crimson tide menu  main  pictures  wallpapers  desktop themes  screensavers  trailers  reviews quote Capt. Ramsey: We have orders in hand. Those orders are to make a pre-emptive launch. Every second that we lose increases the chances that by the time our missiles arrive, their silos could be empty because they've flown their birds and struck us first. Hunter: Yes sir. Capt. Ramsey: You know as well as I do that any launch order received without authentication, is no order at all. Hunter: Yes sir. Capt. Ramsey: That's our number one rule. Hunter: [Tries to get a word in] National mil... Capt. Ramsey: And that rule is the basis for the scenario we've trained on, time and time again. It's a rule we follow without exception. Hunter: Captain, National Military Command Center knows what sector we're in. They have satellites looking down on us to see if our birds are aloft and if they're *not*, then they give our orders to somebody else. That's why we maintain more than one sub, it's what they call 'redundancy'! Capt. Ramsey: I know about redundancy, Mr Hunter. Hunter: All I'm saying... [Ramsey walks off] Hunter: [Follows Ramsey, lowers his voice] All I'm saying Captain, is that we have backup. Now it's our duty, *not* to launch until we can confirm. Hunter: You're presuming we have other submarines out there, ready to launch. Well as Captain, I must assume our submarines could've been taken out by other Akulas. We can play these games all night Mr Hunter but uh, I don't have the luxury of your presumptions. Hunter: Sir... Capt. Ramsey: Mr Hunter, we have rules that are not open to interpretation, personal intuition, gut feelings, hairs on the back of your neck, little devils or angels sitting on your shoulder. We're all very well aware of what our orders are and what those orders mean. They come down from our Commander in Chief. They contain no ambiguity. Hunter: Captain... Capt. Ramsey: Mr Hunter. I've made a decision. I'm Captain of this boat. NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP! recommended movies  - Shaft  - The Crying Game  - Passenger 57  - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider  - The Island  - Rocky V  - Ocean's Twelve  - The Count of Monte Cristo  - Smokin' Aces  - Backdraft

Recommended Wallpapers download now download now download now Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup Rating: 3 The Cold War may be over, but it lives on through films like CRIMSON TIDE. CRIMSON TIDE is a new action/psychodrama about a mutiny aboard a U.S. nuclear submarine. When World War III is about to erupt thanks to Russian coup-artists, the USS Alabama, helmed by Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) is sent to prepare for the worst. When the order to launch comes in, Ramsey's executive officer, Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington), clashes with the Captain over a last-minute, incomplete order which could recall the missile launch. The result is mutiny, with half the ship siding with the Captain's single-minded, stubborn decision to fire, half standing with Hunter, who wants a confirmation before blowing up the world. Sound thrilling? Well, after about 45 minutes of the two principals philosophizing about life and war, trading quips, and smoking cigars, *then* the action part of the film comes to life. Unfortunately, this prologue does little more than develop the characters like this: Captain Ramsey is a obstinate military man, Hunter is a thoughtful peace-lover. In fact, most of the lengthy dialogue is arranged to show just what a great guy Hunter is, and that Ramsey is on the verge of being a Captain Ahab, hunting the Russkies like they're a latter-day Moby Dick. When the action sequences do finally come up, they start with a nonsensical galley fire (no one can put it out except Hunter, who--get this--actually pushes a button on the wall to save the day). Then there's a flooding bilge bay, and on this ultra-high-tech ship, the preferred tool for repairing a flooding sub is none other than a monkey wrench. When the radio breaks, the crew is fast at work soldering together enough wire and circuit boards to control the U.S. telephone system. All this talk about the film making the military look bad isn't quite right; instead, it just looks ridiculous. This all may be quibbling, but the pure silliness of some of the film really detracts from the bulk of it, which is a gripping and tense thriller with two armed factions of men trying to either launch or stop the launch of ten of the Alabama's nuclear missiles. The chemistry between Hackman and Washington, while kept basically predictable, is still full of tension and repressed anger as the characters are forced to maintain a surface civility despite an obvious dislike underneath. The set constructed to recreate the USS Alabama and the sub combat scenes are incredibly realistic and make the film worth watching all by themselves. Much has been made of the similarity between this film and movies like THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, TOP GUN (directed and produced by the same team that did TIDE), and other genre pictures. While the inevitable similarities are apparent to some extent, they certainly don't overshadow the picture, and like the flaws discussed above, they don't keep CRIMSON TIDE from being a worthwhile film. By : Christopher Null Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup Rating: 0 A great techno-thriller with some huge plot holes. Russia has disintegrated into civil war, and the ultra-nationalist rebel leader has captured a far-east submarine base and missile base. U.S. nuclear missile submarines are sent off the Russian Pacific coast as a deterrent. Then the news comes through that the launch codes on the Russian missiles have been compromised and the rebels are threatening to level Japan and North America. So the order is sent out, a pre-emptive strike on the rebel-held missile bases. Gene Hackman is the Captain of a U.S. Boomer, a good ol' boy redneck, the last of the learn-it-at-sea captains with combat experience, and he eats XOs for breakfast. Denzel Washington is his new XO (Executive Officer, 2nd in command on the Sub), recruited just in time for the emergency deployment, Hackman's previous XO having suffered "appendicitis". Washington is Academy-trained, a Harvard graduate, modern, sensitive, has no combat experience and is as close to a pacifist as you could get in a nuke. So the clash of personalities, politics and morality is signalled well in advance. These tensions are increased a hundredfold when the order to launch a pre-emptive strike is sent, and explode into boiling point and armed rebellion when, just as the firing is about to start, another order that may or may not be a retraction is garbled in reception. There follows a knife-edge thriller that is basically a two-man play. Here are two men, dedicated to their task, carrying a burden that might just be the end of the world, each believing the other is selling their country into nuclear holocaust. Passions are high and tensions higher, faces sweating and jaws clenched. And we sweat and clench right along with them. After a bit of scene setting, the remainder of the movie is set inside the boomer. And a perfect location it is. Despite being larger than a WWII-era aircraft carrier, these boats are *cramped*, and the very tight, intimate locations are used to excellent effect to create the high-strung tension. This gives a feeling of tension and claustrophobia that is unmatched since the seminal submarine movie, DAS BOOT. And unlike THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, to which CRIMSON TIDE is inevitably compared, we in the audience really feel like we're sharing a very cramped steel coffin, bringer of Armageddon and target of opportunity. The two leads do a very credible job. I've liked Hackman since he was Lex Luthor, and if you have fond memories of Superman then you will have a good handle on his character here. Washington seems to be typecast as the sensitive, modern guy, and (to the great credit of the script), the fact that he is black is just not an issue. What is at issue is the whole concept of Nuclear deterrence, and how the chain of command ultimately depends on people. The support cast have few lines and are mainly required to stand around, sweat a lot, and look very, very stressed. The worst part of the film is that it asks for a *huge* suspension of disbelief, and (despite all they get right), they mess up a lot of technical details they *really* ought to have got correct. I suspect that we are supposed to agree with Washington, consider Hackman to be the villain, and decide that the whole concept of nuclear war is just too horrible to contemplate. But for my money, such moralizing is way too late by the time the launch order comes, and I was on the Captain's side right up until the end. And the ending was a major wimp-out. In all, A roller-coaster ride and a great techno-thriller. By : Gregory N. Bond more Crimson Tide reviews: <<prev 1 2 3 next>>

[an error occurred while processing this directive]