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Ice Station Zebra [1968]


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I once killed a man called Jones
Review date: 2008-08-11 Rating: 8 out of 10

Patrick McGoohan is excellent in this as an ice cold spy and he has some great lines. Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown are also good. Rock Hudson is a bit tepid.

I think it has superb picture quality, and the kind of film score that stays in the memory.

It is true, there is not a lot of action, so it is not for those who are just action junkies. It is a film of it's time.

As already stated, it is one for the afternoon.

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Reviews


Celuloid (and now digital) tedium (almost) beyond compare
Review date: 2007-11-18 Rating: 2 out of 10

This moribund film-I can't call it a movie as there's very little moving being done by anyone here-is pure tedium to sit through, it really is. It does nothing for the adventure or action movie genre at all, and yet what other type of film can you call it? It wasn't the most thrilling of MacLean's books to start with, but this film version gets totally snowbound and the characters get tangled up in their own verbosity. A terrible screenplay really gave this film no chance at all, and the direction and production values helped it NONE! Made in 1968 but you'd never have believed it if it didn't state this on the credits. I am sorry to those who seem to like it, but I believe some movies deserve bad reviews and this is one of them.

Ice Station Zebra is a cool movie
Review date: 2007-09-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

This movie is a typical classic sunday aternoon type movie.
The Dvd has the new digital and sound transfer in 5.1 surround sound it has its original Overture,Entre'act,Intermission,Exit Music which you only get on dvd.To accompany the dvd i nice little 6 minute documentry o the cinematograpthy of the film it has 3 trailers one is Ice Staion Zebra others are Bad day at black rock and Giant.
This is for fans of cold war movies,people who like lots of snow in a movie and this film is one of only 4 movies to not have women speaking in the movie others are (Great Escape,Lawrence of Arabia,Resovior Dogs).


Alister Maclean thriller hits the right notes but at the wrong pace
Review date: 2006-12-03 Rating: 6 out of 10

The director, John Sturges, was unsurpassed at perfectly paced ensemble movies full of stars - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape... Here, he is called upon to make a taut thriller from the effective MacLean story, and while the end result is an undeniably entertaining cold war thriller, it has a little too much flab round the edges to work as well as it should.
As a spy thriller, there is just enough to make an exciting 1 hour 30 minute movie - not the 2 ½ hour one on display here. But Sturges still has his moments, even if he is all at sea (sorry) without the ensemble cast. The scene with the sabotaged torpedo works well, and the tense stand off at the end makes Hudson finally look involved with the story.
Age has not been terribly kind to the movie, with the ice shots looking unconvincing the way studio set snow scenes normally do, and let's not mention the poor optical effects for the model planes. However, the movie gains a huge amount from having a real submarine to play with, giving a sense of reality that offsets the studio bound scenes. The casting may seem a little odd (Ernest Borgnine as a Russian??) but works surprisingly well - especially McGoohan who really fills the big screen, at a time when he was actually still filming `The Prisoner' on the small screen.
This DVD version has added the Overture music at the beginning and the intermission, which although quite a good score hardly seems worthwhile. Extras are sparse - a vintage documentary on the second unit director is interesting, but leaves you wondering where the story of the making of the movie might have gone. Why was Hudson called in to play the submarine captain? What involvement did Maclean have to make his original story get changed so much by Douglas Heyes?
All in all, a good entertaining Sunday afternoon watch, but thank goodness for DVD technology which allows a pause for stretching the legs in the middle - you'll need it, and want it too, as you're unlikely to be glued to the screen.


A truly excellent film
Review date: 2006-06-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

Is the it greatest ever made? Of course not. But it's one of my all-time favourites, and I suspect I've seen it more times than any other. And I still enjoy every minute. It doesn't have a great deal to do with the original novel in plot structure, but for all that, it's pretty solid, and tightly scripted. Very much a film that one would imagine would appeal primarily to the male of our species; there's not a female in sight. Yet, it's so good, so well written, so well filmed and so well performed it transends the usual stereotypes, and ends up being watched and enjoyed by many people who just enjoy a good story, irrespective of their sex, age, or anything else for that matter.

The acting is of a very high standard indeed. Borgnine is as good as you would hope for from a man of his outstanding ability. Hudson puts in possibly his finest performance, and McGoohan is his usual self in a role that he made his own in the 1960s in Danger Man and The Prisoner. The suporting cast is first-rate too; these people clearly took pride in their art.

The direction is particularly compelling. It remains spectacularly well shot, and lit, with real imagination. Some of the effects show their age a little bit (not as much, or as frequently as you might imagine though), and it's a pity that the model MiG 21s that are in one shot are suddenly replaced in the next by a real flyby of F4 Phantoms, but I'm nit-picking. The sound is good too -nice subtle effects, and an emphasis on dialoge clarity. The music is amazing -it's a very good score, well performed.

Overall, the DVD is a very good effort too. Packaging is standard, but that's OK with me -it works. The visual transfer is one of the best I've seen from the period, surpassed only by the treatment afforded Kubrick's masterpieces. Not the slightest hint of any digital problems, and everything is crystal sharp and very clean, with near perfect colour. The audio is if anything even better. The original Overture and Intermission have been inserted so as to allow the full cinematic score to be applied. There's been some remixing going on into surround from the original multi-track master tapes, which adds another dimension to the proceedings, though the original stereo mix is also retained. There are a few extras, I rarely bother, but a couple are nice to have I suppose. Overall, a classic example of how to reissue a film properly. Why can't they do it this well all the time?

If you're thinking of buying this film, do so.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Ernest Borgnine
Rock Hudson
Jim Brown
Patrick McGoohan
Lloyd Nolan

Creators:
Rock Hudson (Primary Contributor)
Ernest Borgnine (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900652483
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-05-02
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 139 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1968
Language: English (Original Language)

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