Download Ice Station Zebra movie

u-boat | all-male-cast | cinerama | rescue-mission | cold-war | nuclear | satellite | spy | submarine | ice | north-pole | booby-trap | double-agent | marine | paratrooper | sinking | based-on-novel |

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u-boat | all-male-cast | cinerama | rescue-mission | cold-war | nuclear | satellite | spy | submarine | ice | north-pole | booby-trap | double-agent | marine | paratrooper | sinking | based-on-novel

Production

The film rights to the 1963 novel were acquired the following year by producer Martin Ransohoff who hoped to capitalize on the success of adapting another Alistair MacLean novel to the silver screen as a follow-up to the 1961 blockbuster The Guns of Navarone.

"Navarone" stars Gregory Peck and David Niven were initially attached to this film, with Peck as the sub commander and Niven as the British spy, plus Edmond O'Brien and George Segal in the other key roles. Filming was set to begin in April 1965, but scheduling conflicts and U.S. Department of Defense objections over Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay and its depiction of naval life onboard the submarine delayed the start.

A new script was commissioned, but due to scheduling conflicts, the original cast was no longer available when filming began in Spring 1967. Principal photography lasted nineteen weeks, ending in October 1967. Ice Station Zebra was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Daniel L. Fapp. The nuclear-powered Dolphin (renamed Tigerfish (SSN-509)) was portrayed in the movie by the diesel-electric Guppy IIA submarine USS Ronquil (SS-396) when filming took place in August 1967.

Second unit cameraman John M. Stephens developed an innovative underwater camera system that successfully filmed the first continuous dive of a submarine, which became the subject of the documentary featurette The Man Who Makes a Difference.

Because his TV series The Prisoner was in production during principal photography in Ice Station Zebra, Patrick McGoohan had the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" re-written to have the mind of his character Number Six transferred into the body of another character.

Ice Station Zebra was released on October 23, 1968, and was presented in 70 mm Cinerama in premiere engagements, which also featured an opening overture that was restored for its 2005 DVD release. The film became a major hit, which gave a much needed boost to Rock Hudson's flagging career.

Ice Station Zebra was nominated for two Academy Awards, in the special effects category (2001: A Space Odyssey won instead) and Best Cinematography (won by Romeo and Juliet).

Cultural impact

Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who had experience both as a movie producer and a defense contractor for the U.S., is said to have watched Ice Station Zebra dozens of times on a continuous loop in his private hotel suite during the years prior to his death. VCRs and Laserdiscs weren't yet available: The film was shown in the form of a spooled print running through a film projector onto a traditional screen.

"Arctic Splashdown", an early episode of the popular Jonny Quest prime-time cartoon series of 1964, seems to be closely based on the Ice Station Zebra plot.

The sets and miniature footage from Ice Station Zebra was re-used for the 1971 ABC made-for-television movie Assault on the Wayne, starring Leonard Nimoy, Joseph Cotten, Keenan Wynn, William Windom, Sam Elliott, and Dewey Martin, which also featured Zebra cast members Lloyd Haynes and Ron Masak.[1]

Footage from Ice Station Zebra (and the model of the Swordfish) was also re-used in the 1978 disaster film Gray Lady Down, the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again and the 1983 Cold War thriller Firefox.

In the 1986 animated series Defenders of the Earth, Ming the Merciless' Antarctic base of operations is known as "Ice Station Earth," a possible nod to the movie Ice Station Zebra.

In the original 1999 edition of Unreal Tournament, one of the deathmatch levels is named Ice Station Zeto, in honor of the movie Ice Station Zebra.

The third and final secret level in the Descent 2 expansion 'Vertigo Series' is named "Ice Station Zeta."

An episode of the animated series The Venture Bros., called "Ice Station -- Impossible!", takes the inspiration for its name from Ice Station Zebra.

An episode of Sealab 2021 has researchers in the Antarctic trapped on 'Ice Station Zebra'.

The first episode of Sam & Max Season Two was called 'Ice Station Santa'.

An episode of the original Battlestar Galactica was called Gun on Ice Planet Zero. As the title implies, its frigid setting recalled Zebra while its plot was similar to another military film of the 1960's, The Guns of Navarone.

The NRO declassifed information stating that "an individual formerly possessing CORONA access was the technical advisor to the movie" and admitted "the resemblance of the loss of the DISCOVERER II capsule, and its probable recovery by the Soviets" on Spitsbergen Island, to the book by Alistair MacLean.[1]

Cast

• Rock Hudson as Commander James Ferraday, USN
• Ernest Borgnine as Boris Vaslov
• Patrick McGoohan as David Jones
• Jim Brown as Captain Leslie Anders, USMC
• Tony Bill as 1st Lieutenant Russell Walker, USMC
• Lloyd Nolan as Admiral Garvey, USN
• Alf Kjellin as Colonel Ostrovsky, the Soviet commander

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