The tension and fear on the faces of the launch crew glistens through the tiny drops of sweat that sheen every face. But then an attack by a Russian sub interrupts a second EAM. Hunter urges caution until they can find out what was in the rest of the message in case it was an order to stand down, while Ramsey wants to fire.
There are several fail-safes for EAMs before launching nuclear weapons; checks and double checks of authenticity, crew members stating clearly that they concur with their crewmate. Ultimately the captain has to take responsibility for the meaning and authenticity of the message, with his deputy also concurring, so the rest of the submarine crew understand that this is the real thing. Each level of approval takes them closer to nuclear war.
Meanwhile their captain is trying to untangle himself from his own failsafe, Hunter. It is, in its way ideological too, the stakes just as high. Watching Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman sparring is a sublime masterclass. It peaks with an extraordinary scene as Hunter has Ramsey removed from his position. The previously low-voiced and calm Hunter, voice rising, lists regulation numbers and precedent; while Ramsey, not even looking at his deputy, stares at the Chief Of The Boat Walters George Dzundza and argues loudly over his now-opponent.
Write a Review. User Reviews. Compi24 Nov 28, 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.
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. 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. 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. Kai82 Aug 1, I consider this as a forgotten masterpiece. It has two great opposing characters that are caught in a cat and mouse game that can decide the fate of humanity.
The psychology of the characters and moral ambiguity are great. There is no black and white or easy answer in this situation. Story: I consider this as a forgotten masterpiece. Lets continue with the main characters first as those are important.
We have Ron Hunter who is the new first officer on the submarine and Captain Frank Ramsey who is a veteran and the hard as steel but fair commander of the ship. Both have different opinions, personalities and world views that collide. The submarine is in striking distance when a civil conflict erupts in Russia. A nuclear missile base is captured by ultra nationalist that threaten to start a nuclear war if either Russia or the USA confronts them.
They receive the order to be ready to launch their missiles to avoid a nuclear attack by destroying the base before the rockets can be started. With this set up I end here to avoid spoiler.
The story is engaging, intense and immersive. It deals with a problem that has no easy answer as you have no clue who is right or wrong. Also the clashing characters are great. A conflict between people who believe in the same things but in different ways.
They set up the story and characters in a truly amazing way and the themes are worth to discuss a lot. By the way it is said to be based on an incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis which was the closest thing to the end of mankind in history as the USA and Russia were on the brink of nuclear war. Back to the movie. It works well because of the great actors and their performance. We have Gene Hackman as Captain Frank Ramsey who is one of a few submarine commanders with actual war experience.
He is a man of duty, no nonsense and hard but fair. He is less experienced but also a man of honor and principles. The struggle or conflict between those two made the movie great along with the story.
But wrong or right, the Captain can't just replace you at will. That was completely improper! And that's why I did what I did. By the book. Hunter : I thank you anyway.
Trivia : Quentin Tarantino did uncredited script work on this film. Question : If the radio antenna was cut, how in the world did they get communication?
It seems they were working on the radio on the sub, what good would that do if there was no antennae? Chosen answer: The ship has a second antenna, but the radio is damaged during the torpedo attack. Therefore they have to fix it in order to use the backup antenna. Separate from membership , this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases.
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