Crimson Tide

December 11, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 116 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

DVD Quick Take

The same producer-director team that brought us Top Gun, checks in here to bring us a submarine movie. And although it lacks the magic of Top Gun, it still provides a pretty good submarine action movie. Dont expect the quality and intensity of movies like The Hunt for Red October or the realism of Das Boot, but this is still just as enjoyable.

The premise here is Gene Hackman is the Captain of the USS Alabama nuclear submarine. World events force him into action with a new Executive Officer played by Denzel Washington. One thing leads to another and these guys end up with different interpretations of their orders and cant agree on it. A struggle for command of the boat between the Ex-O and Captain commences among the backdrop of enemy submarines and world events that could lead to World War III.

The movie is full of eye and ear candy as you would expect with Tony Scott directing a Bruckheimer/Simpson film. And it is duplicated well on DVD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track really goes boom very well, you’ll need a good subwoofer to full appreciate this one. The video could be better and really screams out for an anamorphic version as that would undoubtably remove the flaws we noticed. Although they are very noticable, it isn’t enough to distract you from the movie.

If you’re collecting submarine movies or you just happen to be a fan of big budget big action films from Bruckheimer and Tony Scott, this one deserves consideration for your collection.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, DVD, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, James Gandolfini, R, Rocky Carroll