Myriam Nys Alistair MacLean's output was prolific but uneven. In my humble opinion, "Ice Station Zebra" is amongst his best work. Both a spy thriller and an adventure novel, "Zebra" is tense, gripping, suspenseful and clever. Its depictions of a freezing and hostile environment are in a class of their own and there's a continual vein of dark, sardonic wit. In fact the book ends with one of the best jokes in spy fiction, on the very last page. So this is a pretty good book. The movie, however, is very, very bad, both as an adaptation and as a piece of cinema in its own right. For reasons known only to God, the various makers of the movie decided to gut the book and replace the plot with one of their own invention. In the process much of the dialogue was lost, as was much of the purpose, much of the logic and much of the wit. The result is unpleasant, in a weirdly overserious and overstuffed way. It's pretty much the cinematic equivalent of a "turducken" : the meat of a chicken stuffed inside a duck, with the duck then stuffed inside a turkey. And the movie, which is longer than average, keeps on going and going and going, like an automated toy out of an ad for a battery.In case you're wondering why I'm still throwing this monstruosity 3 stars : a) how many times do you see the inside of a technologically advanced submarine and b) you get to admire the late Rock Hudson, who, just like Niagara Falls, the Everglades or the snow leopard, was an outstanding masterwork of nature.

grantss During the height of the Cold War, the US nuclear submarine USS Tigerfish, captained by Commander James Farraday, is sent on a secret mission to a location near the North Pole. Their mission, ostensibly, is to rescue survivors from Ice Station Zebra, a British weather research station, but it is quite clear that it is more than that. The presence of the shadowy, enigmatic Mr. Jones, a British civilian who has control over the mission, makes it clear that something larger is afoot. Then the submarine is sabotaged - there is clearly a Russian spy on board.Enthralling, suspenseful Cold War thriller, directed by John Sturges and based on the Alistair MacLean novel. Sturges sets the scene and builds the tension well. Some great scenes involving the operation of the submarine, which will appeal to military buffs. Quite accurate in the military aspect - great detail from Sturges.Can be a bit clumsy at times though. Some plot developments aren't entirely watertight.Interesting ending, though maybe a touch predictable.Still, overall, a good action- and tension-filled ride.

clanciai This is a monumental rendering of a rather ordinary adventure by Alistair MacLean involving the usual ingredients of spies, traitors, violence, sabotage, conflicts, political crisis, unbearable suspense, life and death and everything else, but is it not just a little overdone? In the first part of the film, until they finally reach that polar station after the middle of the film, there is very little acting and mainly only technical manoeuvres to get the submarine to its destination, which involves tremendous difficulties, especially with the lack of communications and of course a very thrilling sequence of almost getting stuck under the ice with the prospect of a submarine shipwreck, which isn't a very cheerful prospect for those suffering from claustrophobia on board - this is unavoidable in every submarine film - the claustrophobia is the main element of terror, although here it is not so much in focus.Patrick McGoohan is the ordinary hard line tough guy as an agent with a secret mission, he always is, Ernest Borgnine is the one of the leading actors that gets some opportunity to act, while Rock Hudosn is very bland as a character, almost like a mere figure-head of the journey, while the actor who makes an impression is Alf Kjellin in his brief but efficient appearance in the end. The lack of any woman during all these 2,5 hours adds to the futility and superficiality of the film.Not even Michel Legrand's music can save it. It is impressively majestic and almost bombastic like the whole film, but you see too much of the submarine and the waves and the ice and too little acting. The action in the end is hardly substitute enough for that either.The following Alistair MacLean films, like "Bear Island", "When Eight Bells Toll" and "Puppet on a Chain" are more effcient for being more tense and brief and intensive. Here there is too much circumstance and too little substance.

David Conrad Most submarine movies are pretty heavy on jargon, and "Ice Station Zebra" is especially so. The first half hour is almost excruciatingly slow-paced and technical, but there are two good reasons for that decision. One reason is narrative: when the action finally begins it comes as a jolt, and the suddenness of the transition creates the atmosphere of tension and unpredictability that is required for the second act. The other reason has to do with the film's production. The studio borrowed a real submarine from the Navy, allowing director John Sturges to stage difficult underwater scenes without relying on unrealistic miniatures or grainy stock footage. Shots of the submarine gliding beneath vast icebergs are eerily beautiful, and they justify the amount of time the script spends getting the characters from point A to point B. The espionage plot may be nothing special, but it is at least evocative of the late 1960s. Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, and Patrick McGoohan deliver in strongly- characterized roles.