Crimson Tide is a Tony Scott directed and Simpson & Bruckheimer produced cold war action thriller set on the American Navy submarine the USS Alabama. A strong cast is led by two of my favourite male actors, Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman as Executive Officer Hunter and Captain Ramsey respectively.
This movie is a lesson in both the craft of storytelling and acting with some superb (and possibly career high) performances. It has to be noted that to create such a quality movie from the cramped confines of a submarine with barely minutes in total of exterior scenes is remarkable and goes to support the quality of the film making and character acting.
From very early on we see the characters of Hackmen and Washington sizing each other up and a notable scene is the officers of the submarine gathered around the officers mess table discussing the complicated topics of ethics and war, and as the scene moves along, the nervous laughter from the round table discussion evaporates and probing questions from Captain to new XO become more explicit, XO Hunters underlying beliefs are slowly revealed to his fellow officers.
The key to the movie is the tension slowly building to a head as we are never sure which crew member will side with which officer. We know there are certain loyalties and certain shared histories, but there are some surprises as crew members face moral, ethical and hierarchical choices. The cramped and sweat soaked atmosphere of the submarine totally adds to the tension and the great script and screenplay brings out the best in all of the actors.
This is a film I never get tired of and is undeniably in my all time top 20 movie list. If you have not seen it and are a fan of these actor or the war thriller genre then delay no further and check it out.
10/10.
This movie is a lesson in both the craft of storytelling and acting with some superb (and possibly career high) performances. It has to be noted that to create such a quality movie from the cramped confines of a submarine with barely minutes in total of exterior scenes is remarkable and goes to support the quality of the film making and character acting.
From very early on we see the characters of Hackmen and Washington sizing each other up and a notable scene is the officers of the submarine gathered around the officers mess table discussing the complicated topics of ethics and war, and as the scene moves along, the nervous laughter from the round table discussion evaporates and probing questions from Captain to new XO become more explicit, XO Hunters underlying beliefs are slowly revealed to his fellow officers.
The key to the movie is the tension slowly building to a head as we are never sure which crew member will side with which officer. We know there are certain loyalties and certain shared histories, but there are some surprises as crew members face moral, ethical and hierarchical choices. The cramped and sweat soaked atmosphere of the submarine totally adds to the tension and the great script and screenplay brings out the best in all of the actors.
This is a film I never get tired of and is undeniably in my all time top 20 movie list. If you have not seen it and are a fan of these actor or the war thriller genre then delay no further and check it out.
10/10.