Gray Lady Down

Director: David Greene David Greene

Overview

"When a nuclear submarine sinks to the depths of the ocean following a collision with a Norwegian freighter, the only hope of rescuing the vessel and its endangered crew lies in an experimental submersible and the pair of brave pilots who take the reigns in this nerve-wrecking release from Universal Home Entertainment. In addition to experiencing the haunting depths of the ocean with a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image, viewers can access audio in a selection of either English or Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo with optional Spanish and French subtitles. No extra features are offered on this bare-bones DVD release."

Product Details

Release Date:	05/25/2004
UPC:	0025192093623
Original Release:	1977
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	6,050

Special Features

Closed Caption; [None specified]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Charlton Heston	Capt. Paul Blanchard
David Carradine	Capt. Gates
Stacy Keach	Capt. Bennett
Ned Beatty	Mickey
Stephen McHattie	Murphy
Ronny Cox	Cmdr. Samuelson
Dorian Harewood	Fowler
Rosemary Forsyth	Vickie
Hilly Hicks	Page
Charles Cioffi	Adm. Barnes
William Jordan	Waters
Jack Rader	Harkness
Antony Ponzini	Caruso
Michael O'Keefe	Harris
Charlie Robinson	McAllister
Christopher Reeve	Phillips
Melendy Britt	Liz
David Wilson	Hanson
Robert Symonds	Secretary of the Navy
Lawrason Driscoll	Bloome
Ted Gehring	Actor
Charles Cyphers	Actor
Sandra de Bruin	Irma Barnes
Robert Ito	Seaman at base
David Clennon	Crew member of USS Neptune
Michael Cavanaugh	Pete
Bob Harks	Radio Operator
William Bryant	Actor
Jeffry Druce	Actor
James Davidson	Actor
Jerry Fielding	Composer

Technical Credits

James Whittaker

Howard Sackler

Frank P. Rosenberg

David Lavallee

David Greene	Director
Walter Mirisch	Producer
James Whittaker	Screenwriter
Howard Sackler	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Frank P. Rosenberg	Screenwriter
Curtis Dickson	Special Effects
David Lavallee	Screenwriter
Peter Berkos	Sound Effects
Kevin F. Cleary	Sound Effects
Kevin F. Cleary	Sound/Sound Designer
John K. Kean	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Having read the original novel that David Greene's Gray Lady Down was based on, and having actually seen the movie itself in a theater (mostly because Close Encounters was sold out on two other of the multi-plex's screens), this reviewer can safely say that he invested a lot of time and energy in being prepared to like this movie. And the disappointment engendered is all the greater, ss a result. If a by-the-numbers undersea disaster
escue drama is your cup of tea, one need look no further than Gray Lady Down, which took David Lavalle's original story -- a taut and finely etched piece of fiction -- and flattened out its most interesting points, and stretched and pulled its plot all out of shape to accomodate the needs of the three lead actors. Charlton Heston evidently found little real challenge in his role of the captain of the stricken sub, and never stops being, well, Charlton Heston. Stacy Keach gives a one-and-a-quarter note performance (in a role written that way) as the hardnosed leader of the rescue operation. And that leaves David Carradine, supported by Ned Beatty, as the iconoclast navy researcher and his assistant, to bring anything like real characterizations to this picture, which they succeed at; but they don't have quite enough of the movie to carry it all. The rest, as is typical of pictures like this, offer actors caught up in grisly ways to die, which is half the "fun" of pictures like this. Ronnie Cox has two good scenes, and one can spot Christopher Reeve, Dorian Harewood, and other soon-to-be more familiar faces in the cast. But otherwise, apart from Carradine and Beatty's scenes, one will find much more interesting viewing in the Voyage To the Bottom Of the Sea episode Submarine Sunk Here.