GOING UNDER

US, 1990, 80 minutes, Colour.
Bill Pullman, Wendy Schaal, Ned Beatty, Ernie Sabella, Robert Vaughn, Roddy Mc Dowall, Richard Masur.
Directed by Mark W. Travis.

Going Under is not essential viewing. It is a corny parody. During the 1980s, there were a number of parodies which followed the lead of Jim Abrahams’ and the Zucker brothers’ Flying High (Airplane). These parodied many disaster films – and had quite corny dialogue, take it or leave it jokes and passed on to the next. There were several other parodies of films – especially in the 1990s Hot Shots. This film is in the vein of Hot Shots – but, in comparison, it is very weak and corny indeed.

The film focuses on a new American submarine where politicians in Washington cut corners with costs. Ned Beatty is Admiral Malice who takes bribes, is subservient to an industrialist, Wedgewood, played by Robert Vaughn. The Secretary for Defence is Roddy Mc Dowall, mild-mannered as Secretary Neighbor. Most of the characters have corny names.

The focus is on Bill Pullman as a nervous submarine captain who landed his submarine on Beach Blanket Bingo. He is forced to be the commander of the new submarine, the Sub- Standard, so that he will fail, engage in war with the Russians, detonate a nuclear reactor, bring about a war so that the admiral and the industrialist will profit.

It is a pity that the screenplay is not much sharper. The style is rather frenetic parody, caricature. The film sends up such submarine films as The Hunt for Red October which came out in the same year.

Bill Pullman was at the beginning of his career, making comedies like Ruthless People and Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs. However, he was to move into drama with John Dahl’s The Last Seduction and Independence Day as the President of the United States.