Ice Station Zebra Reviews

Intrigue comes in epic proportions in this US versus Russia arctic battle. Hudson is the commander of a super submarine sent on a reconnaissance mission to locate a downed Soviet satellite containing photographs of US and Russian missile sites. En route the sub is damaged, and everyone is suspect--British officer McGoohan, Soviet defector Borgnine, and US captain Brown. When they reach their destination--Ice Station Zebra, a North Pole weather station--Hudson and crew find nothing but fire-gutted buildings and frozen corpses. Borgnine and Brown, both suspicious of each other, sort out their differences with their fists, and when McGoohan sees them fighting he shoots Brown, assuming he is the saboteur. Russian paratroopers descend on the area, and Borgnine shows his true character by handing over the satellite to the Reds. McGoohan, to right his earlier wrong, strangles the deceptive commie. Hudson, however, destroys the capsule and the photographs inside, at least preventing the enemy from getting them. He then makes a pact with the Russian commander, Kjellin, to publicize the incident as a friendly cooperative effort between nations. Photographed in Super Panavision and projected in Cinerama, Daniel L. Fapp's cinematography (much of it brilliantly depicting the environment under polar ice) went on to receive an Academy Award nomination, along with Millar and Johnson for Best Special Visual Effects.