Golaith is a ship that was sunk by a German submarine in 1939, and some of the people survived until 1979. The premise that people can survive 40 years under the sea requires you to check reality at the door, but because we are talking a Science Fiction film it is not that difficult. There are many movies before and since that make you think of Goliath Awaits, The Posideon Adventure being an obvious one, and Demolition Man is another ( the Bow People versus the absolute ruler who most of the people depend on). What makes the story interesting is the fact there are very few absolutes: Dan Wesker (Frank Gorshin) is the main bad guy who kills off people who cannot ( or will not) contribute to the continued existence of the society, and Lea MacKenzie ( Emma Samms) is the good girl/love interest of diver Pete Cabot ( Mark Harmon) who discovers her when he is exploring the ship. Her father John ( Christopher Lee), is the former first officer who becomes ruler. MacKenzie is not a nice man, but he cares about the people and does his best to keep them alive despite the odds. He is very conflicted and seems to like his God-like power, but does not like killings ( by Wesker and others) done in his name. The very ending spoilers ahead, shows how conflicted he was. Some of the passengers wanted to be rescued and others would rather die. He decided to let the ones who chose to perish, die instead of ordering them to go and saving them, because he was afraid they would be exploited by those on the surface. At the same time he ordered Lea to go with Pete, and she did. It does ask the question how would people who lived under the sea in a dictatorship, survive living under freedom on the surface. The youngest should be fine because they can adjust easier to a new world, and Lea will have little trouble because Pete looked right at her when he talked about "Settling down in San Diego." But for the others it is an open question, and MacKenzie's fear of exploitation and ( or) that everyone cannot make it is not without justification, so maybe he made the right decision ordering only Lea to go ( probably because he knew his daughter would be tough enough to make it), and letting the other people choose for themselves to live or die was the best decision of all. Once again a movie to think about.
Review of Goliath Awaits
