The ending - Fantasy or reality

The ending isn't a fantasy. He did desert his crew and command for completely selfish reasons just so he could stay and die with Moira. There's absolutely no hint, indication or proof that this was some kind of dream sequence of Moira's. Quite the opposite.

You're right, the 1959 theatrical film was better in every way. This idiot TV remake eviscerated the characters as written in the book, which were reasonably re-created in the first movie (though with several changes). Assante as a loud, raving, out-of-control, selfish, mentally unbalanced ape is not only unlike the Dwight of the novel but counter to any kind of U.S. Naval Commander. The depiction of the crew, who have just lost their families and country, as nothing but yahooing halfwits looking for Australian "pussy" (in Capt. Towers's classy words) is an insult to naval personnel and pretty goddamned stupid under the circumstances. But most of the characters (except for Holmes) are travesties.

The entire script is asinine and the film in most parts has the depth of an extended men's cologne commercial (not surprisingly, since the director's only experience had bee with TV ads). The 1959 movie is far from perfect and has many flaws and inconsistencies in plot and logic, but it's leagues ahead of this piece of crap.

It was a pretty entertaining remake. The original version turns off viewers because of its dated set, color and actor habit, though i'll watch it because I really enjoyed the book; I preferred this version.

I thought the change of scene to Anchorage worked seamlessly with the twist of solar powered computers (what if you could power a CPU by the sun?) and corrupted email files verses the window blind and Morse code transmitter. This treatment really worked well because we've all sat at a computer. I really liked the barren frozen landscape too, and the distant city. Of course in the book, the ship passes by 'ground zero' of the bomb that took out SeaTac, I think the wrecked imagery of the mouth of San Francisco bay compensated duly. And, whose never cursed the heavens for a video file that just wouldn't load.

There was an Australian vibe with this film, similar from the vibe I got from the book that I never really felt with the '59 version. And the country home of Grant Bowler's verses Anthony Perkins' Lt. Peter Holmes was a closer visualization of what I saw in the book. I also found the Ferrari scene with Armand Assante and Rachel Ward more elegant than the suicides of the car race in the book.

Not a big zombie fan, I thought this was a thorough revisit to the annihilation of earth by nuclear winter.

Without delving into Anna Borghesi costuming choices too much I think her choices of uniform worked for the scenes. Assante's admiral-commander's departure from the sub is plausible to the storyline. Towers slowly fell into a mental state due to PTSD or sheer stress at the home at Anchorage or both. The episode substantially led to the death of Steve Bastoni's First Officer Neil Hirsch. Its one thing to lose men in combat, its completely another to lose your best man from a torn suit because you were busy 'losing it' in literally the one situation his entire life's training was for. He chose to end his days and to pass the age of the United States in Australia, in peace. Peace for him, was with Moira, at her cottage on the cliff. Who can say where the new captain of the boat parked the sub for posterity as the cloud engulfed coast. But as Tower knew, his men wanted to be at home with the boat, his men knew that Tower had fallen in love; and for all of them, deserved to see the end of days with Moira.

All in all this film had sea legs.