CRIMSON TIDE
A film review by Eric Grossman
Copyright 1995 LOS ANGELES INDEPENDENT
Every summer, there are usually two or three "big" movies that people just can't wait to see. This summer, which is filled with sequels and movies from television shows, the E-ticket ride I was looking forward to was CRIMSON TIDE. Why? Well first off, it had a great trailer that showed Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, two of my favorite actors. It had a plausible and frightening premise: a Russian radical gains control of nuclear missiles and threatens to launch them. Finally, to top it off, it took place on a American nuclear missile sub, a place where many of us would love to visit but few actually can. Sure, it reminded me of a lot of other films and maybe it should have been called, MUTINY ON THE HUNT FOR RED TOP SUB, but I was hooked.
Hackman plays the captain of the U.S.S. Alabama, Frank Ramsey, an old seadog, warrior-without-a-war type who, when given the order to launch his nukes, is contradicted by his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Hunter (Washington). Hunter, a highly educated but untested officer, tries to stop Ramsey until they can confirm a half-received message fragment that may be a stand down order. Ramsey will have none of Hunter's doubts and continues to proceed to launch position. With no other option, Hunter relieves Ramsey of his command and then it becomes musical mutinies. Ramsey and certain sympathetic crew members get their hands on some weapons and then they retake control of the ship. But wait, Hunter does not give up so easily. He and his mutineers grabs some guns and then....
Produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott (the team gave us the frothy but entertaining TOP GUN), I expected CRIMSON TIDE to be, if nothing else, a crowd pleaser that would go like gangbusters and have an explosive climax. I was right about the first part, wrong about the second.
There is a lot of excitement as we watch the superb performances by Hackman and Washington. Pulse raising side-plots such as an attack by a renegade Russian sub and a scene where the Alabama nearly sinks are the stuff that great submarine pictures are made of. These give us enough thrills to make up for the fact that there are some deep problems in the hull of CRIMSON TIDE that eventually sink it in the last twelve minutes.
The producers, director, executive producer Lucas Foster and screenwriter Michael Schiffer, created a great set-up, however, they did not have the courage (a rare commodity in movies these days) to make somebody the bad guy. This is a film with no real villains. Yes, there is the mad Russian who wants to launch his missiles but he doesn't count because we never see him except in a newscast and more importantly, we know he isn't going to launch his missiles, so there is no suspense there.
The real conflict and source of tension is on the submarine and the main question that has to be answered is: who is right, Ramsey or Hunter. The filmmakers essentially "wimp" out however and ultimately, no man is completely wrong or right. It is a good choice to give both characters sympathetic qualities but this is not an art film, one of them has to be the bad guy, or else there is nothing tangible to defeat and we leave the theater unsatisfied.
CRIMSON TIDE is worth seeing for the performances, hardware, and stunning production values. Tony Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski provide a tons of eye-candy and editor Chris Lebenzon keeps the pace cracking. The underwater effects by Dream Quest Images are far superior to the last big sub picture, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, (RED OCTOBER was a much better story) and Hans Zimmer's score is effective. The best part is the sound. I saw it at the Cinerama Dome and that deep base. Wow!
If you want a ride, CRIMSON TIDE delivers. If you want a great high-tech thriller, you might have to wait until next summer.
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