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Crimson Tide

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Crimson Tide

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Summary

Action thriller starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. When a Russian missile base falls into rebel hands, the US submarine Alabama is dispatched to the scene with orders to prevent a threatened nuclear attack on America. On board, Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter is soon at loggerheads with old hand Captain Ramsey, who seems hellbent on conflict.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Adrian Turner

What does Hollywood do when there are no longer vicious Reds under the bed and no more Soviet villains to provide convenient political scapegoats? This gung-ho blockbuster from the Top Gun team (director Tony Scott and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer) simply dusts off the time-honoured Russian menace with a script that turns post-Cold War cartwheels to explain an impending Armageddon. An American nuclear submarine, the USS Alabama, is ordered to make a pre-emptive strike on Russian "ultra-nationalist" rebels who have taken over a missile base, then receives a second, incomplete radio message suggesting it holds off the attack. The submarine's captain, Gene Hackman, is determined to remedy the explosive situation using his nuclear capability, whatever the consequences. However, his mutinous executive officer (Denzel Washington) stands between him and the horribly alluring Doomsday button. Hackman gives one of his most convincing bully-boy performances as an underwater Captain Bligh, plumb crazy with power but hitting a brick wall in the form of a resolute second-in-command. Propelled at full throttle by fast pacing and a palpable friction between the two leads, the underwater action is further fuelled by a slick score from Hans Zimmer. This is riveting stuff, an achievement that is even more remarkable in view of the movie's restricted setting - a submarine's claustrophobic confines.

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7.4/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameLt Cdr Ron HunterDenzel WashingtonCapt RamseyGene HackmanCobGeorge DzundzaLt Peter "Weps" InceViggo MortensenLt Roy ZimmerMatt CravenLt Bobby DoughertyJames GandolfiniLt Darik Westergaurd Rocky CarrollOod MahoneyJaime GomezHunsickerMichael MilhoanTSO Billy LinkletterScott BurkholderDanny RivettiDanny NucciLt Paul HellermanRick SchroderWilliam BarnesSteve ZahnSeaman GrattamRyan Phillippe

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Crew

rolenameDirectorTony Scott

Details

Theatrical distributor

Buena Vista International UK

Released on

1995-11-03

Languages

English | English

Guidance

Violence and swearing.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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