Commander James Ferraday, USN, has new orders: get David Jones, a British civilian, Captain Anders, a tough Marine with a platoon of troops, Boris Vasilov, a friendly Russian, and the crew of the nuclear sub USS Tigerfish to the North Pole to rescue the crew of Drift Ice Station Zebra, a weather station at the top of the world. The mission takes on new and dangerous twists as the crew finds out that all is not as it seems at Zebra, and that someone will stop at nothing to prevent the mission from being completed.
Synopsis by IMDb
Ice Station Zebra is an American thriller film first released on 23rd October 1968, directed by John Sturges. The film is based on a novel by Alistair MacLean and stars Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown and Tony Bill.
Action adventure film, in which US and Russian forces race to recover some compromising satellite photography from a remote Polar outpost. Alistair MacLean’s novel adapted into a screen story [by Harry Julian Fink] is seeded with elements of intrigue, as Rock Hudson takes aboard a British secret agent, Patrick McGoohan; an expatriate, professional anti-Communist Russian, Ernest Borgnine; and an enigmatic Marine Corps captain, Jim Brown.
Action develops slowly, alternating with some excellent submarine interior footage, and good shots – of diving, surfacing and maneuvering under an ice field.
Film’s biggest acting asset is McGoohan, who gives his scenes that elusive ‘star’ magnetism. He is a most accomplished actor with a three-dimensional presence all his own.
Excellent old-style political thriller.
Exciting murder-mystery-thriller directed by Sturges; Hudson and cast are great.
The U.S. nuclear sub Tigerfish churns toward the North Pole. Its mission: rescue the imperiled members of weather outpost Ice Station Zebra. On board are Cmdr. Ferraday and his crew, several unexpected arrivals with secret orders - and enough suspicions, suspense and twists to make Ice Station Zebra an engrossing espionage thriller. The Cold War heats up as John Sturges (The Great Escape) directs Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown and more in this epic adventure nominated for two Academy Awards and featuring taut action set pieces above and below the ice. All hands to stations for excitement!
It's one of those movies than has a overture and intermission;<
