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 K-19: The Widowmaker (DVD)
Description: Genre: Action & Adventure / Theatrical Release: 2002 / Director: Kathryn Bigelow / Actors: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson ... more  K-19: The Widowmaker (DVD) ... ... / DVD released 19 May, 2003 at Paramount Home Entertainment / Features of the DVD: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen / An intense dramatisation of a long-suppressed Cold War anecdote, K-19: The Widowmaker is the first big Hollywood film to view the conflict through a Soviet periscope, casting Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson (with slight accents) as patriotic Russians. In 1961, as NATO deploys long-range nuclear attack submarines, the Kremlin forces the Russian Navy to follow suit, whether they're ready or not. Ford takes over from popular skipper Neeson in command of the eponymous submarine, riding the men hard through a missile test, and then coping with an escalating series of crises as a jerry-built reactor threatens to melt down (and perhaps start World War III). Though the political specifics are fresh, this has all the expected elements of a sub movie, citing everything from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Das Boot to Crimson Tide and The Caine Mutiny as sailors bristle mutinously under a marine martinet. This, along with inept engineering and ideological interference, prompts disaster. Director Kathryn Bigelow, the most undervalued talent in Hollywood, is in her element with heroic men under pressure, and a terrific central stretch has comrades trying to fix the reactor even though they've been given the wrong protective gear and start coming down with radiation sickness as they work. Less successful is a superfluous epilogue that pulls the old Spielberg present-day-reunion-of-the-aged-survivors-at-a-gravesite gambit. --Kim NewmanNewest Review: ... gets the ship the nickname of the widowmaker. The original captain played by Liam Neeson is replaced by a higher ranked ... more ... officer played by Harrison Ford. The Captain constantly drills the crew and get's himself a reputation as a hothead, especially after some decisions that could put the boat in jeopardy.
His biggest problem comes when coolant failure in one of the two nuclear reactors threatens a meltdown and a nuclear explosion with no obvious way of repair. The stakes are high, with all out nuclear war a possibility and the risk of mutiny ever present.
Conclusion
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The film is based on real K19 submarine events. Having read...more |
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K-19: The Widowmaker (DVD): What's Long And Hard And Full Of Seamen? (1099 words)
by wampyrii - written on 17.10.02 (Very useful, 81 readings)
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I wonder if movie execs sat around a table somewhere and made a conscious decision to revive the old cold war thriller kinda thing for this year. There's been three movies in recent months which I've personally seen (so probably more) which rake over the embers of a genre which until then no one had touched for quite some time. First came The Sum Of All Fears, a Tom Clancy adaptation where a group of neo-Nazi terrorists try to start world war three by playing off the US and Russians administrations against each other reviving their Cold War past, then The Bourne Identity reviving the espionage thriller and now K19: The Widowmaker which documents a true story of ...
Submarines and nuclear reactors (840 words)
by sunmeilan - written on 03.02.06 (Very useful, 82 readings)
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Introduction I usually stay well clear of anything that involves nuclear power or war when it comes to films. But sometimes I have to let my boyfriend choose what we watch and this time it was his turn. I got a book ready, not really expecting to want to watch the film; but surprisingly found it very addictive. The film is set in 1961 during the fight for world supremacy between the US and the Soviet Union over nuclear power. If you prefer comedy or light-hearted chick flicks, this is not for you. But it is a very good film with some powerful performances from all involved - definitely recommended. The director Kathryn Bigelow is one of the few ...
K-19: The Widowmaker (DVD): Not The Dog Movie (495 words)
by utero - written on 17.06.03 (Very useful, 45 readings)
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Don't worry K-19 isn't another sequel in the cop/dog series of films with Jim Belushi. Instead this is a submarine movie starring Harrison Ford with a russian accent. Now I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when I sat down to watch this as the reaction was mixed and the film dived to low depths at the box office. However what I got was an entertaining film where not much happens but still keeps you watching. It's the early sixties and the USSR are sending out their first nuclear submarine in the depths of the North Atlantic. However it's underfunded, behind build schedule and just not seaworthy. The K-19's captain Mikhail Polenin ...
