K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Anthony L

  
  I'm ashamed to say that I've always passed this film of as being just another Submarine film full of the usual cliches no doubt, and so have never bothered with it. A foolish mistake as K-19 is a great film, full of drama and suspense but never over the top and, as I… More
  I'm ashamed to say that I've always passed this film of as being just another Submarine film full of the usual cliches no doubt, and so have never bothered with it. A foolish mistake as K-19 is a great film, full of drama and suspense but never over the top and, as I mentioned before, without cliched acting/writing/story. Apparently based on true events, it's great that this story has finally been told as it is a heartwarming and inspirational one - it's also not very often that cold war stories are told from the Russian side - not least by an American, so it was also refreshing. Just ignore the dodgy Russian accents..again.

• Mike S

  
  What I thought would be a mediocre sub flick, turned out to be so much more. The Academy Award for Best Director that Kathryn Bigelow received last year, is well-deserved in the least. For two out of two war films I've seen by her now, that have been of very high calibre. Much of… More
  What I thought would be a mediocre sub flick, turned out to be so much more. The Academy Award for Best Director that Kathryn Bigelow received last year, is well-deserved in the least. For two out of two war films I've seen by her now, that have been of very high calibre. Much of the credit, however, also goes to to Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. The dignity and effort that they invest into their roles is highly appraisable, and every second they're on screen is a second of pure awe and joy. It's a little scary also to think how close we really were to World War III, and this film illustrates that perfectly. The only beef I had with it was the horrible russian accents. Too fake-sounding to be bought and believed. Other than that though, it's a splendid piece of cinema. Very suspenseful throughout and with a tight and well-paced script. Certainly not for the claustrophobic, but if you're into the sub-genre (no pun intended), you might wanna give it a go.

• Jeff "

  
  K-19 is a masterful submarine film. No such sub film since Das Boot conveys a sense of drama and helplessness like K-19. Kathryn Bigelow has assembled a great cast of actors here, and Harrison Ford delivers one of his greatest performances since the 1980's. Bigelow's… More
  K-19 is a masterful submarine film. No such sub film since Das Boot conveys a sense of drama and helplessness like K-19. Kathryn Bigelow has assembled a great cast of actors here, and Harrison Ford delivers one of his greatest performances since the 1980's. Bigelow's directing is flawless, the tension on screen unfolds so well in her hands. K-19 Is a terrific film and the cast make this film soar. A film filled with suspense, tension, thrills and drama, this is one of the best since Wolfgang Peterson's Das Boot. Maybe not as masterful, but this film heads into the right direction. It may be viewed in the years to come as a great submarine film. Because it really is. A film thats seriously underrated, K-19 may find an audience in the future. Bigelow displays great skills in telling a great story, and delivered a monumental film with K-19.

• Al S

  
  Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson are electrifying. Ford gives a fearless, demanding and commanding performance. Neeson is outstanding. Some of the best and most unforgettable performances of their careers. A tremendous and exciting edge of your seat Cold War thriller. Loaded with… More
  Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson are electrifying. Ford gives a fearless, demanding and commanding performance. Neeson is outstanding. Some of the best and most unforgettable performances of their careers. A tremendous and exciting edge of your seat Cold War thriller. Loaded with riveting suspense, dazzling emotion, rip-roaring tension and turbo-charged thrills. A masterpiece. Director, Kathryn Bigelow has crafted her finest work as a filmmaker. An explosive, powerful, furious and exhilarating movie.

• Wahida K

  
  This Movie was a tiny bit boring for me, but a friend enjoyed it, as she is a Polit-Thriller Fan. I m not much in to Politic anyway. lol

• Ross C

  
  I'd forgotten I'd seen this one. It is not the action thriller that one would expect from a submarine drama. This is the true story of the first sea trials of the Soviet K-19 nuclear submarine, whose "Widowmaker" moniker refers to the many tragedies that befell the… More
  I'd forgotten I'd seen this one. It is not the action thriller that one would expect from a submarine drama. This is the true story of the first sea trials of the Soviet K-19 nuclear submarine, whose "Widowmaker" moniker refers to the many tragedies that befell the crew. Most notably a reactor meltdown where crew members sacrificed their lives to protect the rest of the crew. I'm always suspicious of American movies about the Soviets, especially ones where the lead actors don't speak with Russian accents.

• Jens S

  
  This true story of submarine events from the cold war time of the late 60s is one of the rare cases of an US movie taking an entirely Russian point of view. Which is odd, knowing Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson from countless other roles they don't seem to work as communistic… More
  This true story of submarine events from the cold war time of the late 60s is one of the rare cases of an US movie taking an entirely Russian point of view. Which is odd, knowing Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson from countless other roles they don't seem to work as communistic military officers at first and so the movie drags on for a bit. Once the atom run sub is getting into a real mess the movie has its strongest moments, when members of the crew have to expose themselves to radiation to save the rest. In the end, the message felt kind of ambiguous to me: on the one hand it was not promoted to blindly follow orders from above and sacrificing everyone, on the other hand it was a lot about doing your duty and contained a lot of heroism and pathos. Still, worth watching, even though far from the awesomeness that's Petersen's Das Boot, the king of submarine movies.

• Candy R

  
  When a nuclear submarine malfunctions, the crew has to prevent a nuclear disaster.

• danny d

  
  a little dissapointing

• Jason S

  
  It was ok but I think it was outplayed by the other sumberine movie that came out that year.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]There’s a rule of thumb I’ve come to find in Hollywood, something so certain you could set your watch to it. No, not Freddie Prinze Jr. sucking up valuable space, nor the Emmy’s nominating Frasier for everything. I’m talking about man-owl Larry King, who… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]There’s a rule of thumb I’ve come to find in Hollywood, something so certain you could set your watch to it. No, not Freddie Prinze Jr. sucking up valuable space, nor the Emmy’s nominating Frasier for everything. I’m talking about man-owl Larry King, who seems to dabble in the land of film reviews. Kindly readers beware, if you see an ad for a film and it has Larry King’s salivating blurb in it, run away. Run away like the plague, like Pamplona. Just run. The only films I can remember off hand (though this theory has come true every time) are ‘15 Minutes’ and ‘Wind Talkers’. And now there is the horrifically titled sub-sub movie‘K-19: The Widowmaker’.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]‘K-19’ should not be confused with ‘K-9’, the Jim Belushi teams up with a dog to fight crime film. No this one takes place in the early 60s in the thicket of the Cold War. An opening title sequence tells us Russia has enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world two times, but the United States has enough to blow up the world six times over. Whoo! U-S-A! The maker of widows is itself a docked submarine in the Russian navy in preparation for combat. Before it even leaves the shore it is said to be cursed, having five men die already from its widow maker-y hands.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Liam Neeson is the captain of K-19 and well respected and beloved by his crew. However, Neeson is willing to put the lives of his men ahead of the agenda of the state, so the Communist government places Harrison Ford on the sub and gives him the reigns of command. Ford is a rigorous taskmaster who puts his men through countless drills and does not exactly see eye-to-eye with the more empathetic Neeson.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The story’s real turn comes about midway in, when after successfully launching a test missile above the arctic ice the nuclear core of the sub springs a leak. If something is not done to slow down the heating core the men could be vaporized in a mushroom cloud. Except that patrolling the waters nearby is a Unites States destroyer and thus would be destroyed as well, surely igniting the start of World War III.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Crew members take shifts to enter the radioactive filled core area to try and do what they can. The situation gets even direr when the men come out looking like something from a George Romero film.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]‘K-19’s biggest fault is fictionalizing what would have been an interesting hour block on The History Channel. The Neeson and Ford characters feel like two sides of a debate, not exactly characters. The whole movie has been Americanized with heroic proportions. Instead of compelling drama we’re left adrift with what the studio wants as a summer movie with material that should no way be associated with it. I mean, the horribly dishonest marketing campaign actually has a crew member shout “Torpedo headed straight for us!” then shows a torpedo surging ahead. There was never a torpedo in the entire movie or a scene where they were being attacked! Somewhere in this ho-hum story is an exciting tale of the courage these men were privy to, as well as the strain of not being able to tell their friends or family about anything that happened.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Submarine movies have so many limitations to them that’s it’s hard to make a unique one anymore. Everyone knows there’ll be a point where they go beyond THE RED AREA with the needle and hear the hull ache and creak. Everyone knows they’ll have to stop an onslaught of water leaking. Everyone knows that if you talk about writing a letter to your girlfriend at home in case you die… well, the fates have it in for you. Either you love seeing these things a million times in cramp spacing or you grow tired of the expectations.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Director Kathryn Bigalow (Strange Days) manages to give it the ole college try with the long camera movements inside and the close-ups of men glaring at one another. Although technically able, Bigalow doesn’t do anything to transcend the limitations she has to work with. And while she meets her mark as a director it is neither spectacular nor worthwhile.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Ford has a horrible Russian accent he likes to flirt around with through the film. I don’t exactly know if people are supposed to like his character, being rigid and pragmatic at the expense of human life. Neeson, on the other hand, is quite capable and shines in his role. The rest of the crew alternates between Russian accents to even some Australian ones I heard.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]‘K-19: The Widowmaker’ tells us that this story could not be told until the fall of communism, except at the end it shows a clip of the Berlin Wall coming down and the crew then gathering to finally remember their fallen comrades.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Some people just don’t have their dates right, and some people just don’t know how to take an interesting unknown slice of history and tell it well. [/color][/font][font=Arial][color=darkred]Damn you Larry King. Damn you to hell![/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C[/color][/font]

• Curt C

  
  Generic Hollywood pap. Fun IMDB fact: Upon reading the film's script, the surviving crewmembers were so incensed that they sent an open letter to Ford, Bigelow, Whitaker, and Jaffe, expressing their dismay. The details they protested? Pretty much everything. I don't… More
  Generic Hollywood pap. Fun IMDB fact: Upon reading the film's script, the surviving crewmembers were so incensed that they sent an open letter to Ford, Bigelow, Whitaker, and Jaffe, expressing their dismay. The details they protested? Pretty much everything. I don't blame them.

• Henrik S

  
  I am a big fan of submarine movies, so I was really looking forward to this one. There is something about the claustrophobic environment of a submarine diving ever so deep into its own peril that intrigues me. With old-time favourite Harrison Ford at the helm, and Liam Neeson to… More
  I am a big fan of submarine movies, so I was really looking forward to this one. There is something about the claustrophobic environment of a submarine diving ever so deep into its own peril that intrigues me. With old-time favourite Harrison Ford at the helm, and Liam Neeson to support, I though I was in for a treat. While this movie is not a bad one it is far from spectacular or particulary entertaining. The movie is based on a true story, but that does not make it any more interesting. I read that the "survivors" of the real-life incident involving the K-19 watched the movie adn were amused to which amount it was "hollywoodized" and that is exactly why I did not like this film very much. It is painfully formulaic and the whole movie follows the same conceptual rhythm of Problem (cue dramatic music), despair (cue even more dramatic music and Ford's worried face), solution in sight (cue hopeful music), solution found (cue American heroes are all over us music), repeat, repeat, repeat, meh. The movie feels stale and very episodic and after a dozen of "incidents" you know, this one is not going anywhere. I understand, that the screenwriters were "limited" by what really happened, but the direction and artwork could have made this movie interesting, think about "Das Boot", which celebrates the partially tiresome and haunting journey in the endless ocean with brilliance and never gets boring or tedious. Another thing that really annoyed me, were the fake Russian accents, for god's sake, in between the movie was so cheesy (see musical cues above) and the accents so silly that I felt like watching a Carry On film. Either let the actors speak American or Russian (or cast Russian actors in the first place) but this was like a muppet show, seeing Ford and Neeson speaking with Russian accents was hilariously funny, and that is not what I am looking for in what is suppose to be a dense cold war thriller. The supporting cast is surprisingly good, Ackland is always great to behold and Sarsgaard makes a good effort here as well. All in all, a medicore and formulaic, stale and dull submarine movie, which only earned it's 2.5 stars because of Harrison Ford, who does a good job here, as usual. HX

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