''The Neptune Factor'', also known as ''The Neptune Disaster'', is a 1973

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

film directed by

Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dramas often dealing with taboo subject ...

, featuring underwater

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...

by Paul Herbermann. The film's

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

utilized underwater photography of miniatures with actual marine life.

Plot

Marine scientists prepare to leave their underwater ''Oceanlab'' after an extended stay performing oceanographic research. An underwater earthquake interrupts their plans. Dr. Andrews (

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

) enlists experimental sub captain Adrien Blake (

Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...

) to survey the damage and rescue the oceanauts. He brings along Chief Diver "Mack" MacKay (

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

) and Dr. Leah Jansen (

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

), fiancée of one of the scientists. Blake finds the lab has been ripped from its moorings and has tumbled down an unexplored, deep ocean trench, presumably intact. With the lab's reserve air supply dwindling, the team descends into the unexplored trench and finds an incredible

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

populated with monstrously oversized fish. After surviving encounters with unfriendly denizens, they find the lab partially intact, the surviving scientists breathing from scuba tanks and fending off giant, hungry eels. Diver Moulton sacrifices his life distracting the eels in order to enable the others to be rescued. The submarine returns to the surface with the two rescued scientists.

Cast

– Commander Adrian Blake *

– Dr. Leah Jansen *

– Dr. Samuel Andrews *

– Chief Diver Don MacKay *

Donnelly Rhodes Henry Donnelly Rhodes (December 4, 1937 – January 8, 2018) was a Canadian actor, known professionally as Donnelly Rhodes. He had many American television and film credits, probably best known to American audiences as the hapless escaped convic ...

– Diver Bob Cousins *

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

– Captain Williams * Michael J. Reynolds – Dr. Hal Hamilton * Leslie Carlson – Brigs, Triton Radioman *

Stuart Gillard Stuart Thomas Gillard (born April 28, 1950) is a Canadian film, writer, producer and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (1993) and '' RocketMan'' (1997). He also wrote and directe ...

– Diver Phil Bradley * David Yorston – Diver Stephens

Production

Sandy Howard, a film producer from the United States, brought the idea of ''The Neptune Factor'' to David Perlmutter and Harold Greenberg, who chose to produce the film. Howard wanted the film to be made in the United States, but Greenberg was able to have the film shot in Canada. The film was based on an original story by writer Jack DeWitt. Gazzara and Borgnine's casting was announced in August 1972. The movie has a subtitle of "An Underwater Odyssey". The film was shot from 25 September to 16 December 1972, on a budget of $2,500,000 (). The

Canadian Film Development Corporation Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in ...

contributed $200,000 to the film's budget under the demand that

be the director. The nature of the ''Oceanlab'' underwater facility bears a resemblance to real-world projects of the 1960s such as the ConShelf Two project of Jacques Cousteau, NASA's

NEEMO NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a NASA analog mission that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius underwater laboratory, the world's only undersea research station, for up to three ...

, and the US Navy SEALAB.

Release

The film was released on 26 June 1973, in Ottawa. The film premiered in Florida in May 1973 and grossed $203,000 in its first four days.

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' gave the film one out of 5 stars, stating that while its underwater photography was well done, the film was predictable, the characters stereotypes and the story lacking. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' also praised the

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

, but found little else of value in the film.

References

Works cited

* *

External links

* * * *
Entire film on YouTube
* – Discussion of the special effects techniques used in the film. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neptune Factor, The 1973 films 1970s disaster films 1970s science fiction films 20th Century Fox films Canadian disaster films Canadian science fiction films English-language Canadian films Films scored by Lalo Schifrin Films directed by Daniel Petrie Films set in Nova Scotia Films shot in the Cayman Islands Science fiction submarine films 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films