Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

bobzeschin I just saw this for the first time last night on a cable movie channel, and I was amazed to see that it was originally a TV-movie, which means a budget the tenth of what a feature would have cost. The production values looked like a studio had spent some fairly serious money to make it. Much more important, the tone kept me thinking of "A Few Good Men" from beginning to end. I agree with all the good things other reviewers have written, and rate it one notch higher at eight.If I have a quibble, it's with the title, which, thanks to IMDb, I now know is the title of the book the film's based on. It refers to a certain scene and God knows it's appropriate, but I might never have clicked the remote to record it if the menu hadn't had a sentence telling me it was about the USS Iowa incident. Otherwise, I would have thought it was about a concentration camp, a Mexican prison, or, worst of all, some woman's especially awful marriage on Lifetime. There's some discussion on the message board about the word "hell" in the title, referring to that scene, but it also occurred to me that, like "Fair Game" did with the Valerie Plame case, it could also refer to what The Power Structure will put you through if you stand up to it.

k_schember I would have to agree with the majority that the Navy erred in the investigation and subsequent findings, be it from Old Boy mentality or just covering your six.But I must disagree on the quality of this 'movie', the acting, props, dialogue, costumes, writing and directing.First, and most obvious, all concerned had little information of the Naval Service, protocols or traditions.Second, all concerned didn't bother finding a Navy adviser to point out a few things (previously mentioned) about officers, enlisteds, chiefs and shipboard life - a step that would have paid off handsomely.Finally, although I was unable to locate proof online, I believe this tripe led to the series JAG.In my twenty-four years of service, I witnessed many things and have to agree that the Old Boy stuff does occur, but what the writers have officers and chiefs doing is - land-lubberly and un-informed.One final note: during the epilogue, the narrator states the ship was awarded a Navy Unit Citation, and that the medals were never delivered - true! A citation is a letter, entered into the man's service jacket. There is no medal to present, or to receive.

gsm1usn I was on active duty in the US Navy at the time of the tragedy aboard USS Iowa, and can clearly recall the controversy surrounding the incident. Many unanswered questions remain to this day, but this film does a fine job of presenting the story. Outstanding performance by James Caan as CAPT Moosally. The scenes showing the firing sequences of the big guns are alone well worth the purchase price of the movie. There has never been, nor will there ever be a single piece of military armament as awe-inspiring and fear-inducing as the mighty 16-inch/50 caliber gun. The saddest day in naval history was the final decommissioning of the Iowa Class battleships. One small error to point out: during the opening few minutes of the film, a battleship is seen underway(at sea). The hull number of the ship is "63", which was the number of the USS Missouri - the "Mighty Mo" - not the Iowa.

Greg Is there a greater tragedy than when a real live event sparks a hollywood frenzy to produce a story and the lasting result is a mismash of bad acting, writing, storytelling and overall production value. A Glimpse of Hell (out now on DVD) was a made for TV movie regarding the truth and subsequent cover up of the 1980's turrett explosion on the USS Iowa. As the true story goes, a turrett was practicing live fire when an explosion ripped through the loading area killing many marines. The cover-up begins with investigation that has the navy looking for an answer and not the truth. The truth would lead to the decommissioning of the IOWA and, as the movie quickly points out, guns on ships are no longer a necessity when missiles can make direct and accurate hits on programmed targets. James Caan stars as Captain Fred Moosaly, and it has been a long time since he has drifted and slept through an acting role as much as he does here. His emotions cannot be carried by the silly dialogue, so his furrowed brow tries to convince us that he is a troubled man that wants to do the right thing for the decesased and their families while still looking after the well being of those who remain under his command. The investigation leads the navy towards a coverup based on a proposed gay relationship between one of the deceased and a survivor. The navy is quick to conclude that it was a love triangle that sent many to their deaths in a suicide attempt, and it is up to the good guys to bring justice to the situation. Good grief. The writing is implicitly bad and characters are thrown in it seems just to show the families that they were all a part of equipment gone bad, and men who ultimately do good. The acting all around is simply stiff. If I was ever commissioned and had to spend months along side these characters, I think I would jump overboard and take my chances with the sharks. As Hollywood films go, the climax is a court scene when the Captain must choose between telling the truth or protecting the navy. I will let you guess what happens. I find it offensive when a true story where men or women who fight for a cause (in this case, their country) is put to film with such lack of passion as to leave the viewer with more of a sense of wanting to fast forward rather than to pay homage to those fallen. Every character is portrayed so stale, that I would be embarassed if I was a crew member who wants to see his story put on the big screen.Keeping such an interesting and historical story on such a low level of enthusiasm and effort is truly the injustice and director Mikael Salomon should be put in front of a judge himself for sentencing. To those families that lost lives in this tragic and horrific event, I apologize on everyones behalf that it took so long to bring your story to the general public and when it was finally completed, we had no interest.For those who really want to know what happened, I suggest contacting CBS for the 60 minutes special report and follow up. That segment did the sailors justice.