K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writers:

Louis Nowra (story), Christopher Kyle (screenplay)

Stars:

Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings, Christian Camargo

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Spruell	...	Dmitri
Peter Stebbings	...	Kuryshev
Christian Camargo	...	Pavel
Roman Podhora	...	Lapinsh
Sam Redford	...	Vasily
Steve Nicolson	...	Demichev
Liam Neeson	...	Capt. Mikhail Polenin
Ravil Isyanov	...	Suslov
Tim Woodward	...	Partonov
Lex Shrapnel	...	Kornilov
Shaun Benson	...	Leonid
Kris Holden-Ried	...	Anton (as Kristen Holden-Ried)
Dmitry Chepovetsky	...	Sergei
Christopher Redman	...	Kiklidze
Tygh Runyan	...	Maxim

Storyline

The story of USSR's first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffered a malfunction in its nuclear reactor on its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic in 1961. The submarine's crew, led by the unyielding Captain Alexi Vostrikov, races against time to prevent a Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster which threatens not only the lives of his crew, but has the potential to ignite a world war between the super powers.

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | russia | nuclear submarine | nuclear reactor | cold war | 

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Taglines:

Fate has found its hero.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Filmax [es] OFFICIAL SITE

Country:

UK Germany USA Canada

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

19 July 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

K*19: The Widowmaker

Filming Locations:

Gimli, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$361,731 (Japan) (20 December 2002)

Gross:

$4,112,806 (Japan) (17 January 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Light Production, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 2. Produktions KG, Intermedia Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Soviet sailors who survived the events depicted in this movie heartily approved of the director's take on it, but were amused by the "Hollywoodized" elements.

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Goofs

The Champagne bottle that fails to break when K-19 is christened is labeled (in Russian) as Soviet Sparkling. The trademark "Soviet Sparkling" has not been registered until 1969 when it started selling in the West and was not used internally until 1990s. A bottle made for Russian market would have been labeled as "Soviet Champagne".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Capt. Mikhail Polenin: All compartments: report readiness!

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Connections

Referenced in American Dad!: Widowmaker (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Selections from 'Voices of Light'"
("Victory At Orleans", "Interrogation", "Abjuration", "Relapse", "Karitas", "The Final Walk")
Composed by Richard Einhorn

User Reviews

Memorable For The Radiation Scenes

This was a pretty solid supposed true story of a Russian submarine and its captains during the early 1960s. It's memorable, story-wise, for the radiation victims among the crew members. There are some really dramatic scenes involving that horrific event. Otherwise, it's a story of the sub's problems and the conflict between two captains.

The story starts slowly so you have to stick with it as it gets better and better as it goes on and rewarding enough to make you glad you hung in there for the whole 137 minutes.

Profanity is minor and the Russian accents are handled well by the lead actors, led by Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Peter Sarsgaard.

It's not a great film, but it's good and interesting enough to recommend a rental, but not something I'd watch numerous times. Those radiation scenes would be a little too grim to watch numerous times.