The Neptune Factor
Encyclopedia
The Neptune Factor is a 1973
science fiction
film directed by Daniel Petrie
, featuring underwater cinematography by Paul Herbermann. The film's special effects utilized underwater photography of miniatures with actual marine life.
Sealab after an extended stay performing oceanographic research. An underwater earthquake interrupts their plans. Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon
) enlists experimental sub captain Adrien Blake (Ben Gazzara
) to survey the damage and rescue the oceanauts
. Taking Chief Diver "Mack" MacKay (Ernest Borgnine
) and Dr. Leah Jansen (Yvette Mimieux
), fiancée of one of the scientists, in the sub, Blake finds the lab has been ripped from its moorings and tumbled down an unexplored, deep ocean trench, presumably intact. With time running out (due to the lab's dwindling reserve air supply), the team descends into the unexplored trench, and finds an incredible ecosystem populated with monstrously over-sized 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. All but one of the scientists are rescued, and the submarine returns to the surface.
project that Jacques Cousteau participated in, or the US Navy SEALAB
.
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film directed by Daniel Petrie
Daniel Petrie
Daniel Mannix Petrie was a Canadian television and movie director.Petrie was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Mary Anne and William Mark Petrie, a soft-drink manufacturer. He moved to the United States in 1945...
, featuring underwater cinematography by Paul Herbermann. The film's special effects utilized underwater photography of miniatures with actual marine life.
Plot
Marine scientists prepare to leave their underwaterUnderwater habitat
Underwater habitats are underwater structures in which people can live for extended periods and carry out most of the basic human functions of a 24-hour day, such as working, resting, eating, attending to personal hygiene, and sleeping...
Sealab after an extended stay performing oceanographic research. An underwater earthquake interrupts their plans. Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
) enlists experimental sub captain Adrien Blake (Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
) to survey the damage and rescue the oceanauts
Aquanaut
An Aquanaut is any individual who remains underwater, exposed to the ambient pressure, long enough to come into equilibrium with his or her breathing media. Usually this is done in an underwater habitat on the seafloor for a period equal to or greater than 24 continuous hours without returning to...
. Taking Chief Diver "Mack" MacKay (Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
) and Dr. Leah Jansen (Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Carmen Mimieux is a retired American movie and television actress.-Early life and career:Yvette Mimieux was born in Los Angeles, California, to a French father and Mexican mother, Carmen Montemayor...
), fiancée of one of the scientists, in the sub, Blake finds the lab has been ripped from its moorings and tumbled down an unexplored, deep ocean trench, presumably intact. With time running out (due to the lab's dwindling reserve air supply), the team descends into the unexplored trench, and finds an incredible ecosystem populated with monstrously over-sized 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. All but one of the scientists are rescued, and the submarine returns to the surface.
Production
The nature of the "Sealab" underwater facility may have been suggested by real-world projects of the 1960s: the ConShelf TwoContinental Shelf Station Two
Continental Shelf Station Two or Conshelf Two was an attempt at creating an environment in which men could live and work on the sea floor. It was the successor to Continental Shelf Station One ....
project that Jacques Cousteau participated in, or the US Navy SEALAB
SEALAB (United States Navy)
SEALAB I, II, and III were experimental underwater habitats developed by the United States Navy to prove the viability of saturation diving and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time...
.