binder001
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2005
- Messages
- 2,729
Our thread on "The Sand Pebbles" from the other day got me to thinking about how ships have been used in movies over the years. For "The Sand Pebbles" the producers used a diesel boat to recreate a steam-powered gunboat - the engine room scenes were filmed a a set (one source says it was on a Liberty Ship), not on the "San Pablo".
Of course there have been many documentaries on ships, but the USN used to support Hollywood productions extensively. For "Away All Boats" the USS Randall became the story's "USS Belinda" and there are great scenes of the ship's activities including launching and landing Marines. Some of their AA action scenes show up in other movies. For "The Enemy Below" the USN loaned a WW2 DE with crew and even painted the wartime small number on the bow. There were spectacular depth charging scenes, one of which almost damaged the ship. They were firing the charges shallow to get the big plume of water and one went off so shallow that it lifted the stern of the ship! At the end, the closing scenes were filmed on a Gearing-class DD. For "The Caine Mutiny" the Navy loaned an old pre-war destroyer-minesweeper and again the closing was filmed on a Gearing class ship. Of course several Gato-class subs were shown in a number of submarine warfare movies.
When real ships weren't available the producers had to turn to models. "In Harm's Way" had some scenes filmed about a heavy cruiser and a destroyer but most battle scenes were done with large scale models. Since none of the real ships for "Sink the Bismarck" were available the movie was done with models and some wartime newsreel footage thrown in. The models did capture the shapes nicely. Some of the finest detailed models had to be the US battleline done for "Tora, Tora, Tora". There was an article about them at the time and they were impressive creations. The producers did a nice job with sets next to the ocean for deck scenes on US and IJN ships. For "Tora, Tora, Tora" the USS Lexington, one of the last Essex-class in operation was used to represent several Japanese carriers and the USS Enterprise.
Then there was that HORRIBLE "Pearl Harbor" where lots of money was spent with no effort at depicting any of the ships at Pearl Harbor that morning. The producers half-hearted effort at showing the Dootlittle raid launching from the USS Hornet was nowhere near as accurate or exciting as the 1943 depiction in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".
For "Sailor of the King" the British Navy loaned three cruisers in the Med.
Some ships existed only on stages. In "Action in the North Atlantic" there were few shots on an actual Liberty Ship, the "SS Seawitch" was a large model and a set on a Warner soundstage, but sure looked good.
For "Titanic", James Cameron did a fine job of combining large sets with CGI to recreate the long-lost liner. Since Hollywood seems hell-bent on remaking so many classics I often wonder how a "Sink The Bismarck" might look with large sets and current CGI.
Gary B.
Of course there have been many documentaries on ships, but the USN used to support Hollywood productions extensively. For "Away All Boats" the USS Randall became the story's "USS Belinda" and there are great scenes of the ship's activities including launching and landing Marines. Some of their AA action scenes show up in other movies. For "The Enemy Below" the USN loaned a WW2 DE with crew and even painted the wartime small number on the bow. There were spectacular depth charging scenes, one of which almost damaged the ship. They were firing the charges shallow to get the big plume of water and one went off so shallow that it lifted the stern of the ship! At the end, the closing scenes were filmed on a Gearing-class DD. For "The Caine Mutiny" the Navy loaned an old pre-war destroyer-minesweeper and again the closing was filmed on a Gearing class ship. Of course several Gato-class subs were shown in a number of submarine warfare movies.
When real ships weren't available the producers had to turn to models. "In Harm's Way" had some scenes filmed about a heavy cruiser and a destroyer but most battle scenes were done with large scale models. Since none of the real ships for "Sink the Bismarck" were available the movie was done with models and some wartime newsreel footage thrown in. The models did capture the shapes nicely. Some of the finest detailed models had to be the US battleline done for "Tora, Tora, Tora". There was an article about them at the time and they were impressive creations. The producers did a nice job with sets next to the ocean for deck scenes on US and IJN ships. For "Tora, Tora, Tora" the USS Lexington, one of the last Essex-class in operation was used to represent several Japanese carriers and the USS Enterprise.
Then there was that HORRIBLE "Pearl Harbor" where lots of money was spent with no effort at depicting any of the ships at Pearl Harbor that morning. The producers half-hearted effort at showing the Dootlittle raid launching from the USS Hornet was nowhere near as accurate or exciting as the 1943 depiction in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".
For "Sailor of the King" the British Navy loaned three cruisers in the Med.
Some ships existed only on stages. In "Action in the North Atlantic" there were few shots on an actual Liberty Ship, the "SS Seawitch" was a large model and a set on a Warner soundstage, but sure looked good.
For "Titanic", James Cameron did a fine job of combining large sets with CGI to recreate the long-lost liner. Since Hollywood seems hell-bent on remaking so many classics I often wonder how a "Sink The Bismarck" might look with large sets and current CGI.
Gary B.
