GamerTab That was an excellent one.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gavin6942 A team of international scientists and engineers attempts to build a tunnel under the ocean.The story was written by the amazing Curt Siodmak, based on the 1913 novel "Der Tunnel" by Bernhard Kellermann. Interestingly, "Der Tunnel" had already been filmed three times before, once as a German silent, "Der Tunnel" (1915), and then as two sound films "Der Tunnel" (German) and "Le Tunnel" (French), both released in 1933, and both directed by Curtis Bernhardt. The British version today remains the only one easily available.Suggestions for such a structure actually go back to Michel Verne, son of Jules Verne, who wrote about it in 1888 in a story entitled "Un Express de l'avenir" (An Express of the Future). This story was published in English in Strand Magazine in 1895. As recently as the 1960s, the idea was again proposed, but then using vacuum tubes rather than more traditional modes of transport.As for the film, it is worth seeing, if for no other reason than to get a feel for British science fiction in the 1930s. This approach seems much different than the boomin science fiction of the 1950s.

TxMike Born Ernest Carlton Brimmer, Richard Dix was about half-way into his very prolific career as a leading man. I didn't really know anything about him before seeing this movie. Via Netflix streaming video.This was the 1930s and scientists didn't know nearly as much about the geology of the Atlantic Ocean as we do today, so viewing it there are some seemingly obvious flaws in the plan.The plan was to build a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean, tying together the USA and England. Dix plays the engineer who can accomplish this, and his difficulty getting financing. From a technical aspect there is no discussion of the various underwater chasms that would need to be attended to, only a very simplistic depiction of two crews, each starting on different sides of the ocean, planning to meet in the middle. Along the way they need to figure out a way to get around an underwater volcano which they had no prior knowledge of.But in reality the actual tunnel is secondary to the drama. He has a wife and son who don't get enough attention because he is so consumed with the project. He has a best friend who stays behind to keep the wife company and there arises the possible issue of an illicit love affair, which in the 1930s would not have been depicted overtly.By today's standards this is a mediocre movie at best, but it is still interesting as a slice of cinema from that era, seeing how they depict possible futuristic methods of video conferencing and phone calls from airplanes, the sorts of things we are very familiar with today.

julwis This film has long been available in a 71 minute form, and I believe only recently has surfaced in its full 94 minute version. Having seen it I can understand why it was cut. From an engineering viewpoint the premise is interesting and indeed there are some nice touches in it using early special effects, like video phones etc. At the time such ideas were left to Flash Gordon serials (mostly). It also tries to show the devastating effect that one mans obsession can have on his family. This is where the film sadly falls short of the mark. By concentrating more on this side of the story, the film all but ignores the tunnel completely. Were it not for the volcano impeding the progress of the tunnel, it would have been finished without anyone really noticing. Even George Arliss and Walter Hustons presence (limited to about three scenes in total each) can do little to save this movie.

oigres Finally saw this movie after many years of eager anticipation only to find myself bored. I have to agree with Maltin's summary of the two-dimensional characterization of the players in this movie. The characters in this movie do nothing more than bicker and argue.The movie was released in Britain in 1935. A darkening time for Europe was on the horizon with Adolph Hitler's rise to power in Germany. The characters in the movie hint at using the tunnel for uniting the "English" speaking people of the world; not to mention the transportation of armaments to Britain should war break out! Perhaps this movie was supposed to quell the fears of the British by offering an avenue of escapism in the promise of new and revolutionary technology (ie. the Radium Drill!) to avert war.Never the less the movie does utilize futuristic sets and models that were ahead of their time and still hold their own today. Transportation historians will find this movie interesting. 6.5 out 10.