K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 168
Fresh: 101 | Rotten: 67
A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts.
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 15
A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 44,843
My Rating
Movie Info
A real-life historical incident becomes the basis for this military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow that's reminiscent of such submarine dramas as Das Boot (1981), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), and U-571 (2000). Harrison Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a Russian naval officer who's being given command of the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, K-19, at the height of the Cold War in 1961. The vessel's previous commander, Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam
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Cast
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Harrison Ford
Captain Alexei Vostriko... -
Liam Neeson
Mikhail Polenin -
Peter Sarsgaard
Vadim Ratchenko -
Joss Ackland
Marshal Zelentstov -
John Shrapnel
Admiral Bratyeev -
Donald Sumpter
Dr. Savran -
Tim Woodward
Konstantin Partonov -
Steve Nicolson
Demichev -
Ravil Isyanov
Igor Suslov -
Christian Camargo
Pavel Loktev -
William Lucas
Yuzef Mankevitch -
George Anton
Konstantin Poliansky -
Ingvar E. Sigurðsson
Viktor Gorelov -
Tygh Runyan
Maxim Portenko -
Peter Stebbings
Maxim Kuryshey -
Shawn Mathieson
Stepan Komarov -
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All Critics (183) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (106) | Rotten (68) | DVD (25)
Why did movie moguls think that this was the right moment for a tale of unflinching loyalty to the Soviet Union?
Top CriticWhat could have been a movie packed with historical significance and nail-gnawing underwater tension ends up little more than a lumbering public-service announcement for the human spirit.
Bigelow hits all her marks and more within the narrow parameters.
[A] really strong work from start to finish.
More intellectually scary than dramatically involving.
Gets stuck in a no man's land between the real and the fictional.
Intense wartime submarine movie celebrates heroism.
...like so many films that find their way to Blu-ray, a very ordinary one. (Blu-ray Edition)
...takes its place among a small group of undersea motion pictures. Unfortunately, it takes its place at the end of the line.
Bigelow, the only female action thriller director around is one tough chick with a camera, proving she can run a tight ship even if she is the only woman on board.
A brutally effective, brilliantly constructed dramatic thriller.
K-19 makes an American audience care about Communists trapped between a rock and a hard place deep beneath the sea.
Kathryn Bigelow's K-19 sinks to a watery grave.
Manages to find another way to become a big-budget Hollywood summer production that shamelessly panders to the lowest common denominator.
... A taut, skillfully-executed thriller anchored by two rock-solid leading men.
Occasionally trying on accents that are reminiscent of a 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' cartoon, Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson have rarely been saddled with such awkward roles.
O sotaque de Ford é inconstante e Bigelow tenta forçar demais o drama. Vale pela história.
K-19: The Widowmaker may not be a keeper but Bigelow's films do lend themselves to repeat viewings.
Audience Reviews for K-19: The Widowmaker
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"Fate has found its hero."
To be honest, I didn't expect a movie half as good as the one I got from K-19: The Widowmaker. This is an extremely underrated film from a great director in Kathryn Bigelow and boasts a variety of good performances. The fact that this movie is so unknown and also unappreciated stuns me to a degree. This film is powerful, suspenseful, entertaining, and well made in every aspect. The movie looks good, it sounds good, it's well acted, well paced. What more could we really ask for from a submarine movie.
K-19 is a new Soviet submarine that has new technology on it that the Soviets believe will give them the upper hand in the Cold war. It's a nuclear reactor. The ship isn't ready to go out though, and when the captain of the sub(Liam Neeson) says that, he is relieved of duty by another captain(Harrison Ford). The two knock heads quite a few time on the mission, especially when things begin to go from bad to worse. The movie has an undeniable human element at work that many movies lack or just don't even try to accomplish.
The reviews for this movie are, to put lightly, luke warm. Most of the time, I can see why some wouldn't like a movie that I find impressive, but this is one of those rare occasions where I just can't come to grips with it. Negative reviews speak of the movie putting too much emphasis on the human element of the story. It's too dramatic, and maybe too feel good in the end. Are we so out of touch with humanity that we would criticize a movie like this for including the most important part of any story? None of these critics argue that the movie isn't well made, but they will argue that it becomes too focused on the human element. Yeah, like that wasn't important to the actual people when it was taking place. Okay, I'm done ranting.
Despite some negativity in the reviews, I implore you to give this one a shot. It's a movie that will has power, while still informing on a situation in history that few people actually know about. I'm not saying that this is one of the best movies ever made, but it is one that I enjoyed highly and one I think a lot of other people would enjoy, if they give it a chance.