Trapped Beneath the Sea

"Trapped Beneath the Sea" is a film that SHOULD have been exciting. After all, it's inspired by a true story about a tiny submarine that sunk off the coast of Florida and the attempts to rescue those aboard the craft. Yet, oddly, the film NEVER is exciting and always seems to choose the worst possible style to tell the story. First, much of it narrated by the TV anchorman Howard K. Smith, a relatively dull guy to begin with but also unnecessary. Instead of him telling about the story, the film should have shown it. Additionally, the film lacks energy and interesting performances...which is odd since Lee J. Cobb, a wonderful actor, is in the film.

This is a rare case when I actually did not finish the film.....as I felt my attention CONSTANTLY drifting due to the way the story was told. Devoid of energy...I simply lost interest.

Some interesting facts about the movie. It was indeed about the tragedy of the Johnson Sea Link but not due to a collision. It was the accidental trapping of the Sea Link due to a snap hook that contacted a cable on a wreck. There was no way to cut or disengage the cable during those early days. The sub used to make the movie was the DSRV Diaphus from Texas A&M Univeristy in College Station, TX. A fiberglass shell was used to make it look bigger and added a fake lock out hatch like is on the Johnson Sea Link. The Diaphus can only be entered through the observation tower and typically only holds 2 people and at the most 3, never 4 people and it only has one compartment. The Diaphus could only go to 1,200 ft as opposed to 3,000 ft for the Sea Link. Some employees who operated the sub for TAMU were used in the movie.

A pseudo-documentary treatment of a true incident, this was framed as an inquest into the events. While the dramatization of what happened is fine, and the performances are believable, it is as if someone was afraid making the story exciting would undermine the documentary realism of the piece. This could have been so much more if they had allowed it more suspense.