It's unfortunate that a modern film like Greyhound (2020) about the same type of story with a ship chasing a German sub can be that much better. The Cruel Sea (1953) is based on a novel written by a WW2 sailer in 1951. So we get a lot of technical aspects and very strong focus on tech, battles, and leadership. The ships they use are also real so the movie looks good. We get a ton of shots from the ship and the various tech on it which is great. Just for this alone the movie is worth a watch as modern films will just replicate a few rooms on a ship and let CGI do the rest. But compared to Greyhound the story is less focused, the acting is way worse, and the B&W colors are boring. This was 1953 so they could have used colors already. Some actors were great like the captain. Other lower ranked leaders were wooded and theatrical and made the whole thing sound comedic.
We get a few dating and personal scenes, but it's not enough. The film never even shows what happened after the war so all this dating feels a bit unfinished. It's also sad there are no women on the ship. I guess they could have had nurses or something, but maybe that was not realistic. Because the actors are so wooded the dynamics between the men can't quite keep the tension going to the right degree. There are a few conflicts, but they end fast or are often not even explored. A few female nurses would create more stories and more conflicts. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) didn't have any women, but it focused on each single character and the dynamics on the ship expertly with the best actors in the world. U-571 (2000) about an American WW2 sub is also better. Here they focus on the sub and everything around it and the battles. The Cruel Sea is just about the ship and some battles with not much focus. Personal and dating scenes are mixed into it randomly without tying them together with a clear story. It actually feels like the real WW2 to some degree as mostly we are just waiting for stuff to happen.
While the film has great attention to details and real events from WW2 it doesn't do anything new or interesting. It's yet another decent WW2 movie. We for example see them get a new radar system and start to chase subs instead of being chased. Yet nothing is explained here. We just see them get the system and see them have greater success. Unless you understand WW2 ship history you will be completely confused most of the time. It avoids being Hollywood, but at the same time just doesn't explain the tech or events to us. So we basically need to read 3 books on this topic before watching the movie. They could have shown all of this in a few seconds. Just show the old system. Show them failing. Then show them cheering at the new radar system. It's very easy to do right. I'm a WW2 geek, but even I am not smart enough to understand small tech details on a WW2 era ship. It's just not stuff you can easily learn by reading regular WW2 books or watching a bunch of docs.
If you like WW2 movies I recommend this one. But watch Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) over it. There are quite a few better ship movies out there that you need to watch first. This is still a decent movie. But unless you like watching WW2 movies this may be a tad too dry.
We get a few dating and personal scenes, but it's not enough. The film never even shows what happened after the war so all this dating feels a bit unfinished. It's also sad there are no women on the ship. I guess they could have had nurses or something, but maybe that was not realistic. Because the actors are so wooded the dynamics between the men can't quite keep the tension going to the right degree. There are a few conflicts, but they end fast or are often not even explored. A few female nurses would create more stories and more conflicts. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) didn't have any women, but it focused on each single character and the dynamics on the ship expertly with the best actors in the world. U-571 (2000) about an American WW2 sub is also better. Here they focus on the sub and everything around it and the battles. The Cruel Sea is just about the ship and some battles with not much focus. Personal and dating scenes are mixed into it randomly without tying them together with a clear story. It actually feels like the real WW2 to some degree as mostly we are just waiting for stuff to happen.
While the film has great attention to details and real events from WW2 it doesn't do anything new or interesting. It's yet another decent WW2 movie. We for example see them get a new radar system and start to chase subs instead of being chased. Yet nothing is explained here. We just see them get the system and see them have greater success. Unless you understand WW2 ship history you will be completely confused most of the time. It avoids being Hollywood, but at the same time just doesn't explain the tech or events to us. So we basically need to read 3 books on this topic before watching the movie. They could have shown all of this in a few seconds. Just show the old system. Show them failing. Then show them cheering at the new radar system. It's very easy to do right. I'm a WW2 geek, but even I am not smart enough to understand small tech details on a WW2 era ship. It's just not stuff you can easily learn by reading regular WW2 books or watching a bunch of docs.
If you like WW2 movies I recommend this one. But watch Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) over it. There are quite a few better ship movies out there that you need to watch first. This is still a decent movie. But unless you like watching WW2 movies this may be a tad too dry.