K19: The Widow Maker (1 Viewer)

[rodney wiley]

Any reviews online? I haven't heard much about this film. Did anyone see it in the Theater?

 

[Jeremy Allin]

I saw it in the theatre with a friend.
It was....OK. Harrison Ford was a Russian accent hampered it a great deal for me, it was just too out-of-place. I mean, he was Jack Ryan, how can he be Russian?? I'll definitely pass this one up on DVD, I don't need to sit through it again. If you're into submarine movies, though, I'd recommend a rental first.

 

[rodney wiley]

Thanks Jeremy!

 

[DaveBB]

Could the subject line be any more ambiguous?

 

[Brent Bridgeman]

Could the subject line be any more ambiguous?

Sure, it could have said "K".

I am a big lover of sub movies, and I did enjoy this flick if only for the setting (a sub,of course) and the cast. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson are two of my favorite actors, so even though the tension wasn't as high as I had hoped (see Das Boot for the definition of tension), I was still glad I went. I will probably buy it, but there are a lot of movies I will get first.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I liked it alot, but then I like most submarine movies. I also like almost all of Ford and Neeson's work, so.

I have a couple of questions though, perhaps someone can help me out.

1. The Russian Rank of Captain and Insignia - Obviously they have more than one level of Captain and that is why Capt. Polenin had just one star on his shoulder boards. But Capt. Vostrikov is where my question comes in. While meeting with the Admirals at the beginning of the film, his insignia had 3 stars on each shoulder board. But while in uniform on the sub, his shoulder boards only had 2 stars on them. Except when he put on his big overcoat, it had 3 stars. Does anyone know what's up with that?

2. Sub Designations - They called the boat K-19, but it had a hull number of 294. Also the other sub which eventually rescued them, they referred to it as 2 hundred something, but it had a hull number of 3 hundred something. Any ideas?

3. Also, assuming, like our nuke subs, they have a watertight reactor compartment and it's relatively small, why didn't they just flood the reactor compartment? This should have kept the shutdown reactor cool enough and with the small size of the compartment the boat should still have been able to surface.

Surely someone knows a few things about the Soviet Navy.

 

[Joel C]

So is it a cool action flick like the Hunt for Red OCtober, or is it a dull attempt at suspense like the endless, blaring U571? I loved the former, the latter... not so much.

 

[Bill J]

So is it a cool action flick like the Hunt for Red OCtober, or is it a dull attempt at suspense like the endless, blaring U571? I loved the former, the latter... not so much.

K-19 really isn't an action film at all and there aren't any suspenseful moments. It was a pretty good film though, in my opinion.

 

[MarcinL]

Its a True Story based on 1961 Events of a Nuclear Submarine, So Dont take it for more than that, It is a true story nothignis changed, In fact the only thing that was maybe pushed a little bit is the attempted take over by the political advisor on the sub, there were disagrements, about the surrender to americans after the boat was crippled, but not to that point.

Other than that its a great piece of history!!!!

 

[Elizabeth S]

Couple reviews:
http://www.dvdauthority.com/k19.asp
http://www.dvdjournal.com/quickrevie...wmaker.q.shtml

 

[SpenceJT]

. Also, assuming, like our nuke subs, they have a watertight reactor compartment and it's relatively small, why didn't they just flood the reactor compartment? This should have kept the shutdown reactor cool enough and with the small size of the compartment the boat should still have been able to surface.

If Hollywood wanted to re-write history and give this story a convenient ending, it would have worked. The fact of the matter is that it did happen, and the Russian submarines of probably did not have that capability.

 

[Jedrek]

I saw it in the theater. It was well done, good acting, but it just wasn't really my type of film. I reccomend a rental before you guy it.

 

[Neil_Duffy]

I watched this a week or two ago and I had low expecations, but it was excellent. I enjoyed it as much as Crimson Tide, though it is not as good as Das Boot,(obviously) still it's a worthy watch. and the supps are very good to.

It's been so long since I watched 'Hunt For Red October' that I can barely recall wether it was brillaint or just good so I can't make a comparison with that I am afraid.

 

[Paul_D]

Saw it in the theater. For me the whole film is the 6 men that go into the reactor. Without that, there'd be no story. And that portion of the film is far too short. The whole opening, the preparations for sea, the test emergencies, and the portion lodged in the ice were all redundant and very boring IMO.
I still enjoyed parts of it, and the accents didn't bother me, but overall, the story isn't strong enough to inhabit a motion picture. Rent it if you like sub movies. Otherwise, there's plenty of better flicks out there.

 

[Peter Overduin]

I always have a rip-roaring party with sub movies. I was stationed in the Czech republic for two years right after the revolution and picked up all kinds of Soviet era uniforms and hats and medals, etc. When its time to party around a sub movie, we don all these medals and hats and stuff; drink beer and yell at the TV. Great fun!

It was no different with K19, except that there was less to yell about. It was a great story turned into a very prdicteable and even plodding story. A definite lack of testosterone for us wanna-be Russians on party night.

As an aside; how many all-male cast films have been directed by a woman? Personally, I think she missed the boat on this one; it lacked an edge and tension that is so prevalent in Red October, Crimson Tide and Das Boot (for which we don our German goodies, drink German beer and yell at the TV - in German - after all, I spent 6 years there too!!).

 

[Elvie]

Was planning on renting this one to watch, but I have a question for anyone who did buy it ...
In the trailers for the film, the background music sounds like they've used the Gladiator soundtrack (battle scene at the beginning of Gladiator music to be exact). Can anyone tell me if it was only for the trailer (seen it done before when the 'actual' soundtrack wasn't ready in time) or did they just "borrow" or recycle an existing soundtrack???
Just curious

 

[Stephen Orr]

I'm watching the featurettes on the copy I bought last night. It's incredible the amount of research that went into the project, and how accurately the film portrays the event. It's refreshing that the film is so matter-of-fact, considering how many films have sensationalize and distort true stories.

 

[Bill J]

In the trailers for the film, the background music sounds like they've used the Gladiator soundtrack (battle scene at the beginning of Gladiator music to be exact). Can anyone tell me if it was only for the trailer (seen it done before when the 'actual' soundtrack wasn't ready in time) or did they just "borrow" or recycle an existing soundtrack???

I have seen K-19 twice and I don't remember hearing any music from Gladiator at all, so I'm pretty sure they only used it in the trailer. It seems like many trailers have been borrowing music from Gladiator these days. I know Windtalkers is one example.

 

[Jeff]

Elvie,
Almost every trailer uses music from other movies. I first noticed it with Forrest Gump, using the soundtrack from Dragon the Bruce Lee Story.
Jeff

 

[MarcinL]

Well actually watching the movie the action background music, seems so close to Gladiator, that is actually unbelieavable, when the music starts in several action scenes for a couple seconds you think its gladiator but it changes a little bit propably to legal matters but its really cool.