MovieChat Forums > Tides of War (2005) Discussion > Realism

Realism

posted 18 years ago by triznuity
3 replies | jump to latest

The true element which gives a science fiction or action drama film its character is the realism of the plot as well as the props.

Being a United States Navy Sailor, I was unable to focus on the plot of the film, as I was far too distracted by the immense mistakes made with the naval uniforms (I mean come on, I have to wear that uniform DAILY!). From the opening scenes, I saw that the captain was totally out of uniform, wearing Lieutenant Commander shoulder boards but a commander's collar device. His ribbons were so far out of order, that after I caught my breath from laughing, I literally threw the DVD player's remote across the room. LT Trifoli's uniform while on the submarine said she was Surface Warfare Officer qualified. However, when in her dress white uniform, she only bore three ribbons. Was she really qualified, or was she trying to be more than what she was? She'd catch hell for that in the REAL Navy!

When I felt I could resume watching the film again, I had to force myself not to pay any attention to the uniforms so that I could focus on the plot. With that said, giving a lieutenant commander any kind of authority over a commander is just outright absurd. If anything, the admiral should have at least frocked LCDR Barker to commander and made him an equal rank to the skipper. That would have showed the audience that the film writers did their research.

Finally, the graphics. Well, they were obviously computer generated and seemed eerily similar to those found in the video game "Silent Steel." They, too, posed another distraction to me which prevented me from focusing on the plot.

As a word of advice to those producers and directors who attempt to make a naval film, please, please, PLEASE do your research to ensure the little errors--like that captain wearing a Petty Officer First Class collar device-- don't take away the realism from your work. If I had not been in a better mood as I watched this film, I would've been thoroughly offended, as this uniform is what I and 352,000 others wear day in and day out in defense of our nation. Good day, all.

[–] midshipmanx 17 years ago

I followed this film while it was in production and pointed out some of the same flaws from the production stills that I saw. And, if they were going to get the uniforms wrong, they could have at least gotten them wrong consistently. There were scenes that immediately followed each other where collar devices simply disappeared and then reappeared. COB (a master chief) wearing LT bars, the CAPT wearing the Petty Officer Crow. The Navigator being a LTJG. It just didn't end. This kind of thing is far too easy to research for a costume person to get it wrong and the script supervisor must have been asleep because continuity was worse than abysmal. Now, I'm a former U.S. submarine officer and current struggling actor and on both accounts this film was immensely flawed. On the other hand, the story was not bad. Sure, there were technical inaccuracies in some of the submarine jargon and some of the situations were technically inaccurate but, I'm more forgiving on this stuff given the classified nature of some of the information they may have needed to make it more technically accurate. The resolution was a bit quick, however. The build up led to a bit of an anti-climax.

[–] fivestarmichael 17 years ago

I have never been on a submarine... and I give thanks to those who risk their lives for our country.

I can't imagine how painful it is for a member of the silent service to watch this movie. How bad can you make a movie? My God it seemed incredibly fake to me and I have never been on a submarine :) I completely agree with you. The computer graphics were absolutely horrible! I felt like I was watching one of those video games with interspersed real-life scenes.

Well... thank God for our military and shame on people who make awful movies about our military.

[–] justinepstein1 16 years ago

It is pretty sad that someone that never even set foot on a submarine can call the movie out on its lack of realism. I served for 10 years on fast attack nuclear submarines in the US Navy. I was actually suprised not with the special effects (which werent very special), but with little things like the QMOW struggling to write in the Ships Deck Log and the sonar guys talking about the broadband stack, but most of the movie was complete crap in the realism section. Heres some of the stuff that I noticed barely staying awake to finish the movie.

- COB was a Master Chief Petty Officer in the beginning of the movie, then went to LT bars, then back to MCPO.

- Diving Officer of the Watch taking helm orders. (Dive only takes depth and ship control orders like diving,surfacing,ventilating,evolutions like pumping sanitaries,running the evaporator,etc..) The Helmsman takes engine orders, rudder orders, and course orders

- The captain took the helm every time he came to the control room. This never happens on real submarines. The only time I ever saw the captain take the conn was during Battle Station Strike (Tomahawk) and Battle Station (Torpedo), or when an officer that had the conn screwed up bad or something like that.

- Admirals with ribbons that werent even on straight, The Chief of the Boat with only 4 ribbons on his chest. My first COB had about 7 rows of 3 on his chest after a 25 year career. That is about average for a COB.

- Masts and Antennas - every time they went to a outside view of the sub it was cruising at 400 feet and 20 knots with every single mast and antenna sticking out of the sail. In real life those masts would have all been broken off and the boat would have flooded through the EHF's in the sail.

- Whatever that sonar thing that they sent out that the big sub hit...some kind of towed array that looked like a jellyfish on the end of it does not exist. The Towed Array exists but doesnt look anything like that. Also the COB cut the wire with a little latch in the control room. This is also a myth, because the real wire is cut a different way.

- Maneuvering - This was a big one. What do these people think moves a submarine? I even saw the chief of the boat controlling this submarine with a little joystick. You cant maneuver canyons underwater with no vision and a 7000 ton 360 foot piece of steel with nothing but a propellor for thrust and stern/fairwater planes to control depth. That fricken sub was bobbing and weaving through canyons under water. Gimme a break!

-Ranks - You had a LTJG as a WEPS and NAV, which is unheard of. They are always LT's on their 2nd sea tour after SOAC (Submarine Officer Advanced Course) in Groton,CT. They had an E-6 on the helm which is unheard of, he better be qualifying COW or Dive.Usually the helms and planesmen are E-1 through E-4 with a few E-5's as the senior guys. They also are the people who are either new on the boat or are familiar with how the system works (mechanics,torpedomen,deck division because they are new,etc..)

Thats all I got without even really thinking about it. If anybody has questions about what a real sub is like, feel free to email me, [email protected]