Maverick Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Dodge will never be a textbook officer, but he's a brilliant seaman who's always wanted to command a nuclear submarine — he's been given one last chance to clean up his record. Unfortunately, Admiral Graham, his nemesis, would rather sink the fleet than give Dodge his own boat. So, Graham stacks the deck against him and assigns Dodge to the Stingray, a diesel-powered WW2 submarine that can barely keep afloat. To make matters worse, Dodge's crew is a collection of maladjusted, mistake-prone misfits. Then, he's tagged the "enemy" in a crucial war game, and ordered to take on the U.S. Navy's best.
Acting
Kelsey Grammer's barely-contained Frasier energy in a military uniform.
Writing
The war game rules are genuinely clever—this script respects your intelligence.
Practical Effects
Real diesel sub interiors give every creak and leak authentic chaos.
Director
David S. Ward
Kelsey Grammer
Lt. Commander Tom Dodge
Lauren Holly
Lt. Emily Lake
Rob Schneider
Lt. Marty Pascal
Harry Dean Stanton
Lt. Howard
Bruce Dern
Rear Admiral Yancy Graham
William H. Macy
Captain Knox
Rip Torn
Admiral Winslow
Ken Hudson Campbell
Seaman Buckman
Toby Huss
Seaman Nitro
Duane Martin
Planesman 1st Class Jefferson 'R.J.' Jackson
Jonathan Penner
Seaman Stanley 'Spots' Sylvesterson
Bradford Tatum
Engineman 1st Class Brad Stepanak
Harland Williams
Seaman 2nd Class E.T. 'Sonar' Lovacelli
Jordan Marder
Orlando Ensign
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The USS Pampanito, the actual WW2 sub used for filming, still operates as a museum ship in San Francisco—you can visit Dodge's rustbucket IRL.
This bombed in theaters but became a cable TV staple, basically inventing the 'wait, this is actually good?' 90s comedy rediscovery pipeline.
US
