Das Boot. Operation Petticoat. The Hunt for Red October. Crimson Tide. Down Periscope. All classic submarine movies (OK Down Periscope is only a classic if you have been drinking heavily). Now, along comes K-19: The Widowmaker, a submarine film based on a true story. Throw in blockbuster action hero Harrison Ford (What Lies Beneath) and you should get another entry into the annuals of classic submarine films. If that is what you thought, then eeeehnt! Wrong answer. But it is not a bad film either.

The film begins in the old USSR during the Cold War circa 1960 at a time when the USA have nuclear powered ballistic missile launching subs, but the Soviets do not. Not only is this bad PR in the war for the world, but it also means the US might be able to win a first strike war without complete destruction of the US (so no mutually-assured destruction to deter a nuclear war). The Soviets are frantically rushing to get its first nuclear powered boomer out of dry dock and into service. The sub is named the K-19 and is under the command of Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson, Star Wars: Episode 1). However, common Soviet era supply problems are delaying the launch, so instead of fixing the supply problems, the Soviet brass brings in a new captain, Alexei Vostrikov (Ford) in the hope that this will get the submarine underway, and it does. Of course, not everything works correctly and some equipment is missing, but the ship is in the water and that is the only thing Soviet leadership cares about. Soon the hard driving new captain is making enemies on board while the old captain lies in wait. Things progress with few major problems, and the sub accomplishes its mission by launching a test missile after breaking through the ice of the arctic region. Then everything goes downhill from there when a nuclear reactor accident threatens to blow the sub up, thus possibly starting WW III with the Americans. The sub is close to NATO ally Norway when the reactor experiences its problem. Then throw a possible mutiny into the mix, and you get the gist of K-19: The Widowmaker.

Additional people in this Kathryn Bigelow directed film are Sam Spruell, John Shrapnel, Sam Redford, Peter Stebbings, Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Camargo, Joss Ackland, Roman Podhora, Steve Nicolson, Donald Sumpter, James Ginty, and many others. Christopher Kyle wrote the screenplay based on a story by Louis Nowra.

All the drama and human-interest stories are there to make a compelling film, but it just does not materialize on the screen. Plus the filmmakers over-emphasized the world-wide implications of a nuclear disaster underwater. I did find the closing wrap-up interesting, but then again I always like to know what happens after the storytelling ends. To conclude, not a classic movie, but it does garner six couches out of ten.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:48:41 AM

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