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- 1995
- R
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1995
- R
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
SummaryIn the midst of a global crisis, the USS Alabama receives an unconfirmed order to launch its nuclear missiles -- signaling the start of Word War III. The tension quickly rises as the sub's respected commander (Hackman) and his brilliant executive officer (Washington) clash over the validity of their orders, battling each other for contro...
Directed By: Tony Scott
Written By: Michael Schiffer, Richard P. Henrick
- 1995
- R
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1995
- R
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
Crimson Tide
66
7.7
My Score
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SummaryIn the midst of a global crisis, the USS Alabama receives an unconfirmed order to launch its nuclear missiles -- signaling the start of Word War III. The tension quickly rises as the sub's respected commander (Hackman) and his brilliant executive officer (Washington) clash over the validity of their orders, battling each other for contro...
Directed By: Tony Scott
Written By: Michael Schiffer, Richard P. Henrick
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally FavorableBased on 20 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
40% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
Metascore
Generally FavorableBased on 20 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
40% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
The submarine drama, which opens today, has everything you could want from an action thriller and a few other things you usually can't hope to expect: an excellent script, first-rate performances and a story that has more to do with individuals than explosions.
Directed by Hollywood's slickest hack, Tony Scott ("Top Gun"), with a script doctored by Quentin Tarantino--you won't need sonar to spot his contributions.
By Staff(not credited)FULL REVIEW
User Score
Generally FavorableBased on 86 User Ratings
7.7
81% Positive
70 Ratings
70 Ratings
19% Mixed
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
User Score
Generally FavorableBased on 86 User Ratings
7.7
81% Positive
70 Ratings
70 Ratings
19% Mixed
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
- All Reviews
- Positive Reviews
- Mixed Reviews
- Negative Reviews
Easily the greatest submarine film ever and way better than hunt for red October the characthters are compelling the plot is strong and the direction from tony Scott and producing from Simpson/bruckheimer are on the spotlight this is a tension packed ride with non stop thrills and excellent performances RIP gene hackman
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I consider this as a forgotten masterpiece. It has two great opposing characters that are caught in a cat and mouse game that can decide the fate of humanity. The psychology of the characters and moral ambiguity are great. There is no black and white or easy answer in this situation. Story: It is set on the USS Alabama submarine which is armed with nuclear rockets and on a mission near Russia. Lets continue with the main characters first as those are important. We have Ron Hunter who is the new first officer on the submarine and Captain Frank Ramsey who is a veteran and the hard as steel but fair commander of the ship. Both have different opinions, personalities and world views that collide. The submarine is in striking distance when a civil conflict erupts in Russia. A nuclear missile base is captured by ultra nationalist that threaten to start a nuclear war if either Russia or the USA confronts them. They receive the order to be ready to launch their missiles to avoid a nuclear attack by destroying the base before the rockets can be started. With this set up I end here to avoid spoiler. The story is engaging, intense and immersive. It deals with a problem that has no easy answer as you have no clue who is right or wrong. Also the clashing characters are great. A conflict between people who believe in the same things but in different ways. They set up the story and characters in a truly amazing way and the themes are worth to discuss a lot. By the way it is said to be based on an incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis which was the closest thing to the end of mankind in history as the USA and Russia were on the brink of nuclear war. Back to the movie. It works well because of the great actors and their performance. We have Gene Hackman as Captain Frank Ramsey who is one of a few submarine commanders with actual war experience. He is a man of duty, no nonsense and hard but fair. Then there is Denzel Washington as Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter the second in command. He is less experienced but also a man of honor and principles. The struggle or conflict between those two made the movie great along with the story. They are like two side of a coin similar but different. Both characters have their valid points, code of honor and will do what is necessary. While I say these two carry the movie the rest of the cast is also excellent with George Dzundza as Chief Walters, Viggo Mortensen as Peter Ince and Matt Craven as Roy Zimmer to name a few. They fill the support roles with a good performance and enhance the movie. The mixture of fitting great actors in an immersive story won me and many others over. For the sets and visuals I say they are fully convincing for someone like me who has no naval, submarine or military experience (Like nearly all viewers). I always use the argument that it has not to be absolute realistic in an entertainment movie if it is not immensely implausible. On a sidenote I just read that they had no US Navy support as they objected a lot in the script. So I praise the effort. The soundtrack was done by Hans Zimmer who is one of the 3 great film music composers in the movie industry (John Williams and Ennio Morricone are the other two). So there is nothing to criticize here as he delivered something that was nominated for the Oscars. Overall this is a forgotten gem of its time. Basically unknown now but really good. An easy recommendation by me.
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Equipped with liberal helpings of square-jawed top quality Hollywood thespianism, and that expensive, highly commercial Tony Scott gloss-finish, this submarine-set mutiny thriller is about as good as it gets.
By Staff(not credited)FULL REVIEW
The scenario may be dumb and predictable, with a wimpy ending to boot, but it's also sort of fun.
The action is loud and flashy, but there isn't really much suspense. The movie operates in such well-charted waters that it feels less like a dangerous naval mission than like a luxury cruise: the accommodations are cozy and the activities carefully planned.
By Terrence RaffertyFULL REVIEW
Nope, this picture doesn't bear thinking about, but, if you resist that nasty temptation, setting all your mental gauges at Dead Slow, the flow of the action will see you through.
Behind all the macho bluster stand (or, it would appear, sit) director Tony Scott, writers Michael Schiffer and Richard P. Henrick, and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, trying (and failing) to get all the characters to behave like grown-ups.
I have watched this movie more times than I can count, it's my go to feel good action flick when I'm bored or angry at **** movies. There is nothing subpar about this flick.
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"Crimson Tide" is a 1995 film Starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. The Tony Scott film involves a first officer (Washington) on a nuclear submarine who clashes with his captain (Hackman) over whether or not they have enough information to perform a first strike on a volatile Russia. As far as, Tony Scott films go, they're sort of hit or miss. I loved "Man On Fire" and "Unstoppable." However, movies like "Deja Vu" and "The Taking Of Pelham 123" are just sort of "meh" for me. This is partly because Mr. Scott made a very strange transition midway through his career. He went from using a really clean and traditional camera movement (as in "Top Gun," "True Romance," and "Crimson Tide") to using this really frenetic and trippy camera style (as in "Deja Vu," "Man On Fire," and "Unstoppable"). Sometimes the latter works, sometimes it doesn't, but one thing that usually has stayed amazingly consistent throughout Tony Scott's career is a brilliant lead performance from Denzel Washington. Tony Scott and Denzel Washington have collaborated together five times, and they've crafted some amazing stuff. "Crimson Tide" is no different here - Denzel sails through this movie with an utterly incredible finesse. However, while Denzel's performance is a force to be reckoned with, the best performance in this film is from none other than Popeye Doyle himself; Mr. Gene Hackman. His portrayal of Captain Frank Ramsey is one of the most menacing performances I've seen him give in a long while. Hackman owns this ship. In terms of directing, this movie in my opinion had everything "The Hunt For Red October" had, yet there was just a tad more. While "The Hunt For Red October" filmed it's underwater combat scenes using trick photography and models in midair, "Crimson Tide" actually shot their model ships underwater and utilized practical special effects on them regularly. While "The Hunt For Red October" had a brilliant score by Basil Poledouris, "Crimson Tide". . .had Hans Zimmer. Finally, while "The Hunt For Red October"'s plot was very interesting and definitely worth watching, "Crimson Tide" managed to be one of the most intense filmgoing experiences for me in a very long time - the fear of a nuclear holocaust is hammered into your head at an almost unsettling degree. White-knuckle film? You don't know the meaning of the term. "Crimson Tide" is an unbelievable film that I will not soon forget.
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Excellent post Cold War undersea thriller starring Gene Hackman as Captain Ramsay, the grizzled, old school Captain of the nuclear submarine USS Alabama, and Denzel Washington as his newly promoted First Officer, Lieutenant Commander Hunter.When a situation develops that forces Hunter into committing mutiny, in order to prevent a launch of nuclear missiles, it ultimately boils down to a battle of wills between the two men. Each convinced they are right, and each dedicated to their course of action.Tony Scott directs, and conjurs up a tight and well crafted on screen depiction of life on a submarine. Going from the initial mundanities of everyday life, to ramping up the tensions as the crew deal with the distinct possibility their sub might become a very large metal coffin.The acting throughout is excellent, with (pre-Lord of the Rings) Viggo Mortenson a stand out, as the weapons officer (and old friend of Hunter) who gets caught in the middle.There are some (big) problems with the film though. The first is that it does take extreme liberties its narrative. The film was criticised on release by anyone and everyone connected with the US Navy, who stated that the principle notion of the movie (a mutiny) would never happen in real life. Other criticisms were thrown around about the (late in the day) script re-writes by Quentin Tarantino. It's so obvious where his 'lines' are in the script, and when they are being spoken it's utterly out of place.The ending was also commented on, and it's no surprise this film was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons, the ending coming in for a very wry level of sarcasm due to it essentially being a cop-out. People wanting an actual epilogue that puts things into context won't be getting one.Overall though this is an exciting action-thriller. Put your thinking cap in your pocket, fire up the DVD/Blu-Ray, ramp up the bass on your sound system/TV, dim the lights..... And go along for the ride!
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