Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’

Written by Scott Edwards

Making tough decisions is something that very few people like to do, they would rather be told what to do instead. Because they know that the outcome of those kinds of decisions can change the way people feel about you, or even worse, can bring harm to loved ones. But this is a part of life that everyone needs to be comfortable with since there are times when you are on your own and need to make that fateful decision. Using your hindsight on the smaller choices you have to make, may be the only way to have some sort of idea what the outcome is going to be, even if it does not look good, there is still a shot that you are doing the right thing.

Being put out to sea, the Seaview is the most advanced submarine ever created by the government and while it has all sorts of toys that could end the world, it is a research vessel with some top minds on board. Admiral Nelson has been with the ship from day one and being one of the top scientists in the world, he is happy to have it under his control and with his right hand man Commodore Emery aboard as well, they are ready to make discoveries that no one thought possible on the boat. With Captain Crane in command of the ship's regular operations, everything seems to be fine, but when the sub is traveling under the North Pole and gets bombarded by falling ice, the crew needs to return to the surface to take a look at what is going on. To their astonishment, the senior staff see that the sky is on fire and need to know what is happening as it is having a massive effect on the ice caps. 

Getting word from Washington that the Van Allen Radiation Belt has been ignited and is warming the entire world, Nelson and Emery are ordered to meet with the U.N. in New York as soon as possible to find a way to keep the world from baking to death. Since the trip will take a couple of days, Nelson and Emery start to bang out plans that could possibly save the world from its impending doom. Waiting to see what they come up with, Captain Crane is keeping a close eye on his crew as the men are starting to fear that there is something terrible happening to their homes. Getting some news about what the heat is doing to the planet, Crane is sure that his men can keep it together, but his confidence in his men is badly misplaced.

Arriving at the U.N. and proposing a plan to shoot an atomic warhead into the radiation belt, Nelson and Emery are met with hostility as other scientists believe that doing this will destroy the world. Knowing that he is right, Nelson gets back to the boat as soon as possible to put his plan into motion since they are fighting the clock to save the world. With all of the crew watching the news as Nelson delivers his idea, they are torn on this being the right thing to do, much less if they want to be on the ship since this could be the end of days and they would rather be with their families. But Nelson does not let anyone stop his plan and sails for the perfect location to shoot his missile and awaits word from the President of the United States to tell him no. Yet the radiation is killing all of the radio transmissions and Nelson is faced with making the final decision himself. With his science being sound on the plan, he decides that the world’s fate is in his hands and he will do anything to save it, but his crew does not feel the same way and they will do whatever they can to stop him by trying to sabotage the ship.

They don’t make movies like this anymore and it is really a shame. With just a little bit of action that takes place under the sea, the main story is how power-hungry Nelson really is and if he can be stopped by anyone on the submarine. Captain Crane watches from the outside and keeps his feelings to himself, but when he needs to stand up for what he believes in, he does not back away from his senior officer and even threatens to take his power away. With so many different opinions running through the sub, you get to see a wide array of emotions throughout the movie and it just adds to the appeal. Even though this movie does not have as much action appeal like movies use today, you still get to see some epic Giant Squid fights and wonder how anyone ever got where they were going when traveling on a submarine. Happy Viewing.

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