Blast From The Past #2

Welcome to the second installment of Blast From The Past. Submarine movies have always been an exciting genre to me. The confined spaces, the tension of being underwater for such long periods of time, the conflicts that can occur between shipmates. There have been many good submarine movies, and in my opinion, one of the best is 1995's "Crimson Tide" with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. The story takes place during a time when a renegade Russian takes control of a Russian base that contains nuclear weapons. The U.S.S. Alabama is dispatched to patrol the seas to protect the U.S. from attack. Gene Hackman's Captain Ramsey is a stubborn, top of the line submarine commander, and from the get go, you can see that he will clash with his new executive officer, Washington's Ron hunter. Right away you can sense the tension between the two men, but yet they seem to work well together despite their obvious differences. As the crisis in Russia escalates, so does the tension on the ship and particularly between Ramsey and Hunter. The situation reaches a boiling point when Hunter relieves Ramsey of command much to the dismay of many of Ramsey's loyal crew. What follows is a tense filled sequence of events that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the climax. Both Hackman and Washington give stellar performances here, and their relationship is what fuels the film. You will see a young, pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini, and Viggo Mortensen (before "Lord Of The Rings"), they, along with the rest of the supporting cast all give good support to the two leads. Directed by Tony Scott, the movie doesn't let up, it succeeds in building up the tension and taking it to the boiling point. This is definitely a movie that warrants repeated viewing. If you have not seen it, see it, if you have seen it and have not watched it for some time, see it again!!!! There has not been a submarine movie since, with the possible exception of "U571" that comes close to being as well done as this was.