Down Periscope
Want to See
Not Interested
Rate it ½ star
Rate it 1 star
Rate it 1½ stars
Rate it 2 stars
Rate it 2½ stars
Rate it 3 stars
Rate it 3½ stars
Rate it 4 stars
Rate it 4½ stars
Rate it 5 stars
Vulgar, slapstick comedy abounds in this feature film debut for television sitcom star Kelsey Grammer. Almost everyone else thinks of Lieutenant Commander Tom Dodge is a class "A" goof who messes up every task he is assigned, but Adm. Dean Winslow thinks otherwise and decides to give Dodge one last chance by assigning him to helm an outmoded, diesel powered, rusty in a series of wargames. Dodge's sub is to be the enemy and must somehow outsmart their high tech opponents. Though ostensibly only games, Admiral Yancy Graham, who considers Dodge an embarrassment to the Navy, decides… More

Available Online

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 13%

Critic Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes

"It's good-natured, innocuous frivolity that should raise a few smiles and generate good but not great spring box office."
‑ Leonard Klady, Variety
"The tone of the acting, which is set by Mr. Grammer's blandly laid-back performance, is all wrong for a genre that demands over-the-top hamming."
‑ Stephen Holden, New York Times
"Exactly what you'd expect."
‑ , TV Guide's Movie Guide
"Mediocre comedy. Like a SNL film but with Frasier instead."
‑ Fred Topel,
""Police Academy" underwater. (If only...)"
‑ Scott Weinberg,
"he construction is so ramshackle (or the mood so PC) that the film-makers put a woman (Holly) on board, then can't find a thing to do with her."
‑ , Time Out
"More laid-back here than he is on television, Grammer seems to barely break a sweat."
‑ Hal Hinson, Washington Post
"Kelsey Grammar's transition to the big screen is far from seamless."
‑ Bob McCabe, Empire Magazine
"Rather lame."
‑ Dragan Antulov,
"It's embarrassing to see Lauren Holly wasting her time as the butt-of-all-the-obvious-jokes female aboard ship."
‑ Susan Lambert, Boxoffice Magazine
"A soggy sub sandwich layered with cheesy action, stale jokes and gung-ho baloney."
‑ Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
"After that auspicious opening, it sinks."
‑ Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
‑ Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
"A directionless and doomed diversion. Grammer's naval military mishap is a sinking ship both literally and figuratively"
‑ Frank Ochieng, Movie Eye
"It is a pretty decent plot that gives everyone a chance to be silly."
‑ Leslie Rigoulot, Film Scouts
More reviews for Down Periscope on Rotten Tomatoes