Crimson Tide (1995)

Hmm, my last submarine film viewing wasn't all that long ago. While this is certainly a time to be dwelling on spatial confinement, I really ought to space them a bit more. Nevertheless, these two are about as different as the subgenre allows.

During the Clinton Administration, just because the Cold War is over doesn't mean Russia poses no further military threat to the U.S., particularly when Chechnyan rebels get their hands on nuclear missiles. The crew of the USS Alabama is well aware of this when a Russian sub attacks them. They receive an outside order to preemptively launch ten missiles at the Russian nuclear installation, but a second message is cut short when a torpedo damages the communications equipment. Commanding Officer Ramsey (Gene Hackman) wants to ignore the incomplete transmission, but Executive Officer Hunter (Denzel Washington) insists on waiting as long as possible for clarity: It could be a retraction. Neither man is willing to compromise, and seeing as the wrong decision in either direction could lead to a nuclear holocaust, they vie desperately for control.

There is a running theme of the two leaders' different styles. Ramsey is an old hand, prone to acting almost on instinct at this point, knowing that seconds can make the difference between victory and demise. Hunter is an academic sort with none of Ramsey's experience. I can see why the crew is divided on whom to trust, and when a nuanced legalistic tangle arises, it's harder still to tell who should get the final word. Each appears mutinous. I'd need to study more to know which side I'd take; it may well be that whom I'd want in charge and who I thought had to be in charge would not be the same person.

The audience, of course, is supposed to back Hunter. Not only does Hollywood rarely champion a White guy against a Black guy, an older guy against a younger guy, or a hardass against a smarty, but it at least pretends to favor relative pacifism. Besides, if Ramsey has assessed the situation correctly, there can be no real happy ending.

I had to deliberate a while before adding the "racial" tag. The reasonably diverse crew exhibits no overt bias, but Ramsey does praise the all-white Lipizzaner horses, and the only way I can make sense of it in context is that he means to tease Hunter with a racist analogy (which backfires). Thanks, uncredited supplementary writer Quentin Tarantino, I guess. I'm afraid the film itself suffers from the "Black Dude Dies First" trope. At least we're to take that death seriously on an individual level.

The U.S. Navy declined to cooperate on such an unflattering picture. As a result, quite a few inaccuracies turn up. Despite its parallels to the Cuban Missile Crisis, I can't recommend CT for educational purposes.

Instead, I recommend it as a way to stimulate the mind and heart. It makes for a pretty cerebral thriller, with rather little violence all told (I think the R rating is more for profanity). The Hans Zimmer score doesn't hurt either.