Review of Crimson Tide (1995) by Scott M — 24 Apr 2015

It's crazy that a genre that sounds as boring as submarine war movie are some of the best war movies out there. Crimson Tide has a lot of dramatic action but not much physical. Lots of running around and screaming at each other. The strength of the film comes from the power struggle and all the well-timed tough decisions people have to make. I didn't care about the plot or what decision people made, it was more the passion of the moment and the suspense that made the action compelling. The exchanging of power gets a little redundant but not tiresome. They bring the fighting to an end before it reaches overkill.

My only problem is with some of the acting. I see this a lot in modern day war movies. When men team up and they say things and look at each other in a way to show respect and that they'll be loyal, it sometimes comes off as too forced and unnatural. I've never been in a situation where I had to team up with someone and I got all emotional and noble in a self-contained way; maybe showing that much affection is realistic. I don't know. I do like it in black & white movies because it's hard to appreciate black & white movies if you don't like dramatic sentimentality. All the actors were good, though. And it was interesting to know Tony Soprano worked on a submarine before joining the mob.