RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
I've got to admit that when I received this screener from Fox I forestalled watching it. The 1973 film was only vaguely familiar to me and I kept putting off viewing it in order to handle more important priorities: like working on my 6-foot decoupage tribute to Lorne Greene. When I finally did watch The Neptune Factor I was pleasantly surprised at how competently it was made and how engrossing the story is. Fox has given this little-seen adventure film a quasi-deluxe release to tie it in with similarly-themed titles like Fantastic Voyage and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The film is inferior to Fantastic Voyage but I enjoyed it far more than the latter film, which has dated noticeably.
Unlike Irwin Allen's 1961 potboiler, Neptune is a realistic depiction of survival against extraordinary odds. The film was meticulously researched by producer Sanford Howard, who was determined to bring a believable atmosphere to the action. The plot finds the crew of an underwater laboratory falling victim to an earthquake. Their tiny research vessel in which they live at the bottom of the ocean floor is swept into a seemingly bottomless crevice. With oxygen limited to only a few days, the rescue crew launches the only vessel in the world that might be able to save them: The Neptune, a state-of-the-art mini-sub complete with the latest scientific "optional extras". The rescue team is headed by Ben Gazzara as a grumpy, no-nonsense skipper who seems to have given up on the mission before he even starts. He's aided by expert diver and oceanographer Ernest Borgnine and sexy scientist Yvette Mimieaux, whose lover is among the missing crew members. Walter Pidgeon is the distinguished brainiac who overseas the rescue efforts from atop the ocean.
What I liked about the film is its lack of pretentiousness. It wastes little time in exposition and gets immediately to the crisis at hand. The movie benefits from the considerable effort expended to make the race against time genuinely suspenseful. The film's claustrophobic atmosphere works to its advantage thanks to believable set designs that make you feel you are cramped into the Neptune with the rescue team. There are some neat plot devices such as encountering species of fish that are of gigantic scale. This may sound like a device from a Ray Harryhausen movie, but here it's done with total realism as the large carnivores almost make mincemeat of the Neptune. These sequences highlight some excellent camerawork and sound effects. The special effects are also quite impressive and hold up well even by today's standards. The film suffers from most movies that spend an inordinate amount of time under the sea: the pace is occasionally lethargic as everything moves in slow motion. However, the story builds to a reasonably suspenseful climax and features some unexpected plot developments.
Fox has provided some nice extras considering that this is unjustly regarded as a B movie. (It even suffered the indignity of being released as the second feature to Battle of the Planet of the Apes - a film that appeared to have been shot in someone's backyard with a Super 8 movie camera.) There is an interesting vintage, making-of featurette, a variety of trailers, TV spots, production stills and posters and an interactive pressbook. There is also an isolated score by composer Lalo Schifrin as well an isolated score by William McCauley that was not used. (The Schifrin track is far superior).
The Neptune Factor isn't high art but doesn't strive to be. It is, however, an thoroughly entertaining adventure that is receiving a better fate on DVD than the studio afforded it upon its initial release. -Lee Pfeiffer
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