Crimson Tide (Blu-ray)
Directed by Tony Scott
Studio: Hollywood
Year: 1995
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: PCM 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
MSRP: $ 29.99
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Review Date: January 31, 2008
The Film
4/5
Of the “Big Three” Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action-adventure movies of the mid-1990s (
Crimson Tide, The Rock, Con Air),
Crimson Tide is my overwhelming favorite. A combination of doomsday scenario coupled with a mutiny on a semi-helpless submarine under fire and featuring two galvanizing superstar actors supported by one of the strongest arrays of supporting talent in Hollywood,
Crimson Tide fires on all cylinders for almost its entire running time.
Under the potential threat of a nuclear attack when a Russian rebel leader seizes control of a nuclear missile base, the United States launches the
USS Alabama submarine commanded by Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and loaded with nuclear weapons to maintain defensive positions and be at the ready should any attack transpire. With his usual executive officer incapacitated due to appendicitis, Ramsey takes Harvard educated and strongly opinionated Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington) as his new executive officer. Though the two men have a grudging respect for one another, there is tension from the beginning, and it only grows in intensity when the ship is beset by a series of malfunctions and an incomplete set of executive communications which seem to order a nuclear attack on the one hand and then a counter order to stand down on the other. When the captain and his executive officer clash over proper procedure, a mutiny is declared and the captain is relieved of his command. But that’s just the beginning of the moves and countermoves that steer the film’s exceptionally tense and topsy-turvy story to its surprising conclusion.
Director Tony Scott is no stranger to the testosterone-filled world that is portrayed in
Crimson Tide, and his staging of the many attacks and counter maneuvers is so well crafted that one’s attention never flags. Without the irritating (and implausible) love story that intruded on the heroics of
Top Gun,
Crimson Tide plunges full steam ahead through its entire 116-minute running time. The screenplay by Michael Schiffer (though allegedly Quentin Tarantino, Robert Towne, and Steve Zaillian also contributed to the script) is alive with activity since a hostile sub is firing torpedoes at the
Alabama while it’s busy dealing with a fire in the galley, the death of some crewmen, and a hull breach that sends the ship plunging into depths that will cause its implosion. And once the captain is relieved of command, that’s not the end of that story either as several loyal crewmen band together to regain control of the ship by putting Ramsey back in charge. There’s not a dull moment nor a quiet one once the ship gets underway.
With two enormous talents like Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in the leading roles, it comes as no surprise that their encounters are electric in their dynamism from the very beginning. With the two thundering away like mad at one another leading up to the initial change of command, one can’t take his eyes off them. And look at the cast of actors who support these two giants: Viggo Mortensen, George Dzundza, James Gandolfini, Matt Craven, Danny Nucci, Rocky Carroll, Steve Zahn, Rick Schroder. Even Ryan Phillippe turns up in a small part, and two-time Oscar winner Jason Robards pops up in an unbilled cameo at the film’s conclusion.
Video Quality
4/5
The film’s 2.40:1 Panavision aspect ratio is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Overall, the look of the film is very pleasing though, naturally, with the different light levels in the submarine, dimensionality varies as contrast goes up and down. Blacks are not the blackest I’ve seen, but shadow detail is more than adequate. Color saturation is very good, and flesh tones are natural. The film has been divided into 32 chapters.
Audio Quality
5/5
The PCM 5.1 track (4.6 Mbps) is on par with the best audio tracks of the era. The subwoofer gets a continual workout once the submarine is underway, and music and ambient sounds are intelligently placed around the entire soundfield giving one an immersive surround sensation.
Special Features
3/5
Though the packaging insists that all bonus features are in high definition, only the previews of other Blu-ray ray releases are high def. The remaining featurettes are all in fairly dated looking 480i.
There are
7 deleted/extended scenes which can be viewed individually or played all at one time. Together they run 6¼ minutes.
“On the Set of Crimson Tide” is exactly that: a guided tour of the set with actor George Dzundza serving as our escort. We see rehearsals in progress (Denzel in particular is struggling with his lines), scenes of Tony Scott directing the actors, and some on-set hijinks. This feature runs 10¼ minutes.
“The Making of Crimson Tide” is the EPK for the film, a 20-minute overview of the movie showing the actors and the director in action and featuring conversations with both Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson about the movie. We also get to see the use of submarine models and other special effects demonstrated by the FX coordinator. This feature gives away many plot points, so if one is new to the film, it’s best to save this for later.
The usual
movie showcase chooses three reference quality scenes for about one minute each of intense sound and visuals.
The disc includes
trailers (in 1080p) for
Wall-E, Gone Baby Gone, and
Dan in Real Life. The trailer for
Crimson Tide is not included.
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
Crimson Tide is an intense action-adventure movie in the best tradition: great, intelligent action, outstanding performances, and almost unbearable tension. This Blu-ray disc is the best video incarnation of the film I’ve yet seen and comes highly recommended.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
