Submarine film is a subgenre of war film which takes place in a submarine below the surface of the ocean. Films of this subgenre typically focus on a small but determined crew of submariners battling against not only their enemies, but also the extreme pressure of being underwater (as their submarines typically descend past "hull crush depth", a depth which varies from movie to movie) and being in such close proximity to one another. This imbues films of the subgenre with a great deal of dramatic tension, which is added to by occasional but dramatic battle scenes in which the crew waits with bated breath while sonar pings, depth charges explode overhead, and bolts fly out of bulkheads in the submarine.
Despite the drama of the battle scenes in submarine films, however, the mainstay of the tension in these movies occurs away from battle, which sets this subgenre apart from its parent genre of war films. Usually there is some manner of controversy throughout the crew that sets them against one another, and proves much more dangerous than the depth charges and torpedoes of enemy crafts.
List of submarine movies
This is a list of movies in which a submarine plays a significant role in the storyline.
See also the list of fictional ships.
Last updated: 10-16-2005 00:15:39
