Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
by Robert Iscove
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Actor: Don Harvey, Richard Thomas, Robert Cicchini, Stacy Keach, Steve LandesbergDirector: Robert Iscove
Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
Cinematographer: James Pergola
Editor: Susan B. Browdy
Producer: Charles W. Fries
Producer: John Ferzacca
Producer: Michael O. Gallant
Producer: Richard Maynard
Writer: Alan Sharp
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
DVD Review: Review of "Mission of the Shark"
Summary: 4 Stars
I basically liked the DVD movie "Mission of the Shark". Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
Stacey Keach and Richard Thomas were both in this movie and I never saw it on TV. Early in the movie, I wondered why all of the characters had sweaty faces when the ship was supposed to be docked in San Diego, CA. It was only at the end of the movie when I saw the credits that I realized the characters were perspiring heavily because the film was made on-board the USS Alabama BB-60 in Mobile, Alabama. Dialog and acting in the early part of the film was stiff and contrived. It wasn't until the ship was torpedoed that the characters really seemed to come alive.
There should have been a breeze blowing when the ship was underway steaming at 28 knots with the atomic bomb loaded on-board. Did the Japanese really sight the USS Indianapolis CA-35 while they were surfaced? Why was a German U-boat shown surfacing? Why couldn't a model of Japanese submarine I-58 be used for that scene? When the Japanese submarine commander looked through the periscope, a silhouette of an American destroyer was displayed. The movie depicted a freighter hull sinking by the stern when in reality, a US heavy cruiser rolled over on its side and sank by the bow. I would have liked to have seen a large model of the cruiser USS Indianapolis being struck by the Japanese torpedoes with huge, fiery munitions explosions from turret number two and the ship sinking in the authentic manner that it did. The movie did a fair job of answering most of the basic questions as to why and how the disaster occurred, but no mention was made of why USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser without any means of detecting or defending against submarine attack was dispatched from Tinian Island without destroyer escorts? The movie also failed to mention that Captain McVay did not receive any warnings about Japanese submarines lurking in the waters between Tinian Island and the Philippines. It was not clear in the movie that electrical power aboard the cruiser had been knocked out by the Japanese torpedoes. Instead, a rack-mounted radio cabinet was shown falling on a radio operator. Since the ship sank in only twelve minutes, I would have spent twelve minutes filming the sinking of the ship in greater detail. One unanswered question was why weren't there enough life rafts for everybody?
The scenes of crew-members going mad in the life rafts were tantalizing because they seemed very real and heightened the tension. However, some of the shark scenes were repeated multiple times and the wooden shark fin being pulled between the groups of swimmers was a disappointing reminder that this was a very low budget production. I expected to see many shark fins moving in realistic swimming motions in and around the swimmers. One almost gets the impression that only a few sharks attacked and only a few men were devoured when the reality is exactly the opposite! I was not so concerned that the wrong model of float plane descended to assist the survivors, but they shouldn't have changed the story! I read an account that stated that a PBY landed and took as many wounded as possible to the Philippines for treatment. The PBY took off with 56 men tied to the wings!! Perhaps for safety reasons, the movie director didn't want to attempt that feat. I really liked the way the Japanese submarine commander and crew were portrayed, but I would have had the Japanese doing a bonsai war cry when the torpedoes exploded against the USS Indianapolis, it was war after all.
I liked the movie because it told an important story about the unnecessary loss of 879 US sailors due to disorganization and bungling at higher levels within the US Navy. This engaging tale deserves a realistic re-make using all the latest computer graphics video and special effects available. There's no need to change the story line for increased dramatic effect because the actual events are every sailor's worst nightmare. The introduction and ending scenes with the post-war ship reunion were good, but the director should have gone the extra mile. Captain McVay's suicide and his exoneration by US Congress in 2000 should have been filmed. Capt McVay was exonerated after his death due to the efforts of a teenage American boy that located and motivated the former Japanese submarine commander to write a letter to congress. Those important details received only the briefest mention of a very compelling and relatively unknown American epic tragedy of World War II.
Description of Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 07/31/2007 Run time: 100 minutes Rating: NrBestsellers in DVD
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