Tonight's Movie: Crimson Tide (1995)

As I shared in this weekend's news roundup, by coincidence I recently put together a stack of Gene Hackman's '90s films I'd missed seeing upon original release.

The recent sad news of Hackman's death prompted me to choose one of those films to watch in his honor this weekend, and the title I chose was CRIMSON TIDE (1995).

CRIMSON TIDE is a submarine suspense thriller in the vein of a Tom Clancy story (i.e., THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER).

Denzel Washington plays Lt. Commander Ron Hunter, the new "XO" aboard the Alabama, a submarine commanded by Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman). Ramsey is one of the few submarine commanders left in the service with combat experience. He achieved his position through hard work, while Hunter is a more polished Harvard grad, and at times the men's styles subtly clash.

The Alabama goes to sea during a period of high international tensions due to Russian nuclear launch codes being compromised and in the hands of rebels. U.S. submarine captains have the ability to launch nuclear missiles when authorized, and the Alabama receives a partial EAM (Emergency Action Message) indicating it may be time to strike; however, for various reasons the sub is unable to receive a complete message, so the captain must make a critical decision in the absence of complete information.

Ramsey is ready to launch the nukes, but the more cautious Hunter rebels against possibly initiating nuclear holocaust, especially as he reasons the United States will have backup plans if they don't launch. This initiates a prolonged battle for command of the submarine.

I've been reliably told that some viewers with military backgrounds have disliked CRIMSON TIDE for a lack of authenticity. I'm responding to it strictly as a drama without regard to accuracy, and I found it an absorbing 116 minutes.

The direction of Tony Scott moves the story along along at a good clip, and the movie has an excellent visual style, most particularly some opening scenes in the rain. The cinematographer was Dariusz Wolski.

The screenplay by Michael Schiffer and Richard P. Henrick, based on Schiffer's story, does a good job of presenting Hunter and Ramsey as balanced characters -- neither is a saint, nor is either man completely wrong. Indeed, that aspect is discussed in one of the film's final scenes. They simply have different perspectives. The problem, of course, is that only one man can command the submarine.

Hackman and Washington are excellent in the roles, with Hackman especially giving his character considerable nuance. The captain casually lying on his bunk reading while the ship is under fire speaks volumes about both his experience and a certain fatalistic attitude.

That said, there were some aspects even I wondered about. An aquarium aboard a submarine? And a dog? Perhaps I'm wrong, but neither made any sense to me for a host of reasons and did somewhat undermine the film, even if the dog was cute.

The film has a strong supporting cast, especially George Dzunda, Rocky Carroll, James Gandolfini, and Viggo Mortensen. Hans Zimmer's score also gives the film some weight.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated R. Although there are occasional bits of bad language, the only sequence which bothered me was a drowning scene; I fast-forwarded to the end of it. Otherwise this 1995 "R" is really more of a PG-13 in my view.

I watched CRIMSON TIDE via Blu-ray.

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