SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

ShangLuda Admirable film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

bkoganbing Under Ten Flags is a film about the destruction of the German surface raider Atlantis during the years of World War II before American entry. Based on a true story the captain is played by Van Heflin who is a master at camouflaging his ship as an ordinary merchant vessel and then springing a big surprise on Allied commerce. His ship carries at least ten flags for each occasion including the swastika rolled down when the moment is right to strike.Heflin seems to take his cues from the famous sea raider of World War I, Count Felix Von Luckner who operated exactly that way in the previous conflict. That's not easy to do the same during this war with Germany's new masters, still Heflin has a code he lives by. He's also got at least one confirmed Nazi in his crew, John Ericson a young Aryan true believer. He can't believe that Heflin actually treats the prisoners he takes like human beings including a Jewish husband and wife who gives birth to a baby daughter on the ship. Ericson vows to report such subversive behavior to the proper authorities in Berlin.This film is very similar to Sink The Bismarck and the guy trying to put Heflin and his raider out of business is Admiral Charles Laughton in London. It's all a matter of cracking the German code and the action also is in occupied Paris where they've got the code in the German embassy. Laughton wants to take Heflin down but he's absolutely enthralled by Heflin's skill and daring. Beyond that Laughton's part as the British admiral is rather ill defined. Usually I enjoy watching Laughton in anything and I like him here as well, but he's not given all that much to work with and the film clearly belongs to Heflin.Who delivers a very good performance as a civilized man trying to stay civilized in barbaric times and having barbaric people run his country. Under Ten Flags for some reason seems to have disappeared and I count myself lucky to have gotten a copy of the film to review it. I think fans of war films will consider themselves lucky to see Under Ten Flags.

ce8ctdow The previous review is correct, this is a poor film. However the lack of blood 'n' guts is based on fact. Atlantis was captained by Bernhard Rogge. The skipper of the British vessel, "City of Baghdad", which the Atlantis sunk in July of 1941, stated, "His treatment of prisoners left respect, instead of hatred." The Captain of the "City of Baghdad" was Captain J. Armstrong-White. He wrote the foreword in "Atlantis, The story of a German Surface Raider" written by U. Mohr & A.V. Sellwood.Rogge became a Vizeadmiral (vice-admiral) by the end of World War II, and eventually became a Konteradmiral (rear-admiral) of the West German Bundesmarine.Rogge also was one of the few German officers of flag rank who was not arrested by the Allies after the war. This was due to the way he had exercised his command of Atlantis.

opet Sadly, this movie has not been commercially available for many years. It is story about a rarely mentioned weapon of WWII, the German Surface Raider. They were ordinary merchant ships lined with amour plating and medium-sized navel guns. Unlike the famous U-boats which could hide beneath the sea, Surface Raiders relied on disguise to blend in with normal shipping traffic until they could find a lone ship they could surprise and sink.This is the story of the hunt to find and destroy the best of them, the ship Atlantis. It is a story of bravery and ingenuity on both sides as the British Admiralty is caught up in a vast game of hide-n-seek with a clever adversary.I choose to write this review largely because I have, over the years read a few rather poor opinions expressed about it. I can't wait for it to reappear somewhere, someday. My only explanation as to why someone who is a fan of naval war films would not thoroughly enjoy this one is the fact that the last three times I saw it over fifteen years ago the reels of the movie were in the wrong order! (I swear). That dampens the suspense considerably and gives it a very muddled, confused look. But even mixed up it beats a lot of movies I've seen.

lobo1955 This is truly a classic! It portrays war at sea, as a deadly game of hide and seek. Cause as much havoc and destruction, without being identified or located. In this movie, the enemy(the British) has no idea what kind of ship(s) or submarine(s)are sinking vital merchant ships. It is a raider ship,with a clever Captain that can change the appearance of his ship as quickly as changing clothes! Nationalities were no obstacle. It also showed that all German officers were not followers of Hitler. This one, in real life, went on to serve as a NATO naval officer. This ship's crew should have lots of war stories for the grandchildren.