Above Us the Waves

It was a really good movie although it is a 1955 film technology. From what has been written it is more realistic as the equipment used was circa 1945 and apparently was readily available. The James Caan movie (X-1) is more fictitious (Cowboys and Nazi's) where as the 1955 one is trying to depict the real story of the Tirpitz Operation. They did not say that the Tirpitz was sunk or not sunk, but there was a huge explosion. The Tirpitz was knocked out of commission for about 6 months. This film actually was much closer to the truth than was really known at the time as PBS did a later show of diving "archaeologists" who wanted to find out just what did happen based on locations and what was on the bottom of the Fiord where the operation took place. Their summation was that the 1955 film was quite accurate. The 1955 film probably had a benefit of interviews of people who were there and had a more recent memory of what happened without a lot of interpretation which can fog events.Those guys were brave, I wouldn't have dived with those suits. It's a small wonder that they wore heavy wool sweaters. Those subs had to have been cold. The average water temp in that area in September is 55 degrees. Yowee! That's pretty cold. Having dived as a kid in water almost that cold without a wet-suit we could stay in about 20 minutes. At that point we would be shivering uncontrollably.

Great WWII drama based on actual events where British Mini-Subs were used to secretly plant explosives underneath German battleship Tirpitz while anchored in Norway which had been wreaking havoc in the North Atlantic by sinking ships carrying british supplies.great cast,well acted as well as production from that period.

As a sub enthusiast, this was a real treat, one of the few glimpses of the fully working British Midget Sub, X1. I prefer this film to the later remake "Submarine X-1" starring James Caan. Both movies cover the same story, the attack on the German battleship Tripitz. This movie is B/W but has a genuine WWII feel to it. It goes into more depth about the history of the campaign and doesn't get bogged down in love interests or side plots. Both movies cover the X1 sub well, with interior views and operations. The Caan film does offer better camera angles though inside the sub and is shot in color. Get both.

I purchased this video out of curiosity. I had read a Reader's Digest "condensed book" version of the story of the British attempt to sink the Tirpitz. That was circa late 70's or very early 80's and I don't remember the details of that written story except that it was titled "Twelve Against The Tirpitz" and involved a number of tiny submarines and was fascinating reading. This movie version of the story is a bit dry and, if you don't know the background history of the Tirpitz and the attempts to sink her, is likely to be somewhat confusing and disjointed. I'd recommend watching this movie only if you first read the historical data about the Tirpitz as available on wikipedia or some other source.

Excellent. This is the real item. I am a submariner of many patrols.Great writing, good believable story, excellent dialog, feels right to me. I felt it.

Excellent movie.

Movie details a heroic and brave peice of WW II history. A little known action of very brave men all but forgotten. I like that fact that it tells the story of human torpedoes and X-Craft.A true stroy of bravery and daring.I was disappointed that it was not closed captioned nor was this referenced anywhwere in the description.

I love these older movies about WW2, and especially any to do with the war at sea. A great cast, a very good story, and it's true!!! With John Mills in the lead, what more could you want?