Home Forums K-19: The Widowmaker

  • K-19: The Widowmaker

    Posted by Unknown Member on July 20, 2002 at 9:59 AM

    Very good drama flick. It leaves you thinking.

    There’s no “Topedo in the water!” action like that. Do not expect Crimson Tide or The Hunt for Red October, or even U-571.

    This movie is good, yet less exciting or re-watchable than any of them. True stories often are less exciting than over-dramatized ones, though U-571 was sort of a true story as well.

    I’d rank K-19 last amongst these 4, but nothing beats Sean Connery’s sub captain character.

    Gene Hackman and Denzyl Washington are also very believeable and better than Ford and Neeson, when the former did Crimson Tide.

    K-19 stars all Russian characters, so it takes a while to develop “a sense of comradery” with the crew.

    Harrison Ford playing a Russian accent takes some getting used to, and it’s still his voice, so it’s hard to believe. Liam Neeson does a little bit better job with the accent, but then again he has a ‘European’s voice.’ Neeson’s character comes off like a school-teacher and no Cold Warrior though. But man does Harrison push that crew! The ice-breaker was great!

    It made you think though. Once they saw the effects of the radiation burning, I wondered why they didn’t just take two volunteers at a time, to die in there, and get the job done, versus making 6-8 of their crewmen casualties? 10 minutes of exposure or less wasn’t going to make any difference. It seemed that only under 2 minutes of exposure (the Captain) seemed to be surviveable.

    Man the memorial scene was really powerful in the end! They did a good job making Ford and Neeson look even older than they already are.

    They worked together well as a team (both in acting) and as characters.

    I think that just about all of us on this website have never served on a military submarine. It really gives you pause to respect how scary their job really is.

    But The Hunt for Red October is the best.

    Crimson Tide is next.

    U-571 follows.

    Then K-19.

    But if you liked the other movies, don’t hesitate to see this one. It is GOOD!

    replied 21 years, 8 months ago 0 Member · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Unknown Member

    Deleted User
    July 21, 2002 at 4:28 PM

    My new pet peeve is movies that don’t know how to end. lately it’s been happening alot. Filmmakers aren’t sure what their story is about so they keep tacking on “endings” until they get the sense of closure they need. It happened with the little kid going toi the farmhouse in Road to Perdition and it happened here with the memorial service. They had the little “trial” scene and that was fine. Then they had the “meeting” 28 years later, and I was getting antsy. Then Bigelow had to beat us over the head with that speech at the end of the film. That whole last scene reeked for me.

    And some of the other shots in the film just confounded me. What was the point of following the oranges through the ship for an eternity? I sad to myself, “those Oranges must be pivotal to the film to waste so many feet of film on them” but do they show up again? NO. And what about the guy that jumped overboard? Never found out what happened to him. Did he get picked up by the Americans? Did he drown? Bigelow kept doing that throughout the film, setting up confrontations, then diffusing them before anything happened, thereby making their inclusion moot. Like the “mutiny” that lasted all of 10 seconds. ooh! tension! NOT. And then confrontation between Ford and Neeson after it had happened (on the hull)
    Ford:”Why didn’t you take over?”
    Neeson (shrugs shoulders): “Because what they did was wrong.”
    ARRRGHH! Thanks for that NOTHING reply. might as well have said “Oh No reason. Flipped a coin.”

    Or the guy and his fiance. They sure held on her face long enough while he was leaving. Would it hurt to go back to her when she finds out he’s dead/dying?

    Oh well, enough ranting. Despite my apparent distaste for the film, the parts that were good were REALLY good. Fine acting from all involved. And c’mon it’s Han Solo and Qui Gon Jinn!

    Go see it.

  • Unknown Member

    Deleted User
    July 21, 2002 at 11:03 PM

    I think the idea about the oranges was that they were contaminated. We can think about something they had to eat on board, that they could not eat, after the radiation leak. They didn’t have to show us the oranges again. Also, if the oranges weren’t near the reactor, they might be contaminated, but look no different than any other oranges. Therefore, there’d be no point of showing them. They wouldn’t look rotten. It was still within the time that the crew would eat them, were it not for the reactor leak.

    Now that you brought up the oranges, what was the original doctor doing chasing the truck that ran him over? Why’d he go after that truck rushing past everyone?

    I didn’t get that.

    I also agree with you about the mutiny. But I think it just showed you that Neeson was a loyal soldier of the Motherland. He didn’t agree with Captain Mikhail ???(Ford’s) methods and command style, but he wasn’t going to disobey him. That took courage and trust on his part, because command was handed to him by the 2nd officer and Chief of the boat (I think). I remember that the Chief of the boat went into the reactor room and was radiation poisoned as well, though. So maybe it was a different bridge officer – the political officer? Anyway, regardless, Neeson refused command, showing his loyalty – trained Soviet thinking patterns.

Log in to reply.

; });