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''Down Periscope'' is a 1996 20th Century Fox comedy film, produced by Robert Lawrence and directed by David S. Ward, starring Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly and Rob Schneider and co-starring Bruce Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, William H. Macy, and Rip Torn. Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge fights to save his naval career while also being saddled with a group of misfit seamen brought together as the crew of his first command, a rusted but recommissioned WWII-era diesel submarine, the USS ''Stingray'', set to participate in a special naval war-game. ==Plot== Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer), a capable yet unconventional US Navy submariner, is about to be passed over a third time for command of his own nuclear submarine because of his unorthodox methods and because of a notorious genital tattoo ("Welcome Aboard!") received after getting drunk and passing out while on shore-leave. Failure to secure a command will result in Dodge being dropped from the Navy's command program and an assignment to a desk job, and that means he will resign from the Navy. During his career, Dodge has made an enemy of Rear Admiral Yancy Graham (Bruce Dern), who strongly speaks out against Dodge's command promotion. Vice-Admiral Dean Winslow, ComSubLant (Rip Torn), who likes Dodge and his unorthodox methods, finds the perfect use for the Commander: Winslow launches a war-game to test the Navy's defenses against possible attack by older Soviet diesel-powered submarines in the hands of US enemies. Among those defenses being tested is the ''Los Angeles''-class submarine USS ''Orlando'', commanded by Commander Carl Knox (William H. Macy), Dodge's former commanding officer. For this purpose, Dodge is selected to captain the World War II-era ''Balao''-class diesel sub, the USS ''Stingray'', SS-161. Winslow tells Dodge to "think like a pirate" and stick to his unorthodox methods, while promising that if he can win the war-game, including sinking a dummy target ship positioned in Norfolk harbor, Dodge will be considered for command of a nuclear submarine. Graham, however, motivated by his dislike for Dodge and his own ambition for promotion, arranges circumstances to make Dodge's mission much more difficult. Graham handpicks a crew for the ''Stingray'' consisting of the "crew from Hell" as Dodge initially refers to them: hot-tempered and uptight Lt. Martin Pascal (Rob Schneider) as XO; crusty CPO Chief Engineer Howard (Harry Dean Stanton), a civilian contractor hired for the job since no active Naval personnel are familiar with a Balao-class engine system; rebellious Engineman 1st Class Brad Stepanek (Bradford Tatum); sharp-eared Sonarman 2nd Class E.T. "Sonar" Lovacelli (Harland Williams); compulsive gambler Seaman Stanley "Spots" Sylvesterson (Jonathan Penner); former US Naval Academy basketball player Planesman Jefferson "R.J." Jackson (Duane Martin), who has dreams of playing in the NBA; shock-prone (and shock-addled) electrician Fireman Nitro (Toby Huss); and the not-so-culinary cook Seaman Buckman (Ken Hudson Campbell). To further frustrate Dodge, Graham also uses the ''Stingray'' to institute a Navy pilot program for evaluating the feasibility of women serving on submarines, knowing that the cramped diesel boat is unsuitable for mixed-gender living; Lt. Emily Lake (Lauren Holly) joins the crew as Diving Officer. Using unorthodox tactics to offset their huge technological disadvantage, Dodge and the ''Stingray'' crew attain their first objective by getting into and setting off signal flares in Charleston Harbor. Desperate to defeat Dodge, Graham then cuts the war-game containment area in half without Winslow's authorization. Running into trouble on their first attempt at Norfolk harbor, Dodge leaves the reduced containment area. Irate at this lapse in protocol, the always strident and by-the-book Pascal, for whom the crew have no respect, attempts to take command of the ''Stingray''; none of the crew support his action. Dodge then charges Pascal with mutiny and, in mock pirate fashion, forces his blind folded XO to "walk the plank" ... into the raised fishing net of a waiting trawler, who will take him ashore. During the ''Stingray''s second attempt at Norfolk, Graham assumes personal command of the ''Orlando''. Dodge uses an incredibly dangerous maneuver to sneak past the defenders of Norfolk, but the ''Orlando'' is able to locate and chase her down. However, before the ''Orlando''s shooting solution is obtained, Dodge launches two live torpedoes into the anchored dummy ship at Norfolk, which gains the ''Stingray'' the final war-game victory. Upon return to port, Winslow, after chastising Graham and denying his promotion, welcomes Dodge back and confides that Engineman Stepanek is actually his son, using his mother's name. The Admiral then informs Dodge that he will not get his own ''Los Angeles''-class submarine, as the two had previously discussed, but instead a new ''Seawolf''-class submarine (the USN's most advanced), plus a proper crew to man her. Dodge at first declines but respectfully requests that his entire ''Stingray'' crew be transferred with him to his new command. After the ''Stingray''s crew is dismissed to begin a well-earned shore leave, Lt. Lake poses a query to Dodge now that the two are shipmates and have come to know each other: "What exactly is this 'tattoo' I keep hearing about?" 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Down Periscope」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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