Down Periscope (1996) on Netflix
Passed over for a submarine command, Lieutenant Commander Tom Dodge gets the USS Stingray, a rusty diesel boat. Rear Admiral Yancy Graham, his rival, handpicks the misfits who will crew it.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.2/1029,158 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes12%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge is second in command of the nuclear submarine USS Orlando, and a selection board is deciding whether he has earned a boat of his own. His unorthodox methods cost him promotions before, and one more rejection would put him behind a desk. Rear Admiral Yancy Graham argues against him, but Vice Admiral Dean Winslow picks Dodge for a war game testing the fleet's defenses against diesel boats. Dodge must bring the rusty World War II diesel submarine USS Stingray back into service, enter Charleston Harbor unseen, then hit a target ship at Norfolk with live torpedoes. If he succeeds, Winslow will consider giving him a nuclear command. Graham staffs the Stingray with the Navy's worst misfits.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Down Periscope (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A Balao-class submarine from the Second World War, now a museum ship and memorial in San Francisco, played the part of USS Stingray, while the nearby Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet stood in for Naval Station Norfolk.
- The target ship torpedoed and sunk at the end of the film's war game is a mix of naval stock footage and a prop shooting miniature; Fletcher was one of the most decorated ships in US Navy history.
- The title is a play on the 1959 Second World War drama Up Periscope, and the film spoofs several titles in the submarine subgenre, including the Cold War drama The Hunt for Red October.
- Over the closing credits, a music video is shown of the Village People and the film's cast performing "In the Navy" aboard the Stingray.
- The Stingray's radioman is played by Patton Oswalt, and the part is listed as his film debut, making this the first feature to put him on screen.
