VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
RMS1949
Excellent acting by Gene and Denzel, but... Mild spoilers ahead...Starts out well as you feel the tension of their mission ahead. But about 30 minutes in, it totally goes into the realm of lunacy. How any captain of a nuclear sub suddenly goes into the insane act of wanting to launch warheads without even knowing if there's a war , is stretching any sense of realism to the film. And add on top of that, not one but two acts of mutiny is the span of 20 minutes, that is totally ridiculous. It became just a total farce. If they just stayed on the psychological battle between Gene and Denzel's characters and not the over the top nonsense, it would of been so much better.
ironhorse_iv
World War III is about to break out in the Tony Scott's movie 'Crimson Tide', when political turmoil in Russia has caused worries in United States when Russia ultra-nationalists threaten to launch nuclear missiles at them. The movie focuses on the military mission of the USS Alabama, a nuclear submarine whom duty is to launch missions back into Russia if war breaks out. The submarine is split in conflicting opinions and wills between the seasoned commanding officer Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and the new executive officer Lt. Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington) on the interpretations of an order to launch their missiles. In the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself. The movie has this 'Mutiny of the Bounty' feel to it, as the audience is swept into a very plausible scenario between Hunter's more analytical, cautious approach, as opposed to Ramsey's more impulsive and intuitive approach to the mission. Great acting from both of them. I love the exchange between Hackman and Washington on the topic of Lipizzaner horses and Von Clausewitz' view of war. Indeed, all the actors have their moments to shine, including Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini and an excellent George Dzundza. The movie is a great suspense with an amazing music score by Hans Zimmer. The heavy use of synthesizers in place of traditional orchestral instruments sound chilling like an old Gothic church's choirs. The well-known naval hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" is given an new spin into it. It's great to note that Harry Gregson-Williams help with the bass thumbing. Great to hear on large speakers the score. The movie has excellent visuals for a smart and tense film. Now to the faults of the film, while Richard Hendrick wrote the novel, he probably knew little about submarines as a lot of the real life Navy's submariners didn't like the film. The movie had many breaches of naval protocols that it became too unrealizable to them. Example are such like Supply Officers are restricted, and cannot be put into a position to where they could take command. They don't have the training to do so. The real life Navy regulations would have Hunter disciplined for insubordination and replaced with another XO no matter what happen on the boat. Still, I like the submarine lingoes, even if I didn't understand them. Both Washington and Hackman play stereotypical roles to the point, it's seem more about a race issue between Black VS White, than an issue about launching nuclear weapons. Who brings up semi-racism likes comments like what color the most trained horse are? Was the racial subtext, necessary? The way, Denzel Washington talks to his subordinates as if they are children is a bit odd. I wouldn't have thought for once a Star Trek or a Silver Surfer reference was going to be in this type of film. Don't get me wrong, it's cool to hear it, but I would love for the movie in those scenes to be taking more serious. What part of the Navy allows a dog on submarine unless it's a K9 unit? Even if you're the captain, I doubt you can bring a dog to pee everywhere. Forget about Tide. Even Clorox could not clean up that mistake. Overall: Crimson Tide is a great movie. Worth watching.
Desertman84
Crimson Tide is a submarine film directed by the late Tony Scott that stars Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. It takes place during a period of political turmoil in the Russian Federation, in which ultra-nationalists threaten to launch nuclear missiles at the United States and Japan. It focuses on a clash of wills between the seasoned commanding officer (Gene Hackman) and the new executive officer (Denzel Washington) of a nuclear missile submarine, arising from conflicting interpretations of an order to launch their missiles.The film takes place during a period of instability in post-Soviet Russia. Units of the Russian military loyal to Radchenko, an ultra-nationalist, have taken control of a nuclear missile installation and are threatening nuclear war if either the American or the Russian government attempts to confront him.The United States nuclear strategic missile submarine USS Alabama is assigned a patrol mission, to be available to launch its missiles in a preemptive strike if Radchenko attempts to fuel the missiles his men have captured. Captain Frank Ramsey is the commanding officer of the sub, and one of the few commanders left in the Navy with any combat experience. He chooses as his new executive officer (XO) Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter, who has an extensive education in military history and tactics, but no combat experience.During their initial days at sea, tensions between Ramsey and Hunter become apparent due to a clash of personalities: Hunter's more analytical, cautious approach towards his mission and the men, as opposed to Ramsey's more impulsive and intuitive approach. The Alabama eventually receives an Emergency Action Message from the National Command Authority, ordering the launch of ten of its SLBM missiles on the Russian nuclear installation, based on satellite information that the Russians' missiles are being fueled. Before the Alabama can launch, a second message arrives but is cut off by the attack of a Russian submarine friendly to Radchenko. The radio is damaged in the attack and is unable to decode the second message. With the last confirmed order being to launch, Captain Ramsey decides to proceed with the launch. Hunter refuses to concur as is procedurally required to launch, because he believes the partial second message may be a retraction. Hunter argues that the Alabama is not the only American submarine in the area, and if the order was not retracted, other submarines will launch their missiles. Ramsey argues that attack submarines may have destroyed any other American submarines and that they can't rely on someone else to carry out the order for them.Boasting taut, high energy thrills and some cracking dialogue courtesy of an uncredited Quentin Tarantino, Crimson Tide finds the late director Tony Scott near the top of his action game.It is a rare kind of war movie that not only thrills people while they're watching it, but invites them to leave the theater actually discussing the issues.And last but not the least,the performances in the film were top-notch.This is highly recommended for anyone who loves good movies.
compi24
"Crimson Tide" is a 1995 film Starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. The Tony Scott film involves a first officer (Washington) on a nuclear submarine who clashes with his captain (Hackman) over whether or not they have enough information to perform a first strike on a volatile Russia. As far as, Tony Scott films go, they're sort of hit or miss. I loved "Man On Fire" and "Unstoppable." However, movies like "Deja Vu" and "The Taking Of Pelham 123" are just sort of "meh" for me. This is partly because Mr. Scott made a very strange transition midway through his career. He went from using a really clean and traditional camera movement (as in "Top Gun," "True Romance," and "Crimson Tide") to using this really frenetic and trippy camera style (as in "Deja Vu," "Man On Fire," and "Unstoppable"). Sometimes the latter works, sometimes it doesn't, but one thing that usually has stayed amazingly consistent throughout Tony Scott's career is a brilliant lead performance from Denzel Washington. Tony Scott and Denzel Washington have collaborated together five times, and they've crafted some amazing stuff. "Crimson Tide" is no different here - Denzel sails through this movie with an utterly incredible finesse. However, while Denzel's performance is a force to be reckoned with, the best performance in this film is from none other than Popeye Doyle himself; Mr. Gene Hackman. His portrayal of Captain Frank Ramsey is one of the most menacing performances I've seen him give in a long while. Hackman owns this ship. In terms of directing, this movie in my opinion had everything "The Hunt For Red October" had, yet there was just a tad more. While "The Hunt For Red October" filmed it's underwater combat scenes using trick photography and models in midair, "Crimson Tide" actually shot their model ships underwater and utilized practical special effects on them regularly. While "The Hunt For Red October" had a brilliant score by Basil Poledouris, "Crimson Tide". . .had Hans Zimmer. Finally, while "The Hunt For Red October"'s plot was very interesting and definitely worth watching, "Crimson Tide" managed to be one of the most intense filmgoing experiences for me in a very long time - the fear of a nuclear holocaust is hammered into your head at an almost unsettling degree. White-knuckle film? You don't know the meaning of the term. "Crimson Tide" is an unbelievable film that I will not soon forget.
