Down Periscope is a hilarious take on military war games and goofballs. It will leave you rolling with laughter. However, the veterans among the viewing crowd will likely all agree that this work of fiction is par-to-the-course for military war games.

The U.S. Navy is concerned that the Russians are selling off their diesel submarines and a solitary renegade terrorist might be able to attack an American port or city. The admirals decide to re-commission a WWII diesel submarine and have it attempt sneak attacks on Charleston Harbor and Norfolk.

The admiral in charge of the nuclear submarine fleet, Graham (Bruce Dean), does not want his guys to lose, so he stacks the deck in their favor. He hand selects the worst misfits and screwups in the Navy to crew the diesel sub. For added chaos, he assigns a female dive officer, Lt. Emily Lake (Lauren Holly), in a trial program to test the feasibility of women serving on submarines.

The admirals select Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer) to command the Stingray. Although he's a brilliant sailor who graduated third in his class, Dodge is unorthodox, unpredictable and sees no harm in having a bit of fun to break up the monotony of underwater sub duty -- traits that will never earn him a command on a nuclear sub.

With a dive officer who never commanded anything except a simulator; an executive officer, Marty Pascal (Rob Schneider), who will do anything to gain command of the sub; an engineman, Brad Stupanik (Bradford Tatum), who hates subs but got assigned to one because his father is an admiral who believes that sub duty will shape him up; and a diesel mechanic, Howard (Harry Dean Stanton), who is as old as the sub ... Dodge will need every unorthodox trick he can imagine when he squares off against his former commander, Carl Knox (William H. Macy).

Fortunately, during his briefing, Admiral Winslow (Rip Torn) did tell Dodge to not go by the book, but to think like a pirate. Was that really a wise thing to say to a man known for being unorthodox and unpredictable? Can the Navy do anything to punish him when he makes his XO walk the plank for mutiny?

This film actually did use the USS Pampanito, a 1943 diesel electric submarine that is part of the National Maritime Museum Association tourist attraction at the Embarcadero in California.

The acting was far past brilliant. I hate to give any parts of the strategy away, but I must comment on the fine job of talking to the whales. That's taking your acting part an extra mile. Only Harland Williams could pull that stunt off without a hitch ... and be so funny while doing it. He is such a multi-talented individual! I do not understand why he hasn't gotten much more credit as an actor.

The underwater photography is also excellent. Great computer work, but who really cares whether it is real or computer as long as we get the clear picture when we watch?

I think the writer was a veteran -- or at least the person who thought up this story. It is an excellently engineered tale with all the right parts to keep the viewer completely engaged.

Down Periscope is one of the funniest movies I have ever watched. You definitely get your money's worth.