An earthquake under the ocean floor hits a lab on the seabed. As a result, it's umbilical cord to the surface ship is severed and the lab tossed over a sheer underwater cliff. Now it is so deep that conventional divers cannot reach it, so the only hope is a deep water submersible, the Neptune.Despite the film being about an ocean disaster, it's amazing just how static and dull the movie is. I think the main problem is pacing...not acting, as the actors are generally a very accomplished group of professionals. Too often, the director chose to portray the film in the least exciting manner....and I had to really struggle to pay attention or even to care.By the way, although I don't recommend anyone see this movie, scuba divers might enjoy watching some of the diving sequences...especially when the DIve Master is thrashing about in the water like he just got his certification yesterday!

Not a bad effort, really, given that the film was made during the age of Cousteau. Underwater filming of deep ocean life had not been accomplished. Now we know what it looks like way down there, so the fish tank 'special effects' really ruin the story. The first sight of a clown fish is like a slap in the face! The film becomes a comedy after that! But really, this is only because science education (as miserable as it may be) has advanced SO MUCH on television. Now we can sit on our sofa and watch animal planet to get a better seminar on deep ocean life than marine biologists of the day received! So, if you're looking for a top-notch special effects masterpiece, the toy sub floating in the Monterey Bay aquarium's fish tanks probably won't cut it. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining few minutes, anyway. I say, watch it and try to forget about reality for a while. Pretend you're TEN!

An ocean lab operating at the fantastic depth of 30 meters (about 90 feet) falls into a trench after an earthquake. The set up is good and despite the early scenes clearly being shot in a swimming pool it feels like something interesting is going to transpire. But it doesn't.An hour in and still nothing has really happened. As a final reward the viewer is treated to a parade of fish rendered huge by the inclusion of a tiny toy submarine into their environment while the bored looking cast peer out of the window saying things like "oh wow, a huge fish".I wanted to like this but being the picky viewer I am I prefer a film where something happens. When the high spot of your film is a toy submarine being mildly nudged by a bored looking crab you know there's something wrong, though at the time of writing 5% of viewers rate this as a 10/10 movie so maybe there's a market for this kind of thing.

Wow, an underwater film shot completely on location - at the bottom of the production designers' fishtank! This action-drama basically involves about 80 minutes of the main characters staring out of their mini-sub's windshield/projection screen with awestruck expressions at... grainily blown up shots of common acquarium fish. The "model shots" (a generous naming) actually DO look to have been shot in a common home aquarium, complete with plastic ferns and oversize gravel. The stretch is so great, the disparity so big, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think in the end I simply gave up and decided to vomit. Not sure how Walter Pidgeon took a wrong turn into this turkey, but it is worth noting that about half the cast of "The Black Hole" is featured here - doubtless in a dry run for their performances in that later classic...