Tepid WWII drama that never catches fire and tries to impress with overlong action sequences. Well, i say action: if you think that endless scenes of frogmen diving off a boat is thrilling, this is the movie for you. They probably thought that getting the technical details right would make up for the lack of drama. As if we care that the details are factually accurate, i guess. What is the Big Drama here? Well, the diver boys don't really like their new C.O. cause his P.R.-skills are sub-par. Oh, and their former commander was like a cross between Flash Gordon and John Wayne. And would you believe that their new boss, played with unconcealed indifference by Richard Widmark, actually gets miffed when they pull a prank that gets one of them shot and jeopardizes the mission? What a spoilsport! No fun, that guy, so they collectively ask for transfer. (In the middle of a war?) These guys sure have their priorities mixed up. It might have made more sense to have had Dana Andrews and Richard Widmark switch roles. Why use a volatile actor like Widmark and a laconic performer like Andrews and not let them play to their strengths? To see Widmark do one of his famous tantrums would have made it worth watching, now it's just a waste of time and talent.

After watching and enjoying this film, I checked out the trivia section for this film and found that many of the events in this film are based on the real life unit they were named for in the film--including the banner on the beach scene. At first I thought this scene totally ridiculous and didn't fit the film--seeing it REALLY happened is amazing! This is an interesting war film even if it didn't get made until well after the war. Most people never think about the need for naval demolitions crews, yet their incredibly dangerous job is shown in this film. How dangerous it was and how they actually performed it was truly interesting for history buffs like myself. Seeing them often diving with no real equipment such as snorkels or tanks (these were only used late in the film) and simply free-diving to set demolition charges is pretty amazing. What was more amazing was seeing how they picked up these guys on the fly, so to speak.Apart from the technical aspects of the film, the plot itself is somewhat formulaic but interesting. Richard Widmark plays the typical hard-as-nails commanding officer and naturally the men miss their old C.O. since he was "one of the boys" (see THE FLYING LEATHERNECKS and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH and you'll see what I mean). The whole "loneliness at the top" angle has been done many times before, though this one was played a bit better. Having such pros as Dana Andrews, Jeffrey Hunter and Gary Merrill on hand sure didn't hurt! What did hurt, however, with the formula was that, at times, it made the men seem like whiners.Overall, rather exciting and well worth seeing despite its roots in Hollywood formula and a fitting tribute to some incredibly brave men.

My dad used to tell us stories about the film every time it came on - he was in UDT Platoon 2 on TDY from Korea and got to spend part of his rotation for R&R doing the film with his team. They did all the underwater work, the scenes with the landing craft picking up the team from the water, and they set the satchel charges for the shot when they blow up the beach obstacles prior to the landing.He also used to to tell stories about Dana Andrews and his drinking during the filming, but that is another story. It is a good movie and, from Dad's and the UDT's perspective, had some BS in it - but relatively accurate overall.In Korea, his team was assigned to swim in from off-shore and go inland to blow up installations, bridges, etc. overrun by the North Koreans/Chinese. They had to swim their stuff in from miles offshore, hump the explosives inland (armed with a knife and a pistol - Dad said he used a .38 because he couldn't hit much of anything over 30 yards away with a .45), blow up the objective then make it back out. Of course, things were even MORE primitive for the combat swimmers of WWII!

Pity 'The Frogmen' isn't yet on DVD. It features the techniques developed and applied by WWII's U.S. Navy UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams), many of which techniques formed the basis for the methods employed by today's SEAL teams - and the UDT's did their bit with rebreather rigs that weren't nearly as sophisticated or reliable as today's high-tech SCUBA and rebreather gear. The UDT's were pioneers on the cutting edge of their mission, an edge the likes of which will not likely be seen again.A standard plot is redeemed by fine performances from all, and by exciting action sequences that have not dated as much as one might suspect they would have by 2003.