Remake of "Das Boot"??!!

[tom dougherty]

Good point! Over the years I have told so many people that saw the Hollywood version of "Run Silent, Run Deep" to go read the book. They always come back and comment how much better and richer the book is than the movie.

Another great book about WWII submarines could be made out of Fluckey's "Thunder Below". Great adventures and Fluckey himself is a bigger than life character. He always had one of the showers stuffed with cases of beer, and the crew celebrated sinkings with a brew (despite regulations to the contrary). And Barb's battle flag is the only WWII submarine flag with a locomotive claimed as a kill- based on Barb's crew going ashore and rigging explosives and a microswitch to the tracks, thereby blowing up the train. I have always been most deeply impressed with Fluckey's repeated admonition that it was his fine crew that made the exploits of Barb possible. He used profits from "Thunder Below" to treat surviving crew members to trips, etc.

[jefftytoo]

All true, Tom. As for Run Silent... the only things the novel and screenplay really shared were character names—not even all the boat names! And the story? "We'll drill until we can dive and fire in thirty seconds." Huh? The whole thing was just so wrong on so many levels, starting with the opening scene's sub loss just off Japan...with her crew then shown all floating on the surface...followed by somehow being rescued (off-camera) and returned to the States!

The best measure of the severity of the film's disappointment (despite Don Rickles' fun dialog and some arresting visuals—though still no deck guns on the postwar fleetboat(s) used for Second Unit stuff!) was Beach's own reaction: I've heard him interviewed and he was just sick about it. Of course, he was not so naive as not to know that once he signed over the rights and got his money, a lot of Hollywood ya-hoos would and could take the property anywhere they wanted. Such a shame, since the novel and its two followups in the trilogy, IMHO, remain the best submarine fiction ever written—and I've read a lot to compare it to, including those great Homewood titles you mention above.

As for Thunder Below, did you guys know that Spielberg and company at one point owned the film rights to it? Still do, as far as I know. I remember reading about it in the trades. There was even a time years ago when it was actually on his to-produce list. Then he got involved with a little thing called "...Private Ryan," and Thunder has, to my knowledge, never gone anywhere since. I still deeply believe that, despite flawed but admittedly fun sub movies like "U-571," films made of stories of what REALLY happened during the war easily trump any fiction from the fever-dreamed minds of Hollywood screenwriters. Simply no comparison.

JeffP

[JWLaRue]

I have to agree that a Run Silent, Run Deep done true to the book would be one heck of an excellent movie. The same thing holds true for Thunder Below. No need to delve any further than those two in order to keep the submarine-oriented movie crowd in ecstasy for quite some time.

-Jeff

[PaulC]

Yes, Fluckey's book has been on eternal patrol in development hell since shortly after it came out. If I remember correctly he was contractually prohibited from commenting on the project.

[don prince]

Hey Jeff... Holy crab cakes Batman! The remake smells like old dead fish!!! However, you are showing that you are over a certain age? "The Day the Earth Stood Still", the original movie, was released in 1951... I went to the Liberty Theater in Wheeling, W.Va., and watched the movie when I was 10 years old. I have it on Blu ray and watch it on my Samsung 55" wide screen TV every so often, even though it doesn't take up the full screen and it's in Black & White. I watched the new remake once (which sucks!) and never again!

I'll give you a couple dollars for a couple of those diamonds...

Regards,
Don_

P.S. - I have a die cast model of "Gort" standing beside my computer monitor...

[tom dougherty]

Yes, Fluckey's book has been on eternal patrol in development hell since shortly after it came out. If I remember correctly he was contractually prohibited from commenting on the project.

It turns out that "Thunder Below" was optioned by Spielberg in 1998!!! Of course Gene Fluckey did not live long enough to see the project make it to the screen. At the rate it is going, none of us will, either.

[PaulC]

Kershaw's "Escape from the Deep" was optioned very quickly after publication and even had a director attached initially. But it has since been lost in development hell as well. Fleetboat projects can't catch a break.