MovieChat Forums > K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) Discussion > Excellent movie - severely underated

Excellent movie - severely underated


The thread title says it all. I just now watched it on TV for the first time.

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Great film, just saw it for the second time. Some films just deserve to be made, regardless that they will never appeal to the majority of the gum-chewing teens.

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Just watched it, too. I fully agree - this film was severely underrated! I gave it a 10. I love military films - especially those set during the Cold War. I also like Bigelow's direction, as well as the acting of Ford, Neeson and Saarsgaard. Heck, the acting by all in this film was solid, as was the story. The tension kept building to a well-timed crescendo, with a few nice plot twists along the way. I was glued to the screen! I can't believe I put off watching it for years because I kept reading about how bad it sucked! People especially harped on the accents, but I feel like they handled them very well, considering.

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I feel that one reason this movie flopped was because they didn't explain in the ads why I should have cared.

I don't mean that I'm uncaring for the men who died, but why should I care about a Soviet Sub during the Cold War that almost went nuclear and sank?

Of course, the reason is that had it exploded it could have set off WWIII. So, that makes what the Captain and the rest did all the more critical.

Had that been explained in better detail I think the movie could have done better.

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I think you nailed it. We care about the crew in Das Boot because we're introduced to their humanity and their plight, but the crew of K19 is anonymous and stereotypically "Soviet" (excellent job by the filmmaker!) so we don't much care if they die. We have no reason to root for them.

The tension between the two captains is an irrelevant plot point, too. They should have focused on what it was they were trying to prevent, beyond saving their own lives. Ford's character could have been heroic.

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Yes, excellent movie.. Watched it for the 1st time now.

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I like it. I particularly like the music as they fight to get control of the reactor. Pity it did poorly at the box office.

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