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MOVIE INFO

Director:
Tony Scott
Cast:
Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Matt Craven, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini, Rocky Carroll, Jaime Gomez, Michael Milhoan, Scott Burkholder
Writing Credits:
Richard P. Henrick (story), Michael Schiffer (screenplay and story)

Tagline:
Danger runs deep.

Synopsis:
Aboard the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Alabama, tensions reach the breaking point when Capt. Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and Lt. Cmdr. Hunter (Denzel Washington) heatedly dispute whether to fire upon Russia. An earlier launch message is followed by an incomplete second message (the radio dies) that may cancel the previous order. The world hangs in the balance as the two stubborn men hold their ground. The crew is divided as time winds down before a decision must be made.

Box Office:
Budget
$53 million.
Domestic Gross
$91.400 million.

MPAA:
Rated R

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio:
English Uncompressed 5.1
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English

Runtime: 115 min.
Price: $15.99
Release Date: 2/5/2008

Bonus:
• Seven Deleted Scenes
• “All Access: On the Set of Crimson Tide” Featurette
• “The Making of Crimson Tide” Featurette
• Previews


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Crimson Tide [Blu-Ray] (1995)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 2, 2014)

Many view the films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer negatively because they tend to be somewhat brainless. Flicks like Armageddon and Beverly Hills Cop ain't exactly Shakespeare, you know? Not that there's anything wrong with that; Bruckheimer films promise lots of excitement and action, and they usually deliver the goods.

One exception to this rule comes from 1995’s Crimson Tide. While it certainly utilizes parts of the Bruckheimer formula - "A"-list cast, moody and dramatic score, etc. - it differs in a few significant ways. Top on this list is the fact that - boing! - it's not stupid. Admittedly, it doesn’t offer a complicated film like The Usual Suspects that demands complete attention. It's also not something you're terribly likely to debate with friends after you watch it. Nonetheless, it's a great deal more subtle and ambiguous than most Bruckheimer films.

At the start of Tide, we learn that extremist factions in Russia may take control and threaten the US. The submarine Crimson Tide gets put into duty and may need to use its nuclear missiles. Headed by Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman), Lt. Commander Hunter (Denzel Washington) comes on board for his first mission there as second in command.

The Tide receives a message that instructs them to prepare to fire on the Russkies. During an attack, they get another directive, but the battle causes them to lose the final part of the communication. This leads to a war of wills between Ramsey and Hunter, as they attempt to execute their duties in the appropriate manner.

In a typical Bruckheimer flick, both heroes and villains tend to be strongly differentiated. In most of them, no one in the audience needs to expend a lot of gray matter discerning between the good guys and the bad guys, as they tend to be about as black and white as it can get. We have heroes for whom we can root without reservation and villains who we can despise without consideration.

Crimson Tide provides the audience with a hero but no clear cut villain. Hackman's Ramsey largely fills that bill, but not to a decisive degree; although he functions as the bad guy in the piece, that's mainly because he opposes our hero (Washington's Hunter), not because he's inherently evil or because he tries to perform any wantonly dastardly deed.

Whereas the majority of Bruckheimer films are straight up action pics that feature extensive battle scenes between the various participants, Crimson Tide is much more of a psychological drama. While a few scenes feature attacks from rebel Russian subs, the tension and excitement comes mainly from the philosophical conflict between the main characters. The film lacks the stylized violence and heavy-handed melodrama of works such as Armageddon and Con Air. While it manipulates the viewer to a certain degree, it doesn't come close to equally the "feel this way now" heights of other Bruckheimer epics.

It also requires the audience to consider which path they think is most appropriate. While Ramsey comes off as the less responsible and more irrational of the two leads, he nonetheless receives sympathy and understanding from the viewer because he's a man who tries to execute his command to the best of his ability. I feel that the film depicts Ramsey as a bit too malevolent and eager to attack, but he still appears less simplistic and barbarous than he could have. At all times, one can comprehend and empathize with his point of view, even though we may feel that Hunter pursues the more appropriate path.

I don't mean to bash Bruckheimer's other films because they lack the subtlety and intellectual impact of Crimson Tide; again, they do what they set out to do, and they can be satisfying and entertaining in that regard. Nonetheless, I definitely feel that Crimson Tide is a step up from the producer's usual fare. Unlike most of his films, little about it seemed gratuitous, unlike bits such as the car chase in The Rock. I thought that scene appeared out of place and useless in the scheme of things and felt it existed only because the filmmakers wanted a little action in the midst of a number of expository segments.

While the sub attack scenes in Crimson Tide strike me in somewhat the same vein, I believe they're much more defensible if simply because a) they make sense within the context of the story; and b) they advance the plot. Since the story mainly concerns the conflict of interpreted duty between the main characters, the sub attack provides a reason for that struggle. After all, the leads oppose each other because of differing responses to an incomplete message; without the assault from the Russians, the directions would have been easily interpreted and the drama would not have existed.

Overall, Crimson Tide works well because it doesn't try to overstep it boundaries. Almost the entire film takes place on the submarine, which makes for an effective technique ala The Abyss. The story relies on the audience feeling as cut off from the rest of the world as the characters. This method also gives us that claustrophobic feeling that seems so necessary in underwater films.

Crimson Tide's cast actually is less star-studded than many Bruckheimer vehicles; really, Hackman and Washington were the only "name" actors in this picture when it hit screens in 1995. That's not a problem, though, and it may act to the film's benefit. Both leads are typically excellent; Washington makes for one of the most effective and understated "action heroes" around, since he virtually never relies on the kind of hamminess we usually see in those roles. The supporting cast all fill their parts well; no one lets down the production.

Ironically, the only casting problem that occurs was in no way the fault of the producers. As Radchenko, the Russian nationalist whose rebel forces have precipitated this conflict, we briefly see Daniel Von Bargen.

Who? Seinfeld fans will clearly recognize Von Bargen as Kruger, George's goofball boss during the final season of the show. Seeing him as this violent radical definitely threw me off, but that's going to happen with little known character actors; all I thought of when I saw Hammond's butler during the early part of The Lost World was, "Hey! It's Mr. Pitt!"

Also as an aside, Crimson Tide contained at least one glaring factual error. The film takes place in October of year that's undisclosed, but logically seems to have been 1994 or 1995. However, at one point, Hunter mentions that the Cuban Missile Crisis happened 32 and a half years prior to the events depicted in the film. I can buy the 32, but not the half, since those events took place in October 1962.

I'd guess that the film originally was set to take place at about the same time as its release date in spring, 1995, which would correctly date the previous crisis; the filmmakers may have later decided to alter the month written in the overlays but left the now-inaccurate statement alone. Okay, it's no big deal, but I gotta use my history degree for something!


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture C+ / Audio B+ / Bonus C+

Crimson Tide appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a decent but inconsistent presentation.

While the vast majority of the movie seemed crisp and well-defined, a smattering of shots were a bit soft. Some of that came from light edge haloes, and some appeared to result from digital noise reduction; those techniques gave the image something of a “digital” look and sapped fine detail at times. No signs of jagged edges or shimmering appeared, but a mix of small source defects could be seen. I noticed occasional specks throughout the movie, though these never became heavy.

When it came to colors, Tide worked fine. The film tended toward blues or reds, and these came across with reasonable clarity. Black levels seemed decent – if occasionally somewhat inky - while shadow detail usually presented good clarity and vividness. Some interiors on the sub seemed a little murky, but they mostly worked well. This was never a bad image, but it lacked consistency.

As for the film’s Uncompressed 5.1 soundtrack, it demonstrated an active and encompassing soundfield. The forward spectrum presented good stereo imaging for the music, and various effects appeared appropriately placed within the realm. Those elements blended together well and moved smoothly across the channels.

Surround usage seemed positive. The movie consistently displayed a solid sense of environment, and the sub attack sequences brought the rears into the picture to a nice degree; they made the viewer a part of the action.

Audio quality seemed solid. Speech sounded nicely natural and distinct, and I heard no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility. Effects demonstrated good clarity and accuracy, and they showed no signs of distortion. Bass response was deep and tight. Music came across as bright and dynamic as well. Overall, the soundtrack of Crimson Tide remained good enough to earn a “B+”.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the 2006 DVD? The uncompressed audio sounded bolder and more dynamic, while the visuals gave us stronger clarity and vivacity. The Blu-ray’s image disappointed me but still looked better than the DVD.

Note that the 2006 DVD included only an extended cut of the film, whereas the Blu-ray gives us the theatrical version. It offers no choice between the two, so fans of the longer edition won’t find it here.

When we head to the disc’s extras, we start with seven Deleted Scenes. These run a total of six minutes, 14 seconds and mostly show fairly brief sequences. A few longer ones – like a chat between Hunter and the Chief of the Boat about Ramsey – offer meatier moments. None seem important, though.

Two featurette follow. All Access: On the Set of Crimson Tide runs 10 minutes, 18 seconds, and consists entirely of shots from the set. Mostly we watch raw footage of the production, though we also get some staged goofiness from actor George Dzundza and a few others. A combination of production diary and gag reel, we see lots of entertaining and interesting material here. “Access” becomes a fun and lively compilation of elements.

During the 19-minute and 57-second The Making of Crimson Tide, we get a mix of movie clips, behind the scenes elements, and interviews. We hear from Dzundza, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, screenwriter Michael Schiffer, director Tony Scott, visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman, special effects coordinator Al DiSarro Jr., and actors Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Matt Craven, Viggo Mortensen and Rocky Carroll. We find some basic story notes and plot challenges, cast and characters, interaction with the Navy, set design, technical instruments like miniatures and gimbels, and qualities Scott and the producers brought to the project.

“Making” sags much of the time due to its general nature. It doesn’t provide a lot of good details, especially during its first half. Matters improve a bit during the final 10 minutes or so, but I still don’t think we get much quality content. It’s a mediocre featurette.

Under Movie Showcase, we’re told we’ll get “instant access to the filmmaker’s most cinematic moments that showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound”. What this means is that we find an alternate form of chapter search, as the “Showcase” links to three short clips; these run a total of three minutes, 11 seconds. The “Showcase” feels pointless to me.

The disc opens with ads for WALL-E, Gone Baby Gone and Dan in Real Life. No trailer for Tide shows up here.

Crimson Tide remains one of the richest and most effective films in the Jerry Bruckheimer stable. It presents a taut Cold War-style thriller that keeps the audience involved. The Blu-ray brings us very good audio but suffers from inconsistent visuals and insubstantial bonus materials. I like the movie but don’t feel wild about this erratic Blu-ray.

To rate this film visit the original review of CRIMSON TIDE

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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main