Gray Lady Down [VHS]

Charlton Heston stars in this exciting film about an American nuclear submarine which is disabled in a collision with another ship.Heston stars as Capt. Paul Blanchard, commander of the submarine USS Neptune. Blanchard is retiring and has just turned command of the boat over to Commander Dave Samuelson (Ronny Cox). The ship is making its way back to port in very foggy conditions when suddenly, a Norwegian freighter slams into the sub. The freighter had lost its radar and could not see the sub. Immediately, the sub begins to sink, finally coming to rest 1,450 feet below the surface of the sea and perched precariously on an underwater ledge.The Norwegians managed to notify the Navy about the accident and soon, Captain Al Bennett (Stacy Keach), along with the Navy's DSRV recovery sub is racing to the scene of the collision. Also included in the rescue effort is Captain Gates (David Carradine), the pilot of an experimental submersible called the Snark; a tiny two-man sub which can be used for various tasks. Gates' job is to clear debris off the deck of the Neptune so the DSRV can dock with the Neptune's escape hatch.Meanwhile, the Neptune has been enduring several undersea earth slides which threaten to push the sub off the shelf its resting on and into a deep undersea canyon. Blanchard does his best to keep the morale of his crew up, but its become a race against time as the sub begins to lose oxygen and more compartments are flooded by the seawater. Several tricks, including an underwater detonation of explosives, are tried to correct the sub's angle so the DSRV can successfully dock with the Neptune's escape hatch. Finally, the DSRV is able to dock with the Neptune and the task of transporting the surviving crew members to the surface begins. However, the sub begins to slip off its ledge before the rescue can be completed. Will the remaining crew be rescued, or will they slide off the ledge and into the canyon with the Neptune?This is an excellent film. Made during the height of the Cold War, this film shows what could happen if an American submarine were to sink in a deep part of the ocean. The DSRV has since become the main rescue vehicle for American subs. The film's story is very good, and the acting, especially by Keach, Heston, and Carradine, is first-rate.I give this movie my highest recommendation. The story is believable and the action is non-stop. Fans of Naval history and action films will be sure to enjoy this exciting movie.

"Gray Lady Down" is a 1978 submarine saga from director David Greene. Greene got superb performances out of his all-star cast, fronted by Charlton Heston as Captain Paul Blanchard, skipper of the USS Neptune. While fictional, the tale is riveting and suspenseful, and brings to mind the tragic sinking of the Russian Navy's Kursk in 2000. The narrative gets underway after a collision with a Norwegian freighter (with an inoperative radar) in fog. Neptune sinks onto a seismically active ledge and Captain Bennett (an excellent Stacy Keach) is put in charge of the rescue. Blanchard and Bennett are obviously old friends and Bennett is resolved to use all tools at his disposal to rescue the crew. Help arrives in the form of the Snark, a small two man submarine designed and piloted by Captain Gates (a better than usual David Carradine) with help from Ned Beatty, his assistant.The sole reason I didn't give the film five stars is there is a bit of an overdramatic flair from some of the secondary stars, most notably Ronny Cox as Commander Dave Samuelson who is due to take command of the sub, but who, after the collision, sulks and pontificates against Blanchard. While I understand that using this conflict amped up the tension in the movie, it seemed wholly out of place, particularly given the apparent closeness of the pair immediately before the sinking. Ultimately Samuelson redeems himself in a big way, and if you're a student of foreshadowing, you'll guess that Gates is going to get tapped as a big hero as well given his election to dive alone at the conclusion. While there is a bit of the overly dramatic at times, the film is extremely well made with good (great for 1978) special effects and excellent editing and musical score adding to the palpable tension in the submarine."Gray Lady Down" is a classic of the era, filmed in cooperation with the US Navy, and boasting an extremely talented cast giving excellent performances under the restrained, professional eye of David Greene. I recommend it without reservation.

I remember this movie as a kid. What's good is on this release is alot of care and attention has been given to it . The extras are good for a movie of this type and it's nice to see that when we they could have quite easily flogged it with just the trailer and not cared. Well done for making the effort.

I've always loved this movie, I think it's a great performance by Charlton Heston and a whole host of supporting actors. I do like the blu ray treatment and the extra features are really interesting. The booklet is very entertaining as well. Well worth purchasing in my opinion.

I am pleased with the film, because I brought it before I seen the filmAnd know I watched it I am pleased with it.

A good gripping film about a submarine in peril with a fine cast

Thanks