The depths of nostalgia: Why submarine movies are so great!

This post is the fault of Jurassic Park. I just finished the novel, so this afternoon I'm watching the film and remembering seeing the film with my dad. Some of my best memories of my dad are going to Mr. Bulky's for candy that we'd sneak into the theater or spending evenings at his house watching films.

This is how I still imagine Mr. Bulky's

The last movie we ever watched together was Philadelphia and I remember realizing that my dad, who I had always assumed was so conservative, had unexpected depths. We also watched Fellowship of the Ring that year; even today, Gandalf's fall has an especial poignancy for me because I remember how upset dad was that he had died. I didn't want to spoil the next movie for him, so I didn't tell him about Gandalf's resurrection as Gandalf the White.

One of the genres of films that my father introduced me to was the submarine movie. I'm not sure why he was fond of them (he never said), but the following films hold a special place in my heart because they will always remind me of him. Plus, it's hard to beat Sean Connery or Kelsey Grammer at the helm (if that, indeed, is the correct term)!

To explain my love of The Hunt for Red October, I have to first explain the conditions under which I saw it - which is, well, the condition of being a kid. I didn't know anything about Russia (though I loved the language when I heard it for the first time), or the Cold War, and I saw the movie many times before I learned what "to defect" meant. [An aside: once, in graduate school, I emailed a favorite professor asking to defect from a class on Anglo-Saxon to his class. I thought it was hilarious.]

I assume that my dad did have thoughts/opinions about the Cold War. After his death, I found a pile of documents and certificates about his time in the Air Force in Germany. There was some kind of certificate that mentioned the Iron Curtain. I don't know what kind of work he was doing, but I like to imagine it was cool. Anyway, isn't he re-dork-ulously cute?

Dad during his Air Force days

Anyway, his love of Ramius became mine (even though the historical story isn't nearly so sunny).

The perfect pairing (at least for dad and me) for Red October is Crimson Tide (maybe it's all those red hues?). For my money, it's the more tension-inducing of the two, as the conflict between the captain and ex-o is internal but could drive the whole world into war.

And once you've raised the hair on the back of your neck by contemplating a madman with a nuclear weapon, you can then raise your spirits by tuning in to Down Periscope. It takes some of the best scenes from the two films above and then pokes fun at them, all the while treating the audience to the antics of Kelsey Grammer and Rip Torn!

So next time you're feeling confined, why not venture into the narrow world of the submarine film?