Submarine Films

Submarine films are a subgenre of war film in which the majority of the plot revolves around a submarine below the ocean's surface. Films of this subgenre typically focus on a small but determined crew of submariners battling against enemy submarines or submarine-hunter ships, or against other problems ranging from disputes amongst the crew, threats of mutiny, life-threatening mechanical breakdowns or the daily difficulties of living on a submarine.

The danger from the extreme pressure of deep water dives and the claustrophobic, cramped submarine quarters imbues films of the subgenre with a great deal of dramatic tension. To heighten this tension, these films often depict submarine commanders descending below "hull crush depth" to evade attackers. Films from this subgenre tend to feature dramatic scenes in which submarine-hunters try to destroy submarines with depth charges. A stock scene in the submarine genre film is the depiction of a grim-faced submarine crew waiting in silence as depth charges explode overhead and bolts fly out of bulkheads in the submarine (they are dead silent because sound carries extremely well underwater, and so even the sound of men talking on a submarine would be picked up by normal sonar on other ships). Modern (post-World War II) movies often add conflict between different enemy submarines, something that would have been next to impossible with the limited sensor equipment of earlier times.

Also a typical feature in all depicted eras is the sudden switch from hunter to hunted; while stalking enemy ships or carrying deadly nuclear missiles, the submarine often becomes, within moments, the hunted victim of overwhelming attack, the crew fleeing for its collective life.

While submarine films do use dramatic battle scenes, much of the tension in these movies tends to be created using other devices, such as conflict between officers, a threatened mutiny, or life-threatening problems with the diving equipment or the engines/nuclear reactor. This sets this subgenre apart from its parent genre of war films, which tend to focus more on battle scenes.

This is a list of movies, grouped by era, in which a submarine plays a significant role in the storyline. Many submarine movies are set in World War II or during the Cold War, with varying degrees of fictional elements. Some movies depict historical events from actual battles or incidents, such as Above Us the Waves, a 1955 film which depicts the true story of the British Royal Navy's midget submarines attacks on the Tirpitz. Other submarine movies develop a fictional plot created using submarine types and tactical or technological issues that are associated with these conflicts, such as the film U-571, which tells the story of a fictional U-boat in World War II. In some cases, these fictional submarine films may weave together some details from actual events. Other submarine films from the fantasy or science fiction film genres depict entirely fictitious events, such as the various film versions of Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The set for many submarine films such as "Down Periscope" "Deadly Venom" and "30,000 Leagues Under The Sea" is still being rented at www.thebigsub.com.

Pre-World War II

Mare Nostrum 1926 — directed by Rex Ingram
Submarine 1928 — directed by Frank Capra
Men Without Women 1930 — a fictional USS S-13
Morgenrot 1933
Hell Below 1933 — USS AL-14
The Hunley 1999 — CSS Hunley

World War II

Alfa Tau! 1942 — history of the Italian submarine Enrico Toti
Crash Dive 1943 — a fictional USS Corsair
Destination Tokyo 1943 — a fictional USS Copperfin
The Silver Fleet 1943 British film about a Dutch submarine builder forced to work for the Nazis
We Dive at Dawn 1943
Morning Departure 1950 — US title Operation Disaster
Operation Pacific 1951 — a fictional USS Thunderfish
Submarine Command 1951
Torpedo Alley 1953
Submarine Attack 1954
Above Us the Waves 1955 — Royal Navy midget submarines v. Tirpitz
Hellcats of the Navy 1957 — a fictional USS Starfish
The Enemy Below 1957
Run Silent, Run Deep 1958 — a fictional World War II USS Nerka (which loosely shares plot elements and the villain destroyer captain Bungo Pete with Edward L. Beach's novel, but not much of the plot).
Submarine Seahawk 1958
Torpedo Run 1958
Battle of the Coral Sea 1959 — USS Dragonfish
Operation Petticoat 1959 (comedy), remade in 1977 — a fictional USS Sea Tiger
Orzeł 1959 — the dramatic tale of ORP Orzeł and the Orzeł incident
Up Periscope 1959
Mystery Submarine (1963)
Submarine X-1 1969 — X class submarines
Murphy's War 1971
1941 1979 (comedy) — Imperial Japanese Navy submarine terrorizes California
Das Boot 1981 —U-96
U-571 2000 — a fictional U-571
Below 2002 — a fictional USS Tiger Shark (horror)
In Enemy Hands 2004 — a fictional USS Swordfish and U-429; European title U-Boat

Cold War

Hell and High Water 1954 — a World War II surplus Japanese submarine
On the Beach 1959, 2000 — a fictional USS Sawfish
The Atomic Submarine 1959 — a fictional USS Tiger Shark
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1961 — a fictional USOS Seaview (science fiction/fantasy)
The Bedford Incident 1965
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 1966 — a fictional Soviet submarine Спрут (comedy)
Ice Station Zebra 1968 — a fictional USS Tigerfish (SS-509) (In the novel: USS Dolphin)
Assault on the Wayne, 1971 fictional missile submarine USS Wayne (also named in The Spy Who Loved Me)
The Spy Who Loved Me — 1977 American, British and Soviet submarines
Gray Lady Down 1978 — a fictional USS Neptune
The Fifth Missile 1986 — a fictional USS Montana
Full Fathom Five 1990 — a fictional USS Aspen versus the "Alpha Victor Three class submarine CCCP Kirov"
The Hunt for Red October 1990 — a fictional Red October (Красный Октябрь), USS Dallas (SSN-700)
Going Under 1990
Silent Service 1995 — JMSDF Seabat(Japan's first nuclear powered submarine) (anime)
Hostile Waters 1997 — K-219
K-19: The Widowmaker 2002 — K-19

Post Cold War

Crimson Tide 1995 — USS Alabama
Down Periscope 1996 — a fictional USS Stingray (SS-161) (comedy)
Sub Down: Take the Dive 1997
Crash Dive 1997
Crash Dive 2 Counter Measures 1998
Phantom, the Submarine 1999 — Korea's fictional first nuclear submarine ROKS Yuryong (its name means "the Phantom"), former Russian Sierra-class submarine.
Danger Beneath the Sea 2001
Phantom Below 2005

Future or Fantastic Past

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1907, 1916, 1954, 1997, Hallmark, 1997, Village Roadshow — Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus (science fiction/fantasy)
Atragon 1963 — the fictional Gotengo (anime)
Yellow Submarine 1968 — (psychedelic fantasy)
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City 1969 — Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus (science fiction/fantasy)
The Neptune Factor 1973 — undersea rescue (science fiction)
The Return of Captain Nemo 1978 — Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus (science fiction/fantasy)
Thundersub 1979 — (anime)
The Abyss 1989 — a fictional USS Montana (science fiction/fantasy)
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water 1989 — Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus (anime)
seaQuest DSV 1993; — (science fiction/fantasy)
Super Atragon 1995; — (anime)
Blue Submarine No. 6 1998 — (anime)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2003 — Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus (fantasy)