There are plenty of submarine thrillers that work in the present, but when it comes to the genre, the most memorable stories are set during the Cold War, where major superpowers made as much advances in tech as they can without bringing war to the world. The Silent Service depicts an alternate history, where, tired of both the U.S. and Japan, making underhanded moves against each other in their supposed alliance, one submarine captain commits mutiny to declare his nuclear submarine as one nation. Amazon Prime has expanded the film into an eight episode show, which gives much more detail to the sub battles, tech, and underwater escapades. However, because of focusing too much on the step-by-step events, The Silent Service loses sight of the thrilling and terrifying potential of having one crew being in control of nuclear weapons in an undetectable, high-tech submarine that can go anywhere.

What kept The Silent Service from being adapted is the tech required to depict certain scenes, such as the intentional sinking of the Yamanami, and the underwater battles between subs that are supposed to be allied. While the Cold War stakes aren't really made clear in this film-turned-show, instead focusing on the dynamic between Kaieda and Fukamachi, the visual effects are at least up to snuff, bringing to life the awe and wonder of the new tech from the original 80’s manga.