Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Irwin Allen directs. Winton C. Hoch behind the camera. Paul Sawtell scores. George Boemler cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 4.4× over at the box office.
• 365 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 5Directed by Irwin Allen, shot by Winton C. Hoch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor George Boemler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling and Barbara Eden carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "From Hundred of Miles In Outer Space to Seven Miles Beneath the Sea!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0055608 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 27 themes, including "race against time", "mutiny", "desertion", "heat".

The technical file

Cinematography

Winton C. Hoch

Original score

Paul Sawtell

Editing

George Boemler

Costume design

Paul Zastupnevich

Makeup / hair

Ben Nye

Runtime

105 min · 1h 45m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,580,000

Box office

$7,000,000

Return

443% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

71% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

49/100

IMDB rating

6/10 · 6,790 votes

MPAA

PG

Also by

Irwin Allen

• 
  Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

  1964 · ★ 7.8
• 
  The Time Tunnel

  1966 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Animal World

  1956 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Land of the Giants

  1968 · ★ 6.8
• 
  The Sea Around Us

  1953 · ★ 6.1
• 
  The Lost World

  1960 · ★ 5.8

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Preview Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-10-01
  ★ 7/10

  God's will is written above the heavens. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is produced and directed by Irwin Allen out of 20th Century Fox. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett and it stars Walter Pidgeon, Robert Sterling, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Michael Ansara, and Peter Lorre. The theme song was sung by Frankie Avalon, who also appears in the film. Winton Hoch is the cinematographer and the score is a joint collaboration by Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter. It's a CinemaScope/De Luxe presentation. Admiral Harriman Nelson (Pidgeon) is commander of his new, state of the art nuclear submarine, The Seaview, which is on diving trials in the Arctic Ocean. When the sub surfaces the crew find the sky is burning, it seems that a meteor shower had occurred and a piece has fractured the Van Allen Radiation Belt causing it to catch fire, the result of which is a world-threatening increase in heat all across the Earth. Nelson proposes to the U.N. to detonate a Polaris nuclear missile in the belt to hopefully send it on a reverse spin into outer space. However, his idea is shot down at the meeting and he decides to take matters into his own hands. Setting off for the calculated launching point in the Marianas Trench, the crew of The Seaview must tackle terrors of the deep, pursuing hostile submarines and severe in fighting as the crew start to come apart under pressure. To those of us who were reared on pre Star Wars sci-fi it's hard to grasp the complaints of the modern audience about old time genre movies and the effects that reside within. Before George Lucas took sci-fi and cinema watching to a different level involving pacey action every other frame, explosions a plenty and money inspired effects: our tastes were happily catered for by solid stories, character development and the odd bit of inspired for its time effects. Enter Irwin Allen's "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" which boasts all those latter points mentioned. That the film was turned into a television series that ran for 5 seasons (64-68) is arguably the biggest legacy. For at the time of its release the critics gave it a very mixed response, and yet the public made it a hit. Made for roughly $2 million it comfortably made $7 million at the box office to justify Allen's faith in the movie. Watching it now as an adult it has lost none of the charm it had for me as a child. Only differences now are that I can sensibly think about such things as the science involved, observe a cheeky pro-nuclear stance in the Cold War era, and of course admire the form of Barbara Eden in a way I wouldn't have done as a spotty faced kid!. It's now also a film, thanks to the advent of home entertainment technology, that looks and sounds great. There's plenty of De Luxe colour eye candy visuals, some vintage effects and good quality underwater photography. The production design holds up well, while The Seaview itself, with its on board aquarium and unique eight-window bow view port, remains an indelible piece of sci-fi folklore. The acting isn't called on to be much, but they all deliver professional turns, while Avalon's title song is a catchy piece of harmony. All that and you also get Peter Lorre brooding and taking a shark for a walk!. Red sky at night is a slice of sci-fi pie delight. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• WI

  Windsor Productions

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

Key crew

• Art DirectionHerman A. Blumenthal
• ProducerIrwin Allen
• Set DecorationJohn Sturtevant
• Costume DesignPaul Zastupnevich
• Set DecorationWalter M. Scott
• EditorGeorge Boemler
• Art DirectionJack Martin Smith
• Technical AdvisorFred Zendar
• StuntsJohnny Hagner
• ConductorPaul Sawtell
• OrchestratorMax Reese
• Producer's AssistantAl Gail
• SoundAlfred Bruzlin
• SoundWarren B. Delaplain
• StuntsPaul Stader
• Visual EffectsL.B. Abbott
• Assistant DirectorAd Schaumer
• StuntsZale Parry
• Transportation CoordinatorJim Martell
• Underwater CameraJohn Lamb
• Makeup ArtistBen Nye
• HairstylistHelen Turpin

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• race against time
• mutiny
• desertion
• heat
• climate change
• iceberg
• nuclear missile
• betrayal
• physicist
• laboratory
• armageddon
• electrocution
• explosion
• united nations
• sabotage
• religious fundamentalism
• diver
• brawl
• moral dilemma
• mini submarine
• abandoned ship
• giant squid
• disobeying orders
• minefield
• nuclear submarine
• meteor shower
• sky on fire

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1961-07-12
• Physical2013-10-08PG· Blu-Ray Release
• Physical2000-09-05PG· Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea / Fantastic Voyage DVD Double Feature
• Physical2007-06-05PG· DVD Release
• Physical1991-09-11NR· Fox Video #1044 [𝐕𝐇𝐒📼] 𝟭𝟬𝟲 mínutєѕ

Also known as

International titles

• Journey to the Bottom of the SeaUS
• Viagem ao Fundo do MarBR