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By
WADE GOSSETT
When Warner Home Video and
Turner Classic Movies asked viewers which movies
they were desperate to see transferred to DVD, the
1968 Cold War thriller "Ice Station Zebra" made
the list -- along with "King Solomon's Mines,"
"Ivanhoe," "The Letter" and "Random Harvest." I
can see no rhyme or reason to the list. These are
all disparate films. But "Ice Station Zebra" must
be the oddest odd man out here.
Reportedly Howard Hughes loved it. Obsessively.
And, if you pay attention you'll notice that there
isn't a single woman or girl in the movie. I'm not
talking in the major roles. I'm talking in any
role. This is a film for men, featuring men. Only
men. And for long stretches the film is
essentially one scene after another of men looking
at monitors and turning dials. Men who love Rradio
Shack will love it just for these scenes.
But, seriously, it's not at all a bad film. It has
a lot going for it. The original 2.20:1 Super
Panavision 70 photography has been transferred
flawlessly and the sound has been recreated in a
solid Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Rock Hudson, Jim
Brown, Ernest Borgnine, and especially Patrick
McGoohan, are engaging. The score by Michel
Legrand (the DVD includes the original overture,
intermission, entr'acte, and exit music sequences)
is typical of the era's thrillers and is quite
apt. And the novel by Alistair MacLean upon which
the story is based expresses both the fears and
the hopes of the late sixties. During those years
the Soviet Union was a veritable super power and
nuclear war was at the back of everybody's mind;
at the same time, hope lingered that the Soviets
were not totally mad and could ultimately be
reasoned with.
I saw the film as a teenager a few years after it
was released. I remember loving it. Granted, I
wasn't as discriminating then as I am now. But for
boys especially "Ice Station Zebra" had all the
ingredients of a thrilling adventure: Captain
James Ferraday (Hudson) is instructed to take his
nuclear submarine to the North Pole to pick up the
survivors of weather station Zebra. He's told that
an arctic storm almost destroyed the station.
Joining him is a mysterious Englishman (McGoohan)
with extraordinary reflexes who won't tell the
captain why exactly he's along for the ride. Soon
they are joined by a Russian spy (Borgnine) who
now works for the West and a marine captain
(Brown) who seems as secretive as the Englishman.
What follows is a long trip under the polar cap.
There's sabotage and the sub almost sinks, acts of
altruism and heroism, and some macho posturing and
eventually the sub reaches Zebra. All is revealed
then, and it seems there's a satellite film that's
hidden there and everybody wants it. One spy is a
double agent, and Soviet paratroopers are on their
way to prevent the Americans from getting the
film.
I was rather more critical watching the film now,
and more prone to notice problems with plotting
and even with some process shots -- while the
outer space and underwater photography is very
convincing, several scenes of Soviet planes are
obviously process shots of immovable toy planes
shot in front of moving scenes of snow, ice and
mountains. Also, the final scenes, which
supposedly take place on the North Pole look as if
they're on a studio back lot -- which, of course,
they are.
Extras include four trailers for "Bad Day at Black
Rock," "Giant," "Ice Station Zebra," and "Where
Eagles Dare," and a promotional teaser for Martin
Scorsese's "The Aviator" -- which you will
encounter before you get to the menu, so I don't
know how much of an "extra" it is. The only
significant supplemental material is the 7-minute
long featurette "The Man Who Makes a Difference,"
about second unit photographer John Stevens. |
