Synopsis for
Crimson Tide (1995) More at IMDbPro »

This first appeared on realmoviereview.com

Action master Tony Scott scored another hit with this powerful submarine drama that features excellent dialog, a strong tension-filled story and a great cast that, much like True Romance, is full of familiar faces, including Law & Order's George Dzundza and a pre-Strider Viggo Mortensen. The story was helped along by an uncredited re-write by Scott's True Romance writer, Quentin Tarantino, who added Hackman's Jack Russell Terrier and cigars, as well as the dialog on the Lippizaner stallions and, of course, the Silver Surfer comic book chat. The end result is well-drawn main characters whose personalities drive the story.

Rebellious ultra-nationalists have seized control of parts of Russia and are threatening to launch nuclear missiles at the United States. In response, Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) is ordered to take out his nuclear submarine, the USS Alabama, and get in position to launch a pre-emptive strike if needed. A medical emergency leads to his second-in-command being replaced by Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington) and it soon becomes clear that these two men are not going to get along. The tension gets wound tighter as the USS Alabama deals with both an enemy submarine and an order to launch their missiles at Russia.