Submarine movies
by purr370 | created - 01 Feb 2015 | updated - 28 Jun 2019 | PublicThe best movies featuring action on a submarine
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Run Silent Run Deep (1958)
Approved | 93 min | Action, Drama, War
A U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Brad Dexter
Votes: 13,127
2. The Hunt for Red October (1990)
PG | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill
Votes: 214,892 | Gross: $122.01M
3. Destination Tokyo (1943)
Passed | 135 min | Adventure, War
In order to provide information for the first air raid over Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay and places a spy team ashore.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Cary Grant, John Garfield, Alan Hale, John Ridgely
Votes: 5,754
4. Operation Petticoat (1959)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill
Votes: 15,883 | Gross: $23.30M
5. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,491 | Gross: $11.49M
6. U-571 (2000)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, War
A German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.
Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi
Votes: 87,436 | Gross: $77.09M
7. Crimson Tide (1995)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
On a U.S. nuclear missile sub, a young First Officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy Captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Matt Craven, George Dzundza
Votes: 123,424 | Gross: $91.40M
8. K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
PG-13 | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings, Christian Camargo
Votes: 67,440 | Gross: $35.17M
9. Up Periscope (1959)
Approved | 112 min | Action, Drama, Romance
In 1942, Navy Lieutenant Kenneth Braden from the underwater demolition team is sent to a Japanese island to photograph secret radio codes.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Garner, Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, Alan Hale Jr.
Votes: 2,255
10. Operation Pacific (1951)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Romance, War
During WWII, a submarine's second in command inherits the problem of torpedoes that don't explode. When on shore, he is eager to win back his ex-wife.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: John Wayne, Patricia Neal, Ward Bond, Scott Forbes
Votes: 3,895
11. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When the Earth is threatened by a burning Van Allen Radiation Belt, U.S. Navy Admiral Harriman Nelson plans to shoot a nuclear missile at the Belt, using his experimental atomic submarine, the Seaview.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre
Votes: 6,667
12. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
PG | 100 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a blood clot renders a scientist comatose, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into his bloodstream in order to save him.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 20,845
13. The Enemy Below (1957)
Approved | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.
Director: Dick Powell | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Curd Jürgens, David Hedison, Theodore Bikel
Votes: 12,264
14. Above Us the Waves (1955)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, War
The attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice
Votes: 1,631
15. Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama, Thriller, War
The daring exploits of a submarine commander whose mission is to chart the minefields in the waters of Japan during World War II.
Director: Nathan Juran | Stars: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Arthur Franz, Robert Arthur
Votes: 1,151
16. Gray Lady Down (1978)
PG | 111 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A Navy Captain uses his experimental Snark to reach a nuclear submarine stuck on an ocean ledge.
Director: David Greene | Stars: Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty
Votes: 3,536
17. The Hunley (1999 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 94 min | Action, Drama, History
During the siege of Charleston of 1864, Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley becomes the first submersible to sink an enemy warship in wartime.
Director: John Gray | Stars: Armand Assante, Donald Sutherland, Alex Jennings, Chris Bauer
Votes: 1,307
18. Submerged (2001 TV Movie)
89 min | Drama
A moment by moment account of the sinking and rescue of the crew of the submarine USS Squalus which was the first rescue of living crew on a submarine.
Director: James Keach | Stars: Sam Neill, Shea Whigham, Emily Procter, Hugh O'Conor
Votes: 500
19. Torpedo Run (1958)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, War
A submarine commander is forced to blow up a Japanese ship with prisoners.
Director: Joseph Pevney | Stars: Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Diane Brewster, Dean Jones
Votes: 2,541
20. Operation Disaster (1950)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, History, War
The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: John Mills, Nigel Patrick, Peter Hammond, Andrew Crawford
Votes: 849
21. Hell and High Water (1954)
Approved | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the Cold War, a scientific team refits a Japanese submarine and hires an ex-Navy officer to find a secret Chinese atomic island base and prevent a Communist plot against America that could trigger WW3.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 2,237
22. We Dive at Dawn (1943)
Not Rated | 98 min | Action, Drama, War
All leave is cancelled so that a British submarine can be sent after a new German warship. They chase it so far that they have no fuel to get home.
Director: Anthony Asquith | Stars: John Mills, Louis Bradfield, Ronald Millar, Jack Watling
Votes: 1,701
23. Crash Dive (1943)
Approved | 106 min | Drama, Romance, War
A submarine lieutenant and his commander fall in love with the same girl.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, James Gleason
Votes: 1,751
24. Assault on a Queen (1966)
Approved | 106 min | Adventure, Crime, Thriller
A motley crew of treasure hunters plan to rob the cruise-liner RMS Queen Mary, using a recovered WW2 German submarine.
Director: Jack Donohue | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Virna Lisi, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Conte
Votes: 1,239
25. The Last U-Boat (1993 TV Movie)
99 min | Drama, War
In 1945 an advanced type of German U-boat loaded with atomic technology en route for Japan and escorted by Japanese naval officers receives news that Germany has capitulated.
Director: Frank Beyer | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Ulrich Tukur, Kaoru Kobayashi, Gorô Ôhashi
Votes: 309
26. 72 metra (2004)
115 min | Drama, Action, Thriller
Every second is precious for a Russian submarine crew, as they are stranded 72 meters below the ocean's surface.
Director: Vladimir Khotinenko | Stars: Sergey Makovetskiy, Marat Basharov, Andrey Krasko, Dmitriy Ulyanov
Votes: 1,775
27. Submarine Command (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Drama, War
Submarine commander Ken White reminisces about his wartime years aboard submarine USS Tiger Shark and struggles with feelings of personal guilt.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: William Holden, Nancy Olson, William Bendix, Don Taylor
Votes: 685
28. The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)
Unrated | 126 min | Comedy, War
Without hostile intent, a Soviet submarine runs aground off New England. Men are sent for a boat, but many villagers go into a tizzy, risking bloodshed.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith
Votes: 10,058 | Gross: $21.69M
Tell Your Friends