The Arctic Convoy

Watched the movie on bluray (upscaled to 4k), the movie was ok, abit overhyped in Norwegian media, they portray it as the best war movie ever made. The vfx/special effects looks very high quality, there are some scenes that have that fake look from cgi, but most people likely won't see it. The movie should have been longer, the story was cut short at the end of the movie and other scenes. Maybe it was a budget decision, many Norwegian movies always end the movie to early and we don't to see the ending and only get the ending in text. Also wish they would release this movie in 4k bluray, but there's little to none Nordic movies released in 4k format sadly.

Piloting boats and being seaman in WW2 was an extremely dangerous job. This film encapsulates entirely how dangerous this job is. To the most extreme horrors of merchant shipping life.

The only annoyance in the movie is the sheer lack of cargo in the hold. It is not accurate and otherwise the movie is great with loads of authentic props and a great storyline.

Acting is superb. It really creates emotion and tensions and you can feel that you are a member of the crew. The camerawork is great. You can almost feel the vibrating engine and the deck shaking in your room.

It's got a little CGI but it is done properly and well. I don't know the budget of this movie but I guess it is not a gret deal. It is done well and executed well. The Director is definitely one-to-watch!

A strong effort!

...and have watched enough films to know a good one when I see one. All films, even, The Sound of Music, present at least one conflict and in the lesser movies, that single conflict is always resolved and the ending is happy. There is a good element and a bad element and good guys win.

In more complex films, there are often multiple conflicts with multiple layers of good and bad. The resolution to the conflicts isn't always clear and good vs bad is may be difficult to discern. A resolution to the conflicts may not be evident.

Such is the case in The Arctic Convoy. Don't expect clear cut good vs evil and don't expect to know the "right thing to do."

The story is outstanding. The acting is first rate. Cinematography and special effects are at the least adequate and actually quite good considering the cold, gray arctic backdrop they had to work with. Sound is excellent.

I seldom rate a film over 7 and in this case was tempted to offer a 9 but I haven't slept on it yet so I backed off to an 8. I think most viewers will enjoy it.

My father was an engineer on a Norwegian Merchant Marine ship during WWII (although not in the arctic region that I know of). His ships were wrecked three times, yet he managed to survive. He didn't talk too much about what he went through, yet it was evident that he was deeply troubled by what he saw and went through. After the war, he moved to the US. Decades later, the Norwegian government sent him medals for his service. He through them into a drawer, forgotten until after his death. Seeing this movie gave insight into what he may have experienced. It was beautifully filmed, and well acted. Glad I watched it, yet depressing too.

While a huge improvement over movies like Kampen om Narvik, it is obvious that this movie got rewritten several times and changed direction. While the movie still manages to have a grip on the audience in terms of suspense, some of its plot points do not hold up well. It seems the movie went from the idea of a captivating war movie to budget restraints, forcing the movie makers to focus on interpersonal differences between the captain and his crew. That is something i feel detracts from the story, and it also is writing that has been done to death in other movies like Crimson tide. All in all, if you want to see a bit of WWII action, watch this, but if you rather would like something more believable and historically more accurate, then watch Krigsseileren any day over this.