Black Sea (2014)

In order to make good with his former employers, a submarine captain takes a job with a shadowy backer to search the depths of the Black Sea for a submarine rumored to be loaded with gold.

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

Writer:

Dennis Kelly (screenplay by)

Stars:

Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jude Law	...	Robinson
Karl Davies	...	Liam
Llewella Gideon	...	Job Centre Worker
Jodie Whittaker	...	Chrissy
Gus Barry	...	Martin (aged 12)
Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Blackie
Daniel Ryan	...	Kurston
Scoot McNairy	...	Daniels
Tobias Menzies	...	Lewis
Michael Smiley	...	Reynolds
David Threlfall	...	Peters
Sergey Kolesnikov	...	Levchenko
Sergey Puskepalis	...	Zaytsev
Sergey Veksler	...	Baba
Grigoriy Dobrygin	...	Morozov

Storyline

After a decade of hard work at a marine salvage company, the recently redundant submarine captain, Robinson, decides to risk everything in search of a fabled underwater treasure: a sunken Nazi U-boat laden with gold ingots of inestimable value. Bent on unearthing the unclaimed prize under the nose of the Russians and their hostile naval fleet, Robinson assembles a hand-picked mixed crew of antagonistic experts to comb the vast seabed of the cold Black Sea in a rusty Soviet submarine. However, as greed gets the best of the already divided team, the promise of an equal share rapidly starts to fade away. Can Robinson's men resurface in one piece, and, above all, rich?

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | sea | gold | black sea | drive shaft | 

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Taglines:

Brave the deep. Find the gold. Trust no one.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, some graphic images and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official Site [Turkey]

Country:

UK Russia USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

23 January 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Sea

Filming Locations:

Copse Manor, Virginia Water, Surrey, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,675, 25 January 2015

Gross USA:

$1,171,559

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,070,789

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Film4, Cowboy Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The engine mechanic's name is Zaitsev. Jude Law's character in "Enemy at the Gates", where he plays a Soviet sniper, was also named Zaitsev.

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Goofs

A mechanical failure forces them to go diving to the wrecked German sub for a replacement part. Subs like this have two complete diesel-motor-generator sets, and two complete electric-motor-propeller sets. No single component failure would immobilize both. Separately, the failed/replacement part is described as the "crankshaft" and indeed the film shows them bringing one underwater, fitting it, and then a crankshaft spinning away. But a crankshaft is an internal part of an engine, connected to pistons via con-rods, and that's exactly what they show. But it's not connected to anything of the sort. This makes no sense, but is I guess a cheap technical effect. Perhaps they wanted to represent a thrust bearing; those rub and wear and spark if they get dry. Even so, there's one each side, for each propeller and its shaft; no single point of failure.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Liam: And we want you to know that this has nothing - nothing at all - to do with your performance, which is exemplary by the way.
Captain Robinson: [sighs looking out the window]
Liam: Look, the business has changed. Marine salvage has changed. We don't need a submarine pilot anymore. We don't even need a sub. Now, you've never been on contract, so redundancy, well, it's out of the question. But I spoke to Bob Toris personally and he has insisted that Agora make sure that there's something for you. And I'm ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Projector: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies/Black Sea (2014)

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Soundtracks

Legendary Sevastopol Hymn
Written by Vano Muradeli and Pyotr Gradov

User Reviews

Nothing that will win awards or become a classic, but it was entertaining and very much worth your time. I really enjoyed this.

"I know a way to not be like this. I know a way to get money." Captain Robinson (Law) is a submarine captain who has just been told he is no longer needed. When he tells his crew about this they are wondering what the next step in their lives will be. The idea comes up about trying to salvage a sunken sub full of Nazi gold and they agree to look for it. What starts off as a way to make money becomes something so much more. This is a movie that I can not do justice to in a review. The movie is nothing amazing and is not a classic but this is one of the biggest surprises I have seen in a while. I was sucked in right away and was interested and intrigued all the way until the end, which seemed to come almost too soon. This movie takes all the great aspects of a heist movie and moves the setting to a claustrophobic submarine. I could go on about how much I liked this movie but I will just say this is one you have to see to understand. I recommend this. Overall, nothing that will win awards or become a classic, but it was entertaining and very much worth your time. I really enjoyed this. I give it a B+.