Took at class on Kubrick, one of my favorite directors ever. As part of the curriculum we watched this and The Flying Padre. Both were terrible, but this was much worse. So boring that the teacher actually fell asleep.
Fear and Desire was OK. Worth seeing at least once for diehard fans.
The Killing and anything since is all gold.
My two cents.
Its a work for hire, not any kind of art.
QUESTION:
how contrived was it?
Everyone is so dressed up. Did people really dress like that or did they say " some kids filming us next week, so dress up!"
I have no intrests in seafarers and I would never watch a movie like this if I wasen't a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick. So it was kind of hard to watch this for an half hour. So yes; it was awful for me too.
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To the OP:
Agreed, although I found "Flying Padre" a little bit more amusing in trying to "layer" Kubrick's style onto the film. As for your teacher falling asleep, I can completely empathize. This film is the living embodiment of B-O-R-I-N-G.
"There is no inner peace. There is only nervousness and death." - Fran Lebowitz
Not awful, but definitely pretty dull. Flying Padre is definitely a little better, but Day of the Fight blows both (and the somewhat underrated Fear And Desire) out of the water.
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I didn't mind this too much. It's certainly a cultural artifact of a time and a place. Once you get past that wretched opening with your greasy host (man, it looked like that guy hadn't showered in weeks...) it's a fun watch to spot styles, cars, architecture, knick knacks, etc... and what this union thought uneducated men in the early fifties would find appealing. Knowing it's an industrial film aimed at recruiting new union members makes it more palatable... it's certainly MST3K-able. They lampooned a hundred films just like this.
Fear and Desire felt like a student film, shot in back yards. I liked the tone, and there were at least a few Twilight Zone episodes years later that seemed to mimic it.
"Rampart: Squad 51."