Review of Crimson Tide (1995) by Brandon F — 14 Jul 2009

I missed the boat on submarine movies, and I think the only one I ever watched for more than a short time was The Hunt for Red October. Recently I've been going back to films with Viggo Mortensen as a character actor (before taking bigger roles starting with The Lord of the Rings trilogy). I've also been catching up on all the great Gene Hackman movies I've missed for no reason. Finally, I've yet to find a movie that I didn't like Denzel Washington. Armed with this knowledge (and little else, especially about plot) I could tell I was going to like this movie despite its submarine confines. The whole movie blew away my expectations, as it gripped hard and never let go.

The submarine itself creates a claustrophic, tension-filled vessel in which to film a movie. The characters have no room to maneuver and there is almost no refuge of personal space (even the captain's room is small, with little more space available than to walk two steps. My dorm room in university had more space to move). Add to this already volatile mix the threat of not only nuclear war, but possibly INITIATING that nuclear war, and all the consequences that go along with it, and the tension becomes palpable. Hackman and Washington put on showcases as the leaders of this nuclear submarine, both clinging to military rules and codes while representing different sides of the morality coin as to initiating nuclear war. If you strip their performances down to the bone, it's really a debate played out by liberals and conservatives anytime a nuclear topic comes up. The movie seems to be siding with Washington's character (as the more liberal representative), but Hackman's character is not denied his chance to justify his decision-making. The debate might have come off more hollow without strong actors such as these.

If anyone's read my reviews of movies with Mortensen, you know I've gotta say something about it. After G.I. Jane, Crimson Tide may be Viggo's strongest role before taking on the LOTR and his subsequent roles in this last decade. His character has to wrestle with friendship, duty, and morality--in one scene he's wrestling all three of them at the same time. It's a huge sigh of relief and a mini-triumph in the final quarter of the movie when we see which side wins out for his character (and ostensibly for the world). Again, Mortensen has been able to show time and time again that he can handle these sorts of roles where, without saying much, the audience can understand what's going on behind his face and actions. Excellent casting choice for this character, and Viggo delivers.

Crimson Tide is an absolutely gripping and fascinating look at what happens when so much power is given to men who may be unwilling or unfit to make the decision to initiate a nuclear war. The rules by which the Navy played at this time (and in the movie) seem convoluted and difficult to follow, which is why (we can be thankful) the movie shows us in the end that the decision-making and protocol for nuclear initiation has been transfered to the office of the President, where a little distance from the situation might actually make for a more informed decision. Crimson Tide is an excellent example of what can happen when that decision must be made by men who may not have all the information necessary to make it. No one on either side of the decision takes it lightly, as we obviously see, but with little time and less than the full facts, the wrong decision (which could just as easily be NOT firing the nuclear missile as actually firing it) can lead to the worst possible outcome.