T.V. Guide writeup about it then and it is a Mystery-Suspense story. Overall a very cool movie that had an interesting premise of what if? What if the Queen Mary sank or the Queen Elizabeth sank and what would the people be like after 40 years of isolation from the world. Lee is the most noteable when it comes to the acting. I like the other actors in the film but I will say that Mark Harmon, who is a good actor, in this one really overacted a few times. All in all a great story, decent acting and cool sets.

Christopher Lee and John Carradine

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 13 July 2017]

1981's "Goliath Awaits" was a huge ratings winner for Operation Prime Time, enabling independent UHF stations the chance to compete with the 'Big Three' - ABC, CBS, NBC - but at lower advertising rates that benefited everyone but the networks, in those early days before cable really took off. A highly improbable scenario is made believable by a strong cast of familiar faces, but nominal lead Mark Harmon is often too shrill to be effective. The ocean liner Goliath is sunk by German torpedoes in 1939, yet the 337 people found alive more than 40 years later survived due to the ingenuity of first officer John McKenzie (Christopher Lee), rightfully revered as their leader and captain ever since. A rescue team of four (Mark Harmon, Robert Forster, Alex Cord, John Ratzenberger) venture inside to offer their solution to the inevitable collapse of this insulated existence, only one month left before the fuel supply runs out for good. We have a number of fine character vignettes, in particular John Carradine (veteran of OPT's 1979 miniseries THE SEEKERS) as Ronald Bentley, famed swashbuckling movie hero, in perhaps a nod to one of his dearest friends, the late Errol Flynn. As one of the original survivors from the long ago sinking, he has spent the time educating the young about his life experiences, enjoying the one movie of his that has survived the years, wanting to be remembered as the virile young actor he once was, great with action, less so with dialogue. Still, it is Christopher Lee who stands out as the ambiguous McKenzie, who resists any attempt at rescue, knowing that his days as absolute ruler were bound to end sooner or later, his mysterious associate Dan Wesker (Frank Gorshin) a self appointed 'Angel of Death,' dispensing with people unable to work or feed themselves. Originally broadcast in two parts at over 3 hours-plus, it's never boring and makes good use of stock footage, thanks to the editing skills of director Kevin Connor, who had previously worked with Lee and Ratzenberger on the 1979 "Arabian Adventure." Not all our questions are answered, and the climax is unfortunately drawn out too long to sustain the tension, but overall a commendable effort that stayed with viewers over the decades since, much like the occupants below the sea.

Fun stuff, now commonly available on streaming and DVR

[ebeckstr-1 · 7/10 · 25 March 2019]

Goliath Awaits is available on YouTube in its full, unedited format, and is also available for purchase on DVR. Just do an internet search and you will find it.

If you can suspend your disbelief, this is a very enjoyable science fantasy, with reasonably good acting and writing. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, and manages to avoid the boring melodrama that one might expect in a two-part mini-series of this kind. It hails from the hay day of 1970s and 80s made-for-tv horror and science-fiction movies, and holds up surprisingly well if you enjoy the latter, which is almost a genre unto itself.

It is an interesting movie, but not a compelling one despite a fine cast of character actors, and one fantastic newcomer,Duncan Regehr!

[xeresa · 6/10 · 24 November 2000]

This was the film that first introduced me to the actor, Duncan Regehr, who played the leader of the Bow people. His performance and that of Christopher Lee as the conflicted leader of the sunken Goliath were the only bright spots in this sci-fi thriller. It could have been a great picture for the idea was fascinating, but the writing was heavy-handed. Even such top-notched character actors as Jeanette Nolan, John McIntire,John Carradine, and Jean Marsh were hampered by the insipid dialogue. I love Frank Gorshin but his performance here was a comic book caricature and unworthy of him. Both Mark Harmon and Emma Samms were pretty to look at, but bland. Duncan Regehr came across as sexy and powerful, and one of the film's implausibilities was that the heroine would prefer Mark Harmon over him! Duncan Regehr and Christopher Lee, were the only actors who gave a three-dimensional performance to what was written as one-dimensional characters. Still it's not a bad picture-- it is a interesting picture, but not a compelling one!

Not a bad TV movie

[glentom1 · 6/10 · 28 May 2004]

Considering the low quality of TV movies, this one has to be considered one of the better ones. I just watched the commercial free 3 hr 20 minute version.

Its a great premise, even with all of its holes. Mark Harmon is an incredibly poor actor (check out all the scenes where he has to have his shirt off) who apparently was being showcased in this movie. But the movie survives in spite of him.

Christopher Lee and Frank Gorshin carry out their roles quite well. The writers do a credible job of explaining how certain unlikely events might have taken place, and there is enough of a plot to keep things moving. Plus its a fun family affair, where you can laugh at some of the silly lines, yet still hang in there waiting to see what comes next.

I would not recommend renting or buying it, but if you have nothing else to watch and 3+ hours to kill, its decent fare.

Make sure to see the long version

[Gregorso · 9/10 · 24 May 2012]

I saw this when it originally aired as a 2-part TV movie. I really enjoyed the premise of people forming their own society while trapped in a sunken ocean liner for a generation. The moral theme about society despising the Nazis but still becoming fascist is also good. Christopher Lee and Frank Gorshin play very intriguing characters. Alex Cord, Jean Marsh, John Carradine and Eddie Albert make great supporting actors as well. Mark Harmon is okay as the hero. (Ironically, he appeared in another sunken ship film: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.) The film also has one of Duncan Regehr's early roles, before he went on to roles in "Wizards & Warriors" and "V". Emma Samms is charming as a girl who grew up in the ship. http://tinyurl.com/cwcqarv She would later gain fame as Fallon Colby on "Dynasty".

The first half of the story explains the history of the ship and how it is found. There's a really shocking scene where the first diver enters the old sunken ship and we see barely see through his foggy diving mask that there are living people on board! The hauntingly iconic image of a diver seeing the lovely Emma Thompson's face through a watery porthole was used in the commercials for the movie and when the movie itself cut to commercial breaks.

The second half of the film deals with the cultural and political implications for this isolated society which has been stuck in 1930s culture. They have adapted their lifestyle and morals to survive. Do they want to be rescued?

After many years of searching for a video release, I was able to catch film on TV again, but it was HORRIBLY edited to make it 60 minutes shorter. The film was obviously sped up and many lines and dramatic pauses had been removed, which totally messed up the acting and script. It's hardly worth seeing if it's not the full 3 hour version.

Sheer Cinema fantastique directed by an early Kevin Connor!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 11 February 2024]

Featured as mini-series it was aired in Brazil in 1984 split in two episodes, on late nineties it came out in VHS cut off version of 167 minutes, directed by an expert in cinema Fantastique as the British Kevin Connor THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT and WARLORDS OF THE DEEP just named a few, upon this fabulous background nobody could be better job in Goliath Awaits, a large British vessel Goliath torpedoed in 1939 and randomly locate at bottom of Atlantic in 1981, incredible 233 living persons still were there, an international efforts led by US's Navy to bring back all survivors.

Turns out that the brainy Capt. Mackenzie (Christopher Lee) already settles all damages in the machinery with few adjustments whereof becoming it able to hold a life within the ship self-sustaining, the arrival of the rescuers as the Cmdr. Jeff Selkirk (Robert Forster) Peter Cabot (Mark Hamill) and the Doctor Sam Marlowe (Alex Cord) is surrounding by mistrust mainly by Mackenzie's influence behind the bleak Dan Wesker (Frank Gorshin), slowing the rescuers figure out that they weren't welcome there, in society dictatorial led by the selfish Mackenzie also they learn a gang of rebels hidden in forsaken wing of the vessel, meanwhile at core of ship Mackenzie was chosen by the self-called supreme council as permanent ruler of the ship, worst they want going back whatsoever.

A Science-fiction with touches of unrealistic premise, who cares anyway, it somehow followed the same storyline in the famous THE TWILIGHT ZONE'S ON THURSDAY WE LEAVE FOR HOME, just summarizing "Better ruling in hell than be a servant in surface" that is the main point, jarring at first glance, however make sense, finally I find a long version in a fine print at Youtube with the classic dubbed version to my pleasure.

Thanks for reading

Resume:

First watch: 1984 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD-Youtube / Rating: 7.25.

Based on "The Watch Below"? / Sinking is falling

[threehundred60decrees · 5/10 · 14 November 2006]

These might not be spoilers, but better safe than sorry.

"The Goliath Awaits" appears to be loosely based on the science fiction novel "The Watch Below" by James White. In it, a few passengers and crew of a trading vessel sunk in World War II manage to survive because their supplies include pedal-operated electric generators, light bulbs, bean or pea plants for food and air replenishment, and a huge trove of powdered eggs and powdered milk. Water is collected from condensation and, if I remember correctly, also distilled from brine somehow. To pass the time and keep sane they play a memory game, recalling every detail of their lives including everything they've ever read, seen, and learned. And so they pass on their knowledge to their children who pass it on to theirs.

Unlike in "Goliath" there is a science fiction element to the story: 150 years after the sinking their descendants are rescued by aquatic aliens who fled their dying world hoping to find refuge in Earth's oceans. The crew of the spaceship were similar to the denizens of the wreck in that they were descendants of the original crew, who had discovered that repeatedly entering suspended animation caused crippling brain damage. The shipwrecked Earthlings use their well-trained memories to learn the aliens' language and plead their new friends' case to wary Earth authorities. (The novel all along cross-cuts between similar events in the wreck and the spaceship, such as the breaking off of rival factions and their later reconciliation.)

A major technical flaw in a story like "Goliath Awaits" is that a sinking ship is basically a falling object. The Titanic, for instance, did not settle on the ocean bottom 12,000 ft. down, it SLAMMED into it. I don't have the figures for how fast it was determined to have been moving just before impact, but these vessels are found lying in pieces. (The ship of "The Watch Below" was in much shallower water and was visible from low-flying observation aircraft.) If the people on board aren't killed or badly injured in the crash it is doubtful that there would be enough integrity in the hull to maintain air pressure for long.

The movie was diverting if predictable. The lack of pallor of the people and the good condition of their clothes was an omission typical of American TV of 1981. Ridley Scott-type production design had not yet penetrated television and wouldn't really start to until MTV's influence was felt (in shows like "Miami Vice"). It takes more time and money, so the financiers would not budget for it until forced to do so by competition.

Goliath Awaits inspires humans to have underwater homes

[xbrad68 · 10/10 · 12 June 2004]

Goliath Awaits came out in 1981 and the special effects for it are aging gracefully. The notion of people living in a sunken ocean liner may seem far fetched but as Neil Peart of RUSH wrote "We suspend our disbelief and we are entertained." Director Kevin Connor does a nice job of directing thus helping to salvage a soggy script. The mysterious disease that befalls the passengers of the GOLIATH makes the viewer curious about its origins. Later in the movie it is revealed that the ships Doctor is singling out people that he doesn't approve of. The doctor is of course extremely bigoted and wrong to use euthanasia on the ships passengers. The luxury of unused sheets of paper to the children of the ship is revealed. The Captain of the ship seems well meaning but the thought of using geothermal vents for power and oxygen is far-fetched given the ships level of technology. Who knows if Aliens could be powering underwater spaceships from geothermal vents. If so then the Aliens have accomplished an impressive feat. Goliath Awaits inspires humans to think about living in underwater homes for years at a time. Such an underwater project should be made part of the NASA space program. Humanitys survival in a big bad universe might depend on underwater habitats.

In Goliath Awaits you feel sorry for the passengers stuck shoveling coal at the same time you are wondering why they have never run out of coal. I gave Goliath Awaits a 10 out of 10 for its novel plot.

Blast From The Past

[Mischiefboi · 7/10 · 6 December 2020]

I remember watching this as a child on tv. The thought of being stuck under water with mean men gave me nightmares. I didn't understand why people wanted to stay, at the time.

did NOT make a believer outta me

[KDWms · 3/10 · 19 September 2003]

I know...I know: it's difficult (if not paradoxical) for there to be such a thing as "believable" fantasy. But, to me, there is also such a condition wherein TOO MUCH UNbelievability interfere's with, or distracts from my overall opinion of the movie. The latter was the case for me with regard to Goliath Awaits. Not only did I have too many unanswered questions concerning the storyline, but some of the acting, too, I thought, was a bit over-the-top. (Maybe, though, it was the writing: asking them to recite too many trite, predictable, cliched (over-?) reactions.) Others have said enough about the plot. I just wish that it was done - and, I think that it COULD have been - more convincingly. P. S.: This is a FRESH comment about this film - I just finished watching it a couple of minutes ago; not a recollection from years ago.

Chilling

[eric91411 · 15 December 1998]

I am reaching way back into my memory for this one, for I saw it on T.V. in 1981 and haven't heard anything about it since, except in 1992 when a co-worker and I got on the subject of shipwrecks and somehow we both remembered this movie from our pasts. We were so vague on the details we had both thought it might have been a dream until we corroborated each other's memory!

Brilliant how an "offshoot" society--a microcosm of our own, with all the various social strata--was represented. There was even a sub-sub-society, the "Bow People," who terrorized those in the main part of the ship.

Also, chilling how the ship's brass were "relieved" to find out that Hitler had been defeated--not even realizing that they had established their own police state far below the surface of the ocean!

All hands on... errr.. under? ALL HANDS UNDER DECK!

[tgs333 · 6/10 · 27 March 2005]

I recently watched this movie again for the first time in 20 years! I purchased a VHS tape of the movie on Ebay for around 14 dollars.

I first watched this movie when I was 11 years old. I remember my buddy and me were laughing all the way through it. Needless, not much has changed in 20 years! The movie quickly opens up with the Mark Harmon character investigating the wrecked ship when he sees a very beautiful woman peer though a small portal window. Some how he manages to convince the US Navy that he is not mad and that he actually saw a woman inside the ship! Thus, a full blown research dive unfolds! The Christopher Lee character is simply funny! I kept waiting for him to pull out a light saber and go mad! What really cracks me up is all the shooting of guns inside the hull? Did anyone think about a bullet piercing the weak frail hull under 1000 feet of water? I don't need to explain what would happens next if a round pierced the hull. Even more funny are all the sun tans the survivors have. None of em have pale skin and they look like they all got back from a vacation in the Florida Keys. The knock out blow for the movie revolves around the "Hitler" like society the survivors made for themselves.... all led by the Christopher Lee Character.... In addition, the Mark Harmon character is simply awful! He screams and hollers throughout the movie... and I just couldn't stand him! Never the less, this movie makes a nice addition to my collection. It's worth a good view, but I doubt I'll revisit this movie anytime soon. Ah yes.... "happy days are hear again... da da da blah blah blah"

Raise the Goliath

[TheFearmakers · 6/10 · 24 December 2023]

Less than two-hours into the three-plus-hour GOLIATH AWAITS there's an establishing shot of the sunken ship GOLIATH that had been torpedoed by Germans at the brink of World War II, 1939... at which point most of the sci-fi mystery-genre-suspense has passively morphed into a kind of melodramatic TV-series instead of miniseries... which centers on rescuing a group of survivors still existing in the ship after forty years...

The reasons for their otherwise impossible survival is told in various tour-guided monologues... either by ship's savior Christopher Lee or his chaste daughter Emma Samms who has -- after seeing diver Mark Harmon from a porthole -- fallen in love with the salvaging American: himself spending the first forty-five minutes getting into the ship's hull with Robert Forster as a more even-keeled Navy man (also Harmon's ex Navy partner)... seeking an important document for military boss Eddie Albert, who randomly barks orders from above, mirroring a disaster flick inside the airport tower...

But GOLIATH mostly takes place deep, deep down, mirroring 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, particularly with mysterious menu items - and as the truth about the always uniquely sinister Christopher Lee, wanting to stay in charge beneath instead of being rescued above, it becomes a surprisingly basic evil-messianic thriller where the good guys have to battle the evil dictator (along with shifty henchman Frank Gorhin) - but on his terms, and turf...

And overall what gives GOLIATH AWAITS its epic runtime are all the expository explanations of the insanely farfetched premise (including investigating doctor Alex Cord with ship's medical expert Jean Marsh)... which are actually some of the best moments, eventually leading to a banal b-story involving a group of former ship-bow-working, half-mutant rebels that stretches the already-stretched disbelief a bit too far.

Was there...

[johnrjohnson · 10/10 · 20 March 2021]

I worked on the promotional materials for "Goliath Awaits" and designed the cover of the promotional brochure with Emma Sams staring through the porthole, which was illustrated by Joe Spencer. I visited the Queen Mary set and was able to meet most of the cast, including Harmon, Sams, Christopher Lee, Gorshin, and Robert Forster. Must admit I was a bit star struck. Quite a collection of talented people.

The Watch Below

[epalmer · 5/10 · 27 January 2018]

The Watch Below (1966) is a novel by science fiction author James White about a colony of humans stranded underwater in a sunken WWII freighter surviving due to air pockets. Sound familiar? The later half of the book deals with an invasion by aquatic aliens.

A Classic

[shua22 · 8/10 · 29 November 2009]

WPIX (Channel 11 in NYC) used to show this movie when I was a kid and I always loved it. WPIX had all those schlocky graphics for their 8 O'clock movie. I also recall them showing this on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. I think I saw it about 4 times in total.

Fascinating story.

I haven't seen it in 20 years probably but would love to see it again.

I loved the music -- there was some big band numbers that they tended to repeat over and over again -- presumably because they were the only songs they knew how to play.

I seem to recall the production quality was a bit weak but it was pure fantasy so who really cared.

Questioning the writing on the back of the box

[billieh1956 · 4/10 · 2 April 2007]

I just finishing watching Goliath Awaits that I ordered from my library. I remembered it vaguely from years ago and wanted to watch it with my son. Anyway, the movie was less than 2 hours running time and I thought it was much longer when I first saw it. The back of the VHS box states that the Goliath "emtombs a Nazi file whose secrets could destroy the free world forever." The divers were supposedly on a covert mission to retrieve the demonic document. There was nothing even spoken about retrieving this document. Also, the box says that the "bestial ship's insatiable boiler feeds on human blood." That would make this a horror movie and there was also nothing revealed in the movie about this. I can't remember the details when I watched this years ago on TV...but could the back of this box actually be true? Maybe the 3 hour movie revealed more details??

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this.

Wow! The memories this movie brings back.

[stuff-188-447900 · 17 October 2011]

I spent a good few hours the other day trying to remember this movie from my childhood. As far as I could remember, I watched it on TV around 1981 or so. I would have been 11 or 12 at the time. The movie at that time and it's concept intrigued me to no end. I was captivated by it.

The most I could remember about it was that there were some people that had been trapped inside a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean for years. They had developed into a rather "cultist" society and even after being discovered by rescuers did not want anything to do with the real world on the surface. I remembered they shot one of the rescuers that surfaced inside the ship to explore it and then pretty much trapped any other rescuers there with them that entered their so called "world of utopia". Overall the movie was great back then. Subplots aside, I really enjoyed it so much, I am currently looking for a copy on VHS or DVD I can buy and own for myself and relive a little of my childhood memories thorough it.

A Movie To Think About

[januszlvii · 8/10 · 19 April 2019]

Golaith is a ship that was sunk by a German submarine in 1939, and some of the people survived until 1979. The premise that people can survive 40 years under the sea requires you to check reality at the door, but because we are talking a Science Fiction film it is not that difficult. There are many movies before and since that make you think of Goliath Awaits, The Posideon Adventure being an obvious one, and Demolition Man is another ( the Bow People versus the absolute ruler who most of the people depend on). What makes the story interesting is the fact there are very few absolutes: Dan Wesker (Frank Gorshin) is the main bad guy who kills off people who cannot ( or will not) contribute to the continued existence of the society, and Lea MacKenzie ( Emma Samms) is the good girl/love interest of diver Pete Cabot ( Mark Harmon) who discovers her when he is exploring the ship. Her father John ( Christopher Lee), is the former first officer who becomes ruler. MacKenzie is not a nice man, but he cares about the people and does his best to keep them alive despite the odds. He is very conflicted and seems to like his God-like power, but does not like killings ( by Wesker and others) done in his name. The very ending spoilers ahead, shows how conflicted he was. Some of the passengers wanted to be rescued and others would rather die. He decided to let the ones who chose to perish, die instead of ordering them to go and saving them, because he was afraid they would be exploited by those on the surface. At the same time he ordered Lea to go with Pete, and she did. It does ask the question how would people who lived under the sea in a dictatorship, survive living under freedom on the surface. The youngest should be fine because they can adjust easier to a new world, and Lea will have little trouble because Pete looked right at her when he talked about "Settling down in San Diego." But for the others it is an open question, and MacKenzie's fear of exploitation and ( or) that everyone cannot make it is not without justification, so maybe he made the right decision ordering only Lea to go ( probably because he knew his daughter would be tough enough to make it), and letting the other people choose for themselves to live or die was the best decision of all. Once again a movie to think about.

TV movie greatness

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 2 January 2021]

In the days where there were only three major channels, Operation Prime Time was an effort to create network quality programming for small independent stations. I can remember several films that aired locally from this effort, including Yogi's First Christmas, the Rankin/Bass Jack Frost special, Solid Gold and The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything. With the launch of the Fox Network, most of the independents all switched to that network and there was no further need for OPT.

This was directed by Kevin Connor, who has some pretty fun movies in his resume, including Motel Hell, The House Where Evil Dwells, From Beyond the Grave and The Return of Sherlock Holmes and plenty of others.

Written by Pat Fielder (The Monster That Challenged the World, The Vampire) along with Richard M. Bluel and Hugh Benson, who often were producers.

It's a great idea - at some point in World War II, the gigantic ocean liner RMS Goliath was sunk by torpedos, along with its entire crew and 1,860 passengers. 42 years later, however, a crew led by oceanographer Peter Cabot (Mark Harmon) discovers that the ship is still intact, with 337 survivors and their descendants living in an air bubble utopia. Then again, if you consider a world with mandatory contraception and physical abuse utopia, then maybe it's not for you. Leading the ship is John McKenzie (Christopher Lee), who saved many of them during the original accident.

Oh yeah - the Goliath also has sensitive documents from President Roosevelt, with Admiral Wiley Sloan (Eddie Albert) demanding that Cabot's team destroys the top secret letters.

You also get Alex McCord from Airwolf, Emma Samms, John Carradine as an actor who replays his same movie over and over again*, Robert Forester, Frank Gorshin, Duncan Regehr, Kirk Cameron, John Ratzenberger and more.

*That movie is The Black Knight, which starred Peter Cushing.

The father of BIOSHOCK

[pou010504 · 8/10 · 3 May 2011]

I saw that movie 20 years ago, so I don't remember it too much, excepted that the idea of the sunk ship was damn good. Many years ago I played and loved the BIOSHOCK video game, an absolute must have. I then realized that its story was so near from that "old movie I had seen late one evening". In fact the mythic BIOSHOCK largely relies on GOLIATH AWAITS, that makes out of this movie a real MUST HAVE !

All BIOSHOCK elements are in the movie : Graphic style are comparable though not identical (BIOSHOCK is "art deco", GOLIATH is 1930s style), atmosphere is dense, there is an "end of the world" feeling, the boss is a "bad guy", life of peoples is awful, its cruel, dark, gloomy ....

It's not at all official that GOLIATH AWAITS is the main inspiration of BIOSHOCK, but for one knowing this game there is absolutely no doubt. And there is no shame to have taken ideas from GOLIATH AWAITS, the movie has so many good ones. A remake would be welcome. What is funny is that GOLIATH became a game ... that will become a movie ! !