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K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
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Reviews Counted:33
Fresh:21
Rotten:12
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts.
Theatrical Release:Jul 19, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $35,100,183
Synopsis: Inspired by a true story that was kept secret until the fall of communism, K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER is a tale of ordinary men who sacrifice everything for their shipmates and their country. In 1961,... Inspired by a true story that was kept secret until the fall of communism, K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER is a tale of ordinary men who sacrifice everything for their shipmates and their country. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, an ill-prepared Russian nuclear missile submarine embarks on its maiden voyage with near-disastrous consequences. When the sub's nuclear reactor malfunctions, Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) makes some decisions that are unpopular with the crew. Tensions mount as radiation levels rise throughout the submarine and there is no respite in sight. If the sub explodes, it may cause an international incident as it may be mistaken as an attack on a nearby NATO base and an American Navy destroyer that is in the area. If the sub dives deep below the surface, perhaps the malfunction can be fixed, but the loss of some lives is then inevitable. The Executive Officer, Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), who formerly commanded the sub, can placate the crew, but must decide where his own loyalties lie. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (BLUE STEEL, POINT BREAK), this thriller examines the Cold War from the Russian perspective, an uncommon point of view in American films. [More]
Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joss Ackland
Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joss Ackland, J.J. Field, Lex Shrapnel, Tim Woodward, George Anton
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Louis Nowra, William Broyles, Christopher Kyle
Producer: Kathryn Bigelow, Joni Sighvatsson, Christine Whitaker, Edward S. Feldman, Moritz Borman
Composer: Klaus Badelt
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Reviews for K-19: The Widowmaker
What 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.
Though this saga would be terrific to read about, it is dicey screen material that only a genius should touch.
The movie's centrepiece is as close to tour-de-force suspense filmmaking as you'll see anywhere this summer.
Bigelow is known for making good, visceral movies, but here she adopts a kind of dignified watchfulness, and that feels right for the material.
A salute is in order for Bigelow, a director who knows how to navigate macho terrain without losing her human compass.
If you enjoy the tense claustrophobia of submarine thrillers, K-19 fills the bill.
Apart from its exhaustingly repetitive attention to the contrasting Ford and Neeson characters, the movie has virtually no interest in the secondary and tertiary characters whose heroism, jitters, sacrifice and suffering are at the heart of the story.
At its best, it almost makes you feel proud to have been a Soviet communist, -- even if you weren't.
While the film deals with serious issues based on fact, its emotional tone is too solemn. All hands aboard K-19 seem to have deluded themselves into believing that they're making an American Das Boot.
It's not your Dad's submarine melodrama, and, for the most part, it's exciting stuff.
It's almost impossible not to be moved by the movie's depiction of sacrifice and its stirring epilogue in post-Soviet Russia.
Latest News for K-19: The Widowmaker
July 17, 2007:
Kathryn Bigelow to Tackle Iraq War Drama
Jeremy Renner, Brian Geraghty, and Anthony Mackie have signed on to star in Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker. Plus, we can expect brief appearances from Ralph... More...
February 09, 2006:
Critical Consensus: Critics Not Tickled "Pink"
An incompetent French detective ("The Pink Panther"). Eight million ways to die ("Final Destination 3"). Harrison Ford looking frantic, then looking really,... More...
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