Wing Commander Movie Night: Run Silent, Run Deep

The Wing Commander movie club has swung back around from the outer planets to finish Silent Running. This week we're going back to World War II for the 1958 submarine film Run Silent, Run Deep. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Run Silent, Run Deep is a 1958 action/war film about an American submarine captain desperately pursuing revenge against the Japanese destroyer captain that sunk his last boat. It stars Burt Lancaster as Clarke Gable as the captain and XO at odds over the battle and alongside the previous year's The Enemy Below helped establish the standard beats for a submarine movie. It was directed by Robert Wise who would go on to helm Star Trek: The Motion Picture and it was also heavily referenced in Star Trek's Balance of Terror.

As we discussed last week, Run Silent, Run Deep is almost certainly the movie Chris Roberts meant to reference when he described Wing Commander thusly in the film's initial treatment:

Space combat in this universe follows the tradition of naval warfare in the Pacific during WW II. The two opposing sides maneuver around strategic planets and jump points, playing a deadly game of Silent Running-esque cat and mouse, with certain doom to whoever's located first.

So we will be looking at the film in a pretty broad sense! It will be especially interesting to see how it establishes a lot of the submarine 'tropes' that Wing Commander will continue to use four decades later. The internal chaos aboard the American submarine is also worth looking at as a prototype the Tiger Claw's embattled warriors.

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Run Silent, Run Deep is currently available for free in the US on YouTube. It is streaming on several free services including Roku and PlutoTV. You can also download a copy from the Internet Archive. It is also currently available for rent or purchase on all the standard services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on Blu-Ray in 2024 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!