Crimson Tide

This is one movie I always recommend!

This movie was made in 1995 by Tony Scott, who has also created milestones like Déjà Vu and Enemy of the State. The film is all about the tension onboard a US nuclear submarine (USS Alabama) as the two senior most officers of the submarine - Commanding Officer Captain Frank Ramsey (played by Gene Hackman) and his Executive Officer Lt Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington), find themselves at loggerheads with each other.

The film makes reference to a phase of instability in Russia as Radchenko – a rebel and an ultranationalist – has managed to gain control over a nuclear missile base. The USS Alabama is commissioned to patrol the seas near the troubled area. Being the Commanding Officer, Captain Ramsey has the authority to launch the nuclear missiles in a pre-emptive strike if Radchenko were to fuel these nuclear weapons.

Since the beginning of the movie, Capt Ramsey is portrayed as a strict, pompous, impulsive and instinctive officer who “doesn’t trust the air he can’t see.” He is one of the few senior officers left in the Navy with some combat experience. Lt Cmdr Hunter, on the other hand, is calm, analytical and cautious. The closest he has been to combat was a policy seminar. The clash in personalities becomes evident since their first meeting.

The submarine is awaiting orders to launch the attack from the President of the US while on patrol. Suddenly, as they were receiving the orders, they come under attack from an Akula that is friendly to Radchenko. They survive this attack, but the communication systems are severely damaged. As a result, only a part of the communiqué is received. This creates confusion on board the USS Alabama. The Captain (out of his impulsiveness) wants to treat this as an order to launch the attack. Whereas, the XO wants to wait till the systems are repaired and till the communication is restored; and thus do his best to prevent a Nuclear Holocaust. But the Captain feels that this is a waste of crucial time lest Radchencko were to fuel his missiles.

This clash between the senior most officers on board the submarine results into a mutiny on board the submarine. It almost takes the face of an armed rebellion amidst the frequent changes in the circumstances.

The story is well written. Dialogues have a lot of depth. There is no dialogue that seems out of place. The movie takes a slight racist turn, but one can justify it. One can notice the care taken to even modulate the voices of the actors. I guess that the motive behind using a submarine and not a ship was to depict the immense pressure that the two officers were under; just like the immense water pressure on the submarine’s hull.

Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington are impressive in the skins of their respective characters. The tone of the colours used just adds to the tense situation under the surface of the sea; without taking away from the portrayal of these strong characters and the professionalism that is expected from these men in uniform. One can literally smell the damp and stuffy air in the submarine. The background music is par-excellence and can give anyone goosebumps.

Tony Scott just failed at one place - he failed to show the discomfort and the heat experienced by submariners once inside. Although he has managed to show the tension that arises when situations are far from being hunky-dory.

I would 4.5/5 for this movie. Just SuperB.