Eisstation Zebra (1968)

Eisstation Zebra: Directed by John Sturges. With Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown. USN nuclear sub USS Tigerfish must rush to the North Pole to rescue the staff of Drift Ice Station Zebra weather station.

“Big-budget, all-star, action-packed adventure about an American submarine sent to the North Pole to retrieve a downed satellite which contains a roll of film. The Russians want it as badly as the Americans because the film contains high-orbit pictures of BOTH countryu0026#39;s missile sites.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRock Hudson is the sub commander, Patrick McGoohan is the cynical secret agent with a dry wit (a roll he made famous in two famous British TV shows, `The Secret Agentu0026#39; and `The Prisoneru0026#39;), Jim Brown is a hard-nosed Marine captain, and Earnest Borgnine is a Russian defector working with McGoohan and the Americans to retrieve the valuable film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe special effects of the Russian jets could have been much better, even in 1968. But the fantastic exterior arctic sets create a stylized North Pole as appealing as the sets of Altair 4 in `Forbidden Planetu0026#39;. Sure they donu0026#39;t look `realu0026#39; — but thatu0026#39;s doesnu0026#39;t mean they donu0026#39;t look good. And brother, they sure look BIG. Furthermore, these sets donu0026#39;t just sit there, they actually DO neat stuff: hugh blocks of ice converge and threaten to crush the subu0026#39;s conning tower, and the conning tower raises and lowers through cracks in the ice! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDynamite score by Michel LeGrand. Sterling screenplay by Douglas Heyes, riddled with sharp dialogue that the fine cast delivers perfectly (I love it when McGoohan tells Hudson that the film invented by Americau0026#39;s German scientists was put into the camera invented by Britainu0026#39;s German scientists and sent up in the satellite invented by the Russianu0026#39;s German scientists. Funny.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e Based on Alistair MacLeanu0026#39;s best-selling novel. A genuine techno-thriller that predated Tom Clancyu0026#39;s work. And it was originally released at Cinerama theaters! Gotta love it . . .”