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K19 Widowmaker Review




What I liked: K-19 was made by National Geographic so falls in the very very small genre of awesome dramatized almost documentary thing. Going it to the movie I did not know the story of the submarine and so foolishly assumed that the widowmaker would be attacking other boats. Actually this boat was the embodiment of Murphy’s Law: Launched too soon, this early model nuclear sub encountered every disaster possible. Unbelievably, according to the internet nearly all of the incidents actually happened. Also surprising, it is entirely believable in contrast to the series of disasters encountered by U-574. While I was not particularly invested in any of the characters their plight was compellingly pitiful. And despite my feelings about the characters, I felt like their interactions with each other were convincing and engaging. I really liked the epilogue, the acting was better and I was impressed with the old person makeup. I thought that the acting was the best and As a submarine movie this naturally stacks up against U-574 and Hunt for the Red October. In that comparison, this movie achieves with flying colors everything that U-574 aspired to. There is patriotism and compromise, there is disaster and self sacrifice there are submarines. All are done better in this movie. K-19 is the Hunt for the Red October if there really were  a terrible accident instead of a defecting naval officer. This makes it darker, sadder, and actually more stressful. It is an almost documentary so actually they could all die, whereas we all know that Jack Ryan will always win.
What I didn’t: The accents. They are Russian, presumably speaking Russian. They would not have Russian accents. Plus the actors, especially Harrison Ford, are inconsistent and bad at the accent. Radiation Sickness, this is now my number 1 reason for never wanting to work on a submarine (the previous reason was hull breaches followed by enclosed spaces and no windows). I can’t really say that the nuclear reactor should have had no effect on the people since that would be both historically and scientifically inaccurate, but it does make my skin crawl which reminds me to be grateful that my skin is still attached. For a film made by National Geographic there were disappointingly few wide angle beautiful scenery shots. I feel like the movie should have lived up to the name of the producer and delivered cool filmography of the the glaciers or the ocean or something. I found the captain’s character confusing he starts off like the coach in almost every sports movie, push the team until the break because then they will be able to perform under any pressure. Then transitions to and egotistical maniac. Finally, inexplicably, coming to rest on the harsh but loving father figure. All the personality shifts seemed very sudden. Ra’s al Guhl was the executive officer on the submarine, I couldn’t help feeling that this did not bode well for civilization.
Who should watch this: Not anyone who will work closely with radioactivity, or for the Russians, or in enclosed spaces. I think it is a very good accompaniment to Hunt for the Red October.
Would I watch it again? I would have to be in the right mood. It was exciting the first time but would probably be less so a second time.
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