Truly Dreadful Film

Thanks for the memories!

Blistering performances.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I love war movies. I watch just about every one I can. I'm willing to watch some pretty bad movies as long as they have heavy equipment of some kind. I'm afraid this movie fell somewhere near the middle - I rated it 6 of 10 stars.There was no shortage of stars and recognizable faces. It makes me wonder how the producers were able to pull such a high powered cast to a so-so movie. I would have to say my overall rating was higher just because of the cast. The acting was fine, but the movie was just short of boring.I noticed Rocky Carroll of NCIS fame, Matt Craven who played SecNav on NCIS, Jason Alexander of Seinfeld, and several others who must have been starting out in 1995.The story consisted almost entirely of a ton of dialog within the sub. The basic story, of the XO taking over the sub and the captain taking it back, was sound, but there really wasn't much else to the story. It was direction that screwed it up. Basically that was the entire story. It could have made a decent short of 20 minutes or so.I couldn't tell if this was intended to be a heavy drama, or something else.In the end it was watchable. But I won't every go out of my way to watch it again. Put this movie up against some of the great WWII movies, such as In Harms Way, and there is no comparison.If you like sub movies and a ton of good actors give it a watch, but don't expect too much. There is always somebody who labels most movies "The best movie ever made." I just didn't see it here.

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.

Prior to Tony Scott's recent suicide, I hadn't seen most of his movies. But now I've seen "Crimson Tide". This portrays tension aboard a nuclear submarine when the hot-headed captain (Gene Hackman) wants to go ahead with a launch while the restrained executive officer (Denzel Washington) wants to wait for another signal. I didn't think that it was a great movie, but the context of rebel forces in Russia threatening to launch nukes brings up the issue of how secure weapons of mass destruction anywhere are, combined with the risk that a trigger-happy might ignore an incomplete message and decide to launch weapons. The point is, who can truly be considered sane in a completely insane situation? Like I said, it's not any kind of masterpiece, but still worth seeing. Great tension between Hackman and Washington. Appearing in early roles are James Gandolfini, Steve Zahn, Ryan Philippe and Daniel Von Bargen.

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.