Crimson Tide (1995)

On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Michael Schiffer (story), Richard P. Henrick (story),

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Matt Craven

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Lt. Commander Ron Hunter
Gene Hackman	...	Capt. Frank Ramsey
Matt Craven	...	Lt. Roy Zimmer, USS Alabama Communications Officer
George Dzundza	...	Chief of the Boat
Viggo Mortensen	...	Lt. Peter 'Weps' Ince
James Gandolfini	...	Lt. Bobby Dougherty
Rocky Carroll	...	Lt. Darik Westergaurd
Jaime Gomez	...	Officer of the Deck Mahoney (as Jaime P. Gomez)
Michael Milhoan	...	Chief of the Watch Hunsicker
Scott Burkholder	...	T.S.O. Billy Linkletter
Danny Nucci	...	Petty Officer First Class Danny Rivetti
Lillo Brancato	...	Petty Officer Third Class Russell Vossler (as Lillo Brancato Jr.)
Eric Bruskotter	...	Bennefield
Ricky Schroder	...	Lt. Paul Hellerman (as Rick Schroder)
Steve Zahn	...	William Barnes

Storyline

When some Russian rebels takes control of some ICBM's, the Americans mobilize. Among the vessels sent is the nuclear sub, the Alabama. But before they leave they need a new X.O. and among the choices is Commander Hunter, who hasn't seen much action. But the ship's Captain, Ramsey OK's him. While on the way, there was an incident and Hunter disagreed with how Ramsey handled it, it's evident that Ramsey doesn't think much of Hunter because Hunter was college educated while Ramsey worked his way up. They're given orders to attack but when they were in the process of receiving another order, the ship's communications were damaged, so the entire message was not received. Ramsey decides to continue with their previous order while Hunter wants to reestablish contact first. That's when the two men butt heads that ends with Hunter relieving Ramsey. Later when some men die, some of the officers feel that Hunter is not up to the task so they team up to retake control. But Hunter has taken ...

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Plot Keywords:

order | submarine | alabama | mutiny | navy | 

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Taglines:

Danger runs deep

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marea roja

Filming Locations:

Chapman University - One University Drive, Orange, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$53,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,902,929 (UK) (17 November 1995)

Gross:

£5,023,381 (UK) (15 December 1995)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 123 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The disagreement between Cpt. Ramsey and Lcdr. Hunter over the origin of the Lipizzaner stallions throughout the movie foreshadows and illustrates the fundamental source of friction between the two men, both insisting that their mutually exclusive version of reality is the truth. Ironically, Cpt. Ramsey, (who believes the stallions are Portuguese) or Lcdr. Hunter (who says they are Spanish) are both incorrect. The Lippizaner stallions are in fact Slovenian - they originate from a town called Lipica. However, the horses are generally associated with the Spanish Riding School, so Hunter was technically closer to the truth than Ramsey.

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Goofs

Not only is Capt. Ramsey wrong about the color of the Lipizzans, he also doesn't know anything about their training. He says "Their training program is simplicity itself. You just stick a cattle prod up their ass and you can get a horse to deal cards." Full training of the Lipizzan stallions one sees in the shows takes six years to complete. The classical dressage methods that are used for their training are based on rewarding the horse instead of punishing it.

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Quotes

Peter "Weps" Ince: [answers the private phone] Weps.
Hunter: Weps. This is Hunter. Listen to me.
Peter "Weps" Ince: Where are you?
Hunter: Don't worry about where I am. Listen, we have other ships that can handle this, you can't be influenced by the captain or anybody else, you have to make up your own mind.
Peter "Weps" Ince: [hears a beep] Con, Weapons. Missles will be ready to launch in 4 minutes.
Hunter: Listen Weps, listen Weps, don't do this. Don't do this Weps, once we launch, they cannot come back. They cannot come back Weps, and you know the repercussions if we're ...
[...]

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Connections

Edited into Zombies: The Beginning (2007)

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Soundtracks

"THE REAL EAM"
Written by Nick Glennie-Smith

User Reviews

An excellent fast moving thought-provoking film

There have been few war-type films (Saving Private Ryan was another) which have been so thought-provoking. The acting and action was excellent as could be expected from such a cast so my comments are really centred on the story line and its presentation. Set in the scenario of the post-cold war Russia, which is still with us, the basic confrontation which faces every naval commander of a nuclear submarine was brought to stark reality in this film. Who has the final say when it comes to pushing the button? Dependence on technology which is not infallible highlights the weakness of humans who become its slaves rather its masters. Ultimately the stark choice between life and death, between fiction and reality can become blurred when cut off from the world inside a deep sea submarine. How many times has this happened one can only wonder. Since we are all here it can be assummed that the CExcO portrayed by Denzel Washington always won or the type of persons portrayed by Hackman do not exist. Good triumphed over evil.

I wonder what happened to the men who mutineered, they seem to have been forgiven, for an offence still punishable by death, at least in the British navy. It's easy to criticise many technical mistakes in the film and some of the improbabilities but the main points were made and shown well. This film rates just as high as Red October, which was of a similar theme but also excellent. I wonder if Burt Lancaster ever sees these films? In its day Run Silent Run Deep had a lot to recommend it, but that is for another Comment at another time when I see it again