FULL FATHOM FIVE is a low-budget action-adventure film without much in the way of action or adventure. Michael Moriarty stars as McKenzie, the commander of an American nuclear submarine. On the eve of the US invasion of Panama, he's sent ashore to rescue the leader of a Panamanian rebel
group and meets the rebel's sister, Justine (Maria Rangel), who hates Americans. Guess what? She kind of likes this one.
Hoping to prevent the invasion, the Panamanian military enlist Cuban commandos to hijack a Russian nuclear sub, with which they plan to blackmail the US. The Cubans have ideas of their own, however, and threaten to destroy Houston unless their demands are met. As luck would have it, McKenzie's sub
is Johnny-on-the-spot, but the commander is on leave, busily seducing Justine. In an attempt to inject some kind of suspense into the film, the screenplay calls for McKenzie to take a mini-sub into a deep underwater trench to recover his ship.
Moriarty appears to be heavily sedated throughout this mercifully short film, sleepwalking through every scene except the obligatory sexual encounter (which isn't very exciting either). Equally disappointing is the screenplay's failure to explain why the Cubans are attempting to blackmail the US
government, and how they plan to succeed. Simply put, nothing in FULL FATHOM FIVE is even remotely plausible. The Russian sub is captured without a fight; McKenzie has little trouble finding his own sub, despite the fact that it's sitting silently on the bottom of the ocean, hundreds of miles from
port; the rebel leader forgoes an easy opportunity to stop a crucial security leak. The film's climactic battle scene is engaging, but before it begins, viewers must endure 70 minutes of unalloyed tedium. DAS BOOT this isn't. (Adult situations, violence.) leave a comment