The Last Voyage (1960) User Reviews

Murphy Rides With The S.S. Claridon

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 12 June 2010]

Andrew and Virginia Stone, the husband and wife creative team who conceived and made the film The Last Voyage had the good fortune to use a real ocean liner in their film. No miniatures for their special effects which got The Last Voyage its only recognition from the Academy.

That harbinger of bad luck named Murphy must have been on the passenger roster of the S.S. Claridon which was captained by George Sanders because the law he espoused was operating full tilt on this trans-Pacific voyage. It all starts with fire in the boiler room which leads to a series of bad luck and bad decisions.

The story of the doomed ship Claridon proceeds on a double track. There is the story of the ship sinking itself and particularly the clash with Captain Sanders and Engineer Edmond O'Brien. The second is the personal story of Robert Stack who with wife Dorothy Malone and their little girl Tammy Marihugh are traveling to Tokyo for Stack's job. When an explosion occurs both Malone and the little girl are trapped in the cabin. With all that's going on around Stack finds precious little help for his family's personal plight.

The Last Voyage is a tightly paced drama which does not waste a second of film frame in the telling of its story. Best in the film I think is Malone who is just brilliant as the woman coming to grips with an impending doom. Honorable mention should also go to Woody Strode who plays a ship's stoker who renders needed assistance to Stack in his hour of trial.

The Last Voyage was nominated for Best Special Effects, but lost to the only other film nominated that year, George Pal's The Time Machine. I'd hated to have been an Academy voter that year and have to make that choice.

Five years earlier the Andrea Doria disaster had happened only minutes from New York harbor. The stories from that sea disaster were fresh in the public mind, let alone the story of the Titanic.

Fifty years after it was released The Last Voyage holds up well and even the technology changes haven't dated this film one bit. This one is highly recommended.

A fantastic voyage

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 7 May 2005]

We have to say this was a real surprise when it was presented by TCM the other night. Andrew Stone's "The Last Voyage" makes an impressive film that got our attention from the start. Mr. Stone, working with his own screen play, makes a great disaster film about a luxury ocean liner that encounters problems in the middle of the Pacific.

This film looks so real, it's hard to believe it's a filmed account of a real disaster. The old Ile de France was used for the exterior shots and sunk for realism sake. The story is compelling, as well as terrifying. Imagine to find yourself in the middle of an ocean facing death aboard luxurious surroundings!

That is the fate the Hendersons encounter on their way to Japan. Cliff and Laurie are happily married with a small daughter. Everything looks good, but a funereal note is delivered to the captain in the middle of a meal. "Fire in the engine room"! This is only be beginning of the end. We realize this is going to be a horrible experience.

The film feels real. When an explosion occurs, Cliff returns to his cabin only to find Laurie trapped by some steel panels and he can't move her. To make matters worse, he finds his young daughter in a panic holding dearly to her life on a ledge of what used to be her room. The rescue effort of the girl, in a terrifying scene, is one of the most heart wrenching things in the movie. We watch, in horror, at the end, as Laurie is kept alive from drowning,

Excellent acting from all the principals. Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders, Edmond O'Brien, Jack Krushen, Woody Strode and the rest of the cast, makes this a film that delivers a lot of action and keeps us glued to what's happening.

A film to recommend those with a strong heart. A great achievement for the director Andrew Stone.

Your Ship Is Sinking!

[wes-connors · 8/10 · 13 June 2010]

After a fire in the engine room, "Claridon" luxury liner captain George Sanders (as Robert Adams), in true disaster movie form, orders engineer Edmond O'Brien (as Walsh) his crew to make repairs without telling on-board passengers. But, when the ship suffers a subsequent explosion in its boiler room, everyone knows something has gone horribly wrong. Job-transferring from Sacramento to Tokyo, Robert Stack (as Cliff Henderson) finds beautiful blonde wife Dorothy Malone (as Laurie) pinned under some debris. Moreover, red-haired daughter Tammy Marihugh (as Jill) is left cowering on the side of their cabin, which has lost its floor.

Watching Mr. Stack rescue his daughter is a highlight, even though you know how this will play out; rest assured, filmmakers weren't in the habit of killing off cute little girls in the beginning of 1960 movies. From then on, the story focuses on Stack's efforts to save Ms. Malone while passengers and crew scramble for survival. Stack and Malone must consider the possibility that she - still pinned under a steel beam - should go down with the ship. One of the first crew people willing to help the couple is presciently cast Woody Strode (as Hank Lawson). Writer/director Andrew L. Stone and his wife Virginia make "The Last Voyage" an exciting trip.

******** The Last Voyage (2/19/60) Andrew L. Stone ~ Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Woody Strode, Edmond O'Brien

An unforgettable portrait of love and honour under pressure

[clivy · 31 July 2003]

When I was small I saw a movie on TV with my grandfather that scared the BEJEEPERS out of me: its images of a woman imprisoned by steel beams on an exploding, sinking ship have haunted me all these years. I was watching TCM today and when I saw the opening sequences of "The Last Voyage" I recognised it straight away as the movie with the poor lady trapped in the wrecked liner. As an adult I found the movie suspenseful: no wonder it terrified me as a kid. Dorothy Malone's performance masterly captures the wife's desperation, panic, and concern that her child and husband survive. Robert Stack makes the viewer feel the loyalty and drive that makes the husband battle to save his wife against the odds. It was great to see a movie from my early childhood present a black character who is every inch a hero as the leading character, who fights to rescue the wife as much as her husband does. The characters of the captain and the British main officer are finely drawn and the struggles of the officer to preserve the ship and take care of the passengers while the captain fails to grasp the seriousness of the situation make an effective counterpart to the husband's attempts to free his wife and daughter from the wreckage of their cabin. The overhead shots of the daughter perched on the edges of a hole ripped through several decks of the ship are horrifying and I'm sure they are responsible for my still being scared of heights. This movie's style is matter of fact, complete with a historical-sounding narration, but this increases the impact of the terror of the wife and the growing desperation and frustration of the husband as he races to find someone who will help them. The engineer's outburst at the captain reflects the growing tension that the film creates. This is not just another hokey disaster film in Technicolor - this is a film that shows how people facing danger and death keep their heads to honour their relationships, professions and their humanity. An unforgettable film, and one that puts the overblown special effects and underdeveloped characterisations of Titanic to shame.

This Disaster Movie Still Holds Water (Pun Intended)

[rpvanderlinden · 7/10 · 12 June 2010]

I heard once that Andrew Stone and Alfred Hitchcock were friends. If so, I can just imagine those two gents sitting around during a long, rainy evening discussing ways of torturing an audience with suspense.

"The Last Voyage" cuts to the chase right away. Something happens on board the ocean liner "Claridon" and before you can sing "row, row, row your boat" the vessel is plunged into crisis. No soapy melodramas, bickering couples, singing nuns, etc. Just a good old-fashioned straightforward action flick. There are two stories. One involves the entirely myopic attempt by the captain (George Sanders) to save the ship and his reputation. He's the voice of authority in denial, prevalent in countless movies (where he's challenged by the pragmatic man-of-action). "Jaws" is a prime example.

The other story concerns the entrapment of Robert Stack's wife in the film (Dorothy Malone) under a steel beam and his race to save her. Naturally, Stack soon finds himself at odds with the captain as he tries to get help to free his wife, and all kinds of obstacles get in his way. Meanwhile things are getting worse with the ship. The suspense keeps cranking tighter and tighter, as I breathlessly watch and try to convince myself that all will be well in the end - to no avail! Filming on a real ship is what really makes this movie work; in fact, the ship becomes a major character in the story. There's very little suspension of disbelief required. Stone keeps the story moving with dispatch and the ninety minutes fly by quickly. There are a few anomalies that I found problematic (where were the ship's medical staff, and how could the captain be SO intransigent), but these were diminished by the strong emotional elements and the movie's depiction of courage, devotion and loyalty, which were inspiring.

I found Dorothy Malone to be particularly moving as the wife who, sensing a hopeless situation, just wants her husband and their kid to get themselves off the ship. It may be that, because I found her to be so sanely practical and REAL, that I kind of fell in love with her. She's the emotional centre of the film.

Better Than Many Of The Disaster Movies Of The 1970's

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 24 September 2018]

There's a part of me that says that if you want to watch a movie about the dramatic sinking of an ocean liner and the fate of its passengers you could just watch any of the several versions of the Titanic story - some of which were already out in 1960 when "The Last Voyage" was made. They, while heavily dramatized, do have the advantage of being based on a real incident. But there was no "SS Claridon" (although some say that some aspects of this film were loosely based on the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria a few years earlier.) Without the factual basis, this movie depends on the story itself, and as it turns out the story is pretty good and becomes increasingly tense as it reaches its last 15-20 minutes.

The movie opens with a fire in the ship's engine room. So we get right into the drama; there's no build up and no time spent introducing the characters. That initial fire is the beginning of a series of problems that make it clear that the Claridon is doomed; there's no hope of saving it. You might wonder - if things are made clear that early - where the movie is going to go, and I admit that for the first bit I was wondering this myself. But the writers made a very good decision: rather than giving us a huge collection of revolving stories we basically were given just one - a woman (Dorothy Malone) who's pinned in her cabin by debris after the explosions on board and who can't get free, and her husband (Robert Stack) who's desperately trying to save her as the water rises all around her. Throw in their daughter (played by an 8 year old Tammy Marihugh - who I thought was going to turn out to be an irritating child actor but who actually ended up putting on a pretty believable performance as the terrified child) and you have a series of sympathetic characters to root for, and you do empathize with their increasing desperation as things become more and more hopeless. You also have some tension in the crew that serves as a sort of backdrop, as the captain (George Sanders) seems reluctant to do very much at first, being more concerned with the ship (and a pending promotion) than with his passengers. I thought the performances were good all around. The special effects were also well done (the movie was nominated for a special effects Oscar) and even though this was made in 1960, this doesn't really have a dated feeling at all - although the very last scene showing the Claridon going under looked completely fake. One weakness throughout I thought was the repeated use of narration by George Furness (who also played one of the ship's officers who disagreed with the captain's handling of the unfolding disaster.) While it sped the movie along by recounting in a few seconds what might have taken several scenes to establish it just didn't seem to fit with the dramatic feel of the movie.

This was clearly an early entry in what would become a familiar genre in the 1970's: the disaster flick. Compared to most of those films this one stands up very well. It's better than anything in the "Airport" series and although I liked "The Poseidon Adventure" it avoids becoming gimmicky (in the way that the capsized ship was a gimmick in that movie.) Anyone who became a fan of those later disaster movies really should give this one a chance. (7/10)

A surprisingly realistic view of a nautical disaster

[zugbugfshr · 9/10 · 27 October 2009]

I am a retired U.S. Navy Captain, an Engineering Duty Officer who ran shipyards for many years and was Chief Engineer of an aircraft carrier. Ships and what make them tick were my thing for 30 years. I trained for the disaster depicted in "The Last Voyage" for many years and fortunately never encountered it.

I can tell you with some expertise that this is the most realistic film of this genre ever made. I was astounded watching it. They actually got most of the terminology and sequence of events correct. Edmund O'Brien made a convincing Engineer. It could almost be a training film for: > attempting to manually trip a boiler safety valve > shoring up a bulkhead in an adjacent flooded space etc.

If you want to see what something like this might be like, watch this film. I also found the ending pretty suspenseful - I wasn't quite sure who was going to live, and who was going to die.

great disaster flick for the era

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 17 November 2018]

The SS Claridon is an aging ocean liner overdue to be scrapped. A boiler room fire results in a violent explosion. The Captain refuses to evacuate the ship fearing a panic. Cliff (Robert Stack) and Laurie Henderson (Dorothy Malone) with their daughter Jill are traveling to Japan. Laurie gets trapped under some debris and Cliff races to find the tools to free her.

This starts even before the credits. There are impressive fires. The use of a real ship really accentuates the grime in the engine room. There is no replacing real heavy machinery. It becomes a tension filled disaster epic a decade before the rise of the disaster flicks. It was nominated for Visual Effects. The action is naturalistic. It's not heightened by quick cuts or fast movements. For its time and its style, this is exceedingly exciting. The use of a real ship and real flooding is exceptional. I can do without Laurie contemplating suicide. There are some physical realities that are overlooked. This is a great popcorn flick considering the era.

Rich in Human Values & An Exciting Story

[tvsterling · 9/10 · 7 August 2004]

The other comments have restored my love for this film. Like another reviewer I saw it as a kid & never forgot. I saw a world, for the first time, where things could go terribly wrong; Disney never showed me stuff like that. And when things went wrong there were good men pulling together to make it right again. One of them was a black man. A little girl was scared but brave too. The mommy would do anything for her baby & husband to make it.

Twenty odd years later I bought it & took it to our little experimental film group at the county schools. I wanted everybody to see the realism of the approach & the human values. I also wanted them to see what you could accomplish if you took advantage of a unique setting or situation. The Ile De France was on it's way to be scrapped & this was the basis for the film. Nobody would even watch & that really bummed me out. Then I lent it to my good friend Conrad. He was a retired merchant marine officer (second). He said he laughed all the way thru because many things were not exactly realistic. One thing, the stateroom was down inside the ship not up in the superstructure where staterooms are supposed to be; and stuff like that.

Well you know they were WRONG. This is great film-making; a great story well told. Gripping from start to finish. I believe it was titled '90 Minutes to Disaster' when I saw it. I was right. So what if every little fact isn't exact. I will say that the narration is a bit annoying, that is true. When a film is a memorable event in a kid's life (more than one) it's a great film.

I have just finished reading a book called 'Collision Course' by Alvin Moscow about the Stockholm, Andrea Doria disaster in 1956. The script seems to me to contain some interesting echoes from this tragedy; the worst shipping disaster since the Titanic. Not coincidentally the Ile De France was one of the rescue ships on the scene & she was famous for rendering aid in several other shipping disasters.

Fast and good drama

[MarioB · 7/10 · 23 December 1999]

I really like this one because it don't waist time showing love stories or anything else that's not necessarry to the first idea of the movie : a boat sinking. Of course, there is the drama of poor Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack, but this drame goes on with the same beat as the problems of the crew. In that sense, it's really a technical film! It's a fast movie: from scene number one, we know that this boat had problems. We don't have to wait one hour to know that (like in ANY of the Titanic movie.) And, of course, we all love the wonderful Woody Strode, who was fantastic in Kubrik's Spartacus two years before this famous role.

It SHOULD Be The Last Voyage Of This Stinker

[ccthemovieman-1 · 3/10 · 16 May 2006]

"A poor man's Titantic" is how I would describe this film. Most of it was disappointing with the exception of the last 20 minutes, which was very suspenseful. There are a couple of scenes when the ship starting have major problems that are almost jaw-dropping. Thus, the special effects were good for its day.

However, most of the film we have to listen to Edmund O'Brien yelling all the time; be frustrated as husband Robert Stack keeps trying to get help for his wife (Dorothy Malone) and annoyed as officers keep trying to convince a pig-headed captain (George Sanders) that things are NOT going to be okay.

One of the few appealing characters in the movie was Woody Strode, who unselfishly tries to help out in a bad situation.

"Fire in the engine room."

[LeonLouisRicci · 10/10 · 4 July 2014]

One of the Best Disaster and Action Movies that has, Unfortunately, been Overlooked and Under-Appreciated. But Certainly not by those who have Seen it. Anyone who has had that Unforgettable Experience is Impressed.

It is a Film that was Ahead of its Time and was Uncharacteristically so Intense and Fast Paced that it is Quite Remarkable for a Film of its Period. Probably Because it was an Independent Production Without Studio Interference. Director and Producer Andrew Stone was able to Make this Exciting Movie with a Relatively Low Budget and turn it into a Forgotten Film that is One of the Genre's Gems.

From the Opening Frame in the Dining Room where the Ships Captain is handed a note that says Simply "fire in the engine room", the Audience is Sucked into a High Voltage Survival Story of Passengers and Crew Racing to Save the Ship and Themselves.

The Cast of Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders, and Woody Strode are all Excellent, but the True Star of the Film is the Pacing, the Authenticity, the High-Stakes Melodrama, and an All Around Production that is Awe Inspiring. Humanity in Crisis, where They Often Shine, is also on Board in this Fantastic Film. Highly Recommended for Anyone.

Note...There has been a bit of whining from some old salts about using and abusing a real antiquated ship about to be euthanized, to make this Movie. If She could talk maybe She would be proud to play a role in a drama that reflected some of her real-life sisters tragedies. An homage to their dignity and memory.

Better than average disaster flick

[brefane · 7/10 · 13 August 2005]

Tense film that wastes no time with unnecessary subplots or characterizations. The film has a documentary-like realism, enhanced by the use of an unseen narrator, the omission of background music, and the destruction of an actual cruise liner for the production of the film. Modest and taut, The Last Voyage is superior to the bloated Titanic and the campy Poseidon Adventure. The film gets right to the situation and you'll keep watching as Robert Stack tries to rescue his wife and daughter amidst the surrounding chaos, and Dorothy Malone is very effective as his wife who is trapped under debris. For its time (1960), the film is notable for the fact that the hero, played by Woody Strode, just happens to be black;Sidney Poitier couldn't have played it better. Gripping film, well-done.

Too much improbility

[edalweber · 4/10 · 13 August 2018]

This movie has some spectacular scenes but too much about it makes no sense.Why should the captain be so obcessed about making a record trip in a ship headed for the scrap heap? And all the things in the boiler room that were defective, no matter how old the ship was or what was its intended fate, passenger ships were carefully inspected before each voyage, No inspector would have failed to make sure something as critical as a steam gage or safety valve was working. That kind of thing was constantly checked.Nor would an engineer in charge have to worry about begging a higher up for taking action immediately.He would have immediately cut off the fuel oil supply to all boilers to reduce pressure until he had checked everything out.Nobody in this thing uses the least common sense.And as far as the woman trapped, the sensible thing,AGAIN" would be to round up some strong male passengers to help.get a heavy beam or oron bar to use as a lever, with something to use as shims to prevent the wall from falling back down as pressure was released.FIRST clearing all the depris out of the room so you could see what you were doing,you could have leavered the wall clear in a fraction of the time,far more quickly than bothering with the cutting torch,which could never have cleared things in the few minutes shown.At the time people regarded the trashing of the fine old liner as desecration to make this thing,It is a great pity that no one thought of preserving it as a hotel like the Queen Mary.

Engrossing forerunner of disaster films...a minor 'Titanic'...

[Doylenf · 23 November 2003]

A good decade before the disaster films of the '70s we had this engrossing, tightly knit disaster film about a luxury passenger liner's last voyage after a fire and explosions make it sinkable.

George Sanders is the Captain who doesn't want to alert the passengers and thinks the fire can be contained before things get worse. Robert Stack is traveling with his wife and daughter and having a wonderful time until they learn the hard way that the ship is doomed. Most of the film has him trying to find someone help him rescue his wife who becomes trapped beneath some steel girders. Fortunately for him, Woody Strode agrees to help and most of the suspense deals with their efforts to free her despite no help from the Captain or his crew--until Edmond O'Brien joins forces with them to free her.

All of the details are realistic and certainly the actors had to undergo some uncomfortable physical demands in going through their paces. Woody Strode is impressive both physically and otherwise as the man who gives his all to help Stack. He and Robert Stack give the strongest performances in their physically demanding roles.

George Sanders is rather bland as the stubborn Captain but since most of the action concerns Stack and his efforts to free Malone, it doesn't matter too much. Dorothy Malone is impressive as the woman who tells her husband and daughter to save themselves before it's too late.

A very engrossing thriller...but one that had me squirming uncomfortably while watching situations that seemed painfully real. A forerunner of James Cameron's TITANIC, it tells the tale in a swift one hour and thirty minutes with some of the action filmed aboard the real Ile de France.

Better Than Average Disaster Film - The Last Voyage

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 22 September 2021]

This is a better than average disaster film. There are some decent actors who do a fairly good job; especially the child actor). Dorothy Malone, George Sanders (one of my favorites), and Robert Stack (he of The Untouchables fame), are the leading actors in the film. They are ably supported by Woody Strode (who would go on to make memorable appearances in Spartacus and The Professionals, as well as Edmund O'Brian (he of DOA fame). There is substantial intensity in the suspense at times (although the film was over-hyped), and, of course, we know the ship will sink, but it is the trip here, not the final destination that is interesting. Good viewing.

A Precursor To A 70s Genre

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 26 September 2005]

If you watch THE LAST VOYAGE in 2005 you'll be mistaken in thinking it's a disaster movie with very poor production values . Truth be told the disaster movie genre as we know it started and ended sometime in the 1970s and it's a genre unique to that era so I doubt if in 1960 the producers were expecting it to stand in comparison to later films like THE TOWERING INFERNO and EARTHQUAKE

This is more of an action adventure melodrama and should be treated as such so don't complain about this movie not having an all star cast or the rather cheap production values like the very obvious revealing mistake where the boiler explodes throwing some tailors dummies up into the air . You shouldn't complain about that scene anyway since it's the best bit of the movie and I always have a sadistic chuckle when I see it . Despite being rather clichéd the basic plot of a man trying to rescue his wife on a sinking ship is very compelling and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie which is miles better than the one with a woman called Rose saving a girlie man called Jack from a sinking ship

An early disaster thriller, and an excellent one

[tarwaterthomas · 10/10 · 30 June 2020]

Here is positive proof that disaster thriller movies did not originate with Irwin Allen. Since an actual ocean liner named the Ile de France was slated for destruction at a shipyard, writer-director Andrew L. Stone got his meat hooks on the vessel and set about destroying it and capturing the process on film. All he had to do was fashion a plot about a fire that breaks out in the engine room of the S.S. Claridon and imperils both passengers and crew members. In so doing, Stone turned the cast members into stunt persons. George Sanders plays the mule headed Captain Robert Adams of the ill-fated liner who is killed by a falling smoke stack. Robert Stack heads the cast as Cliff Henderson who tries to rescue his wife Laurie (Dorothy Maone) and their daughter Jill from certain death (she was played by an adorable Tammy Marihugh who was one of the best child actresses from the 1960s). The Henderson family is aided and abetted by the ship's stoker Hank Lawson (played by Woody Strode). There's also an explosion that punches a hole in the Claridon's hull, thus causing the ship to sink. Andrew Stone wrote the screenplay and his wife Virginia served as editor. THE LAST VOYAGE reunited Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone, who had been in WRITTEN IN THE WIND (1957). There is plenty of white-knuckled suspense all the way. Two of the cast members, George Furness and Andrew Hughes, appeared in quite a few Japanese-made movies; they played Occidental characters, of course. THE LAST VOYAGE received an Oscar nomination in the Best Special Effects category, for the special effects and pyrotechnics supervised by Augie Lohman. It lost to another MGM feature, THE TIME MACHINE. Can you handle 91 minutes of pure suspense? Find out for yourself.

OH DISASTER YOU ARE VICIOUS CREATURE...!

[masonfisk · 6/10 · 25 February 2019]

A pre-disaster film from 1960. Robert Stack & Dorothy Malone (reuniting as co-stars from Written on the Wind) play a married couple on vacation (along w/their adorable tyke) on a luxury liner who's best days are behind it as a controllable fire on the lower decks so becomes anything but. Eschewing the cliches & situations we will come to love (or hate!) from the all star disaster flicks of the 70's, this film skirts them or downright starts them. W/a cast which includes Edmond O'Brien, Woody Strode & George Sanders, the film scores points for sinking a real ship to achieve the goal of verisimilitude but the effects are dated (even though they won an Oscar) so some of the shine is gone.

Criminally underknown

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 24 February 2018]

THE LAST VOYAGE is a little-known but surprisingly excellent American disaster movie from 1960. It feels very much like the producers saw and loved A NIGHT TO REMEMBER and wanted a slice of the same action. This film's gimmick was that they sunk a real ship for greater authenticity, although some superimposed special effects are stil utilised. The film starts the disaster action from the get-go and never lets up until the final scene. It feels very much like a precursor to the disaster cycle of the 1970s and is easily on par with THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. Robert Stack is the dogged hero trying to rescue his trapped wife and George Sanders the idiot captain who refuses to call for help. My favourite character is hulking crew man Woody Strode, stripped to the waste and helping out at every turn. The film's remarkable suspense scenes and incredibly realistic climax help to lift it into classic status and I look forward to revisiting it in future.

Still a gripping drama

[batman50 · 7/10 · 19 April 2020]

This was the first film I ever watched on a colour television over 40 years ago and I found it quite frightening. A recent viewing was less traumatic not least because a lot of disaster movies have passed under the bridge since then. However, on the plus side the action starts straight away and never really lets up and the special effects are still pretty good even for pre-CGI. On the minus side, the plot is very derivative, the dialogue is pretty dire and some of the acting is wooden enough to have braced the bulkhead. However, if you have never seen it, look out for it, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Utterly Incompetent

[evanston_dad · 4/10 · 2 April 2024]

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie so incompetently made as "The Last Voyage."

It doesn't waste any time getting to the disaster, I'll give it that. The movie just starts with the cruise liner already on fire, and we see the crew trying to contain it over the opening credits. Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone are apparently the only people on the cruise ship affected by a big explosion that blows a hole right through the middle of the ship. Malone gets trapped under a big piece of metal, where she'll stay for the rest of the movie. Stack has to first save his daughter, who disturbingly looks like an adult Shirley Temple impersonator who's been shrunk back to child size. He then spends literally 45 minutes running around the ship with Woody Strode looking for a blow torch, because this cruise liner apparently has absolutely no emergency protocols other than propping giant pieces of timber (where those came from I have no idea) against the leaky hull in the inexplicable belief that that will stop water from coming in.

Late in the movie, we finally see some other people getting into lifeboats. Stack gives his daughter to Woody Strode to raise so he can die with his wife. Strode seems game. Speaking of him, thank god this particular ship has him on board, since he's the only person in the movie who does anything useful, and he does it all wearing only a neckerchief.

The less than spectacular special effects earned "The Last Voyage" an Oscar nomination.

This movie is really bad, but it's a hoot to make fun of.

Grade: D+

Very good maritime disaster film

[matjusm · 8/10 · 8 March 2011]

I must say this is one of the best maritime disaster films I've seen.

The film is about an aging cruise ship on an ocean voyage. A fire in her engine room sets in motion a disastrous series of events that puts the ship in ever increasing danger of sinking. The officers and crew do their best to keep the ship afloat while a desperate husband tries to rescue his wife who's been trapped in her cabin before the ship goes down.

The film is a story of people acting under pressure and about how people go out of their way to help others who they've never met before. What I liked about The Last Voyage was that it was quite a realistic film with minimal melodrama, tension that just kept on building until it just glued me to the screen and a good selection of characters.

One of the film's biggest assets was the fact that an actual ship was rented for use in this film and partially sunk. All the sets are actually on a real ship and this greatly added to the realism, something that even the best soundstages, CGI and miniatures can't beat.

A good watch.

Real Ship Sinking.

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 15 November 2013]

Andrew L. Stone directed this early disaster yarn that stars Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone as Cliff & Laurie Henderson, who, along with their young daughter Jill, are passengers aboard an old luxury liner whose boiler explodes, starting an engine room fire that spreads out of control, threatening to sink the ship. George Sanders plays Captain Adams, and Edmond O'Brian plays the engineer trying desperately to save the ship, and help Henderson, whose wife is now trapped, and in need of a blowtorch to free her. Exciting film with a fine cast and impressively uses a real ship to sink, rather than model work, which gives this film an added feeling of authenticity.

A gripping film with historical worth.

[Jcmdc · 27 September 2004]

Viewers of "The Last Voyage" who have branded it a "cinematic turkey" are mislead, in my opinion. This film achieves a realism that is superior to the many disaster genre films that followed it. But more importantly, it is a visual record of one of the finest transatlantic liners ever--the French Line's Isle de France. I don't know of any motion picture that actually used a ship as a floating prop as extensively as Stone's film. The Isle de France represented an important departure in ship design. Earlier liners attempted to disguise the fact that they were ocean-going vessels. The "Isle de France" brought the new art deco and moderne styles to the high seas and utilized some of the finest French designers to craft this ship of state. When the later Normandie was lost, many of her furnishings were transferred to the Isle including furnishings by the famous designer Ruhlman. Here in this film are these exciting interiors for all to see for the last time prior to sending the Isle to the ship breakers. The film also heralds the very twilight of regularly scheduled transatlantic and transpacific liner service as the jet began to rapidly displace this very civilized way to travel.