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best movie i've ever seen.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This Second World War drama follows a US Navy Underwater Demolition Team as it takes part in preparations for the invasion of Japanese occupied islands and comes to terms with the replacement of a popular leader who was killed in action. Form the way they talk it is clear that there former CO was very much one of the men but his replacement, Lt. Cmdr. John Lawrence, is very much a by the book officer. The men's opinion of him gets even worse when he orders his boat back to the ship after their second boat is destroyed leaving the survivors to wait for the rescue boat; is reasoning may have been militarily correct but it was unpopular enough to have three men request a transfer. It isn't long before everyman in the team wants out. Luckily for him an opportunity arises for him to demonstrate his courage and win the respect of his men before he must lead them on a top secret mission to attack Japanese submarine pens.This is a solid film with decent action, a good cast and an interesting story to tell. It may be a fictional story but it nicely demonstrates the sort of work the Underwater Demolition Teams would have done without being gung-ho about it. The cast did a fin job; most notably Richard Widmark who put in a nicely understated performance as Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence; a character who wanted to do the right thing and respected his men even when he knew they didn't have such an opinion of him. The action looked believable; the underwater scenes especially so. The fact that it was filmed in black and white somehow gives it a more realistic feel... presumably because the vast majority of archive footage of the war was in black and white! The tension in the unit was there to add to the drama and it did so in a believable way; the men might not have liked Lawrence but they didn't do anything unrealistic about it; just griped a bit and got on with the job. We don't see much of the Japanese but when we do it was refreshing to see them depicted as ordinary soldiers sharing a cigarette rather than as 'the evil enemy'. If you enjoy films about the second World War I'd certainly recommend this as it shows the sort of operations not usually depicted in films in a fascinating way.

Lloyd Bacon directs this World War II drama with Richard Widmark in the lead role as Lt. Commander John Lawrence, who must earn the respect of a group of underwater demolition divers. The strict hard nosed Lawrence is replacing a popular senior officer that was very close to his men. He does manage to tighten up the already tight, but independently brave underwater warriors.Exceptional photography with a well rounded cast to support Widmark. Also featured are veterans and fresh faces like: Gary Merrill, Jeffrey Hunter, Dana Andrews, JackWarden, Robert Wagner, James Gregory and Harvey Lembeck.

I didn't expect too much from this movie as I watched it for the first time, but it was even more minor than I originally thought. Widmark is a bland star for this one, as is Dana Andrews, but young Jeffrey Hunter does a decent job. However, the characters on the ship (which is the setting for the whole movie) are simply too immature and childish to be believable as navy men. Also, the story is simply not interesting (though it has a few intriguing moments) and the climax is sleepy and trite. On top of that, the underwater sequences are not impressive. But the biggest disgrace in this movie is the publicity stunt that was pulled for Robert Wagner. In the opening credits of this movie Wagner is billed fifth, with his name in huge letters, but he appears literally in no more than five seconds of the movie, has no lines, and can only be seen at a distance. Apparently, when this movie was made, he was nothing, but by the time it was released, he attained some popularity, so the company pulled a fast one on the young girls who hoped to see him in this movie. Years ago I noticed that a similar stunt was pulled for Wagner for the 1950 film "Halls of Montezuma" but to a lesser extent.

Pity 'The Frogmen' isn't yet on DVD. It features the techniques developed and applied by WWII's U.S. Navy UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams), many of which techniques formed the basis for the methods employed by today's SEAL teams - and the UDT's did their bit with rebreather rigs that weren't nearly as sophisticated or reliable as today's high-tech SCUBA and rebreather gear. The UDT's were pioneers on the cutting edge of their mission, an edge the likes of which will not likely be seen again.A standard plot is redeemed by fine performances from all, and by exciting action sequences that have not dated as much as one might suspect they would have by 2003.