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From Amazon.co.uk
An intense dramatisation of a long-suppressed Cold War anecdote, K-19: The Widowmaker is the first big Hollywood film to view the conflict through a Soviet periscope, casting Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson (with slight accents) as patriotic Russians.
In 1961, as NATO deploys long-range nuclear attack submarines, the Kremlin forces the Russian Navy to follow suit, whether they're ready or not. Ford takes over from popular skipper Neeson in command of the eponymous submarine, riding the men hard through a missile test, and then coping with an escalating series of crises as a jerry-built reactor threatens to melt down (and perhaps start World War III).
Though the political specifics are fresh, this has all the expected elements of a sub movie, citing everything from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Das Boot to Crimson Tide and The Caine Mutiny as sailors bristle mutinously under a marine martinet. This, along with inept engineering and ideological interference, prompts disaster.
Director Kathryn Bigelow, the most undervalued talent in Hollywood, is in her element with heroic men under pressure, and a terrific central stretch has comrades trying to fix the reactor even though they've been given the wrong protective gear and start coming down with radiation sickness as they work. Less successful is a superfluous epilogue that pulls the old Spielberg present-day-reunion-of-the-aged-survivors-at-a-gravesite gambit. --Kim Newman
Product Description
It is 1961 and Captain Alexi Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) has just taken over command of the USSR's first nuclear submarine, K-19, from Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), who has been demoted to executive officer after stating that the vessel was not yet ready. His fears are justified when various equipment either goes missing or never materialises, but Vostrikov is ordered by his superiors to sail into the North Atlantic for a missile test - which would alert the USA of the nuclear fire-power now in the hands of their enemy. When a leak on board threatens the nuclear payload, Vostrikov realises that if it blows it could be seen as the beginning of the Third World War and orders the crew to take it in 10 minute shifts to repair the damage - thus exposing all the men to radiation.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By ab..c
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well crafted, true story and Exposition of the cold war submariners' duties. The unusual thing is that the Russians are depicted as the good guys. The editing, as signified by the pace of the film is superbly done. The claustrophobic aspects of the ship could have been boring but it was not the case. The two captains are shown as mutually distrusting at first but under duress begin to see the others point of view under the weight of an unreliable and dangerous vessel.
The 'rights and wrongs' of politics are left aside and the crews lives are shown during this catastrophic failure.
Both Alice and I enjoyed this film. It was shown to a Russian audience of Sea fairer and had mixed reviews.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By lexo1941
Format:DVD
K-19 may be historically inaccurate, but show me a military movie that isn't. This film is way more true to life than the idiotic fantasy that was U-571, in which Americans won the second world war by capturing a cipher machine (FYI, it was a British crew who captured the machine and anyway the Brits already had one, reverse-engineered by Polish intelligence and given to them in one of the more stunningly generous acts of wartime cooperation).
The important thing is not so much how doggedly authentic the story is. After all, Wolfgang Petersen's classic 'Das Boot', surely the ultimate sub movie ever in its original miniseries form, is fictional. What matters is the quality of the story, and the story told here in K-19 is profoundly touching. Harrison Ford seems really engaged for the first time in a long time, Liam Neeson is properly cast for a change as a slightly ambiguous figure (instead of just as a nice guy) and Peter Sarsgaard is heartbreaking as the head of the team that attempts to repair K-19's reactor.
Kathryn Bigelow's films have veered between genuinely eerie (Near Dark, The Loveless), silly (Point Break, Blue Steel) and romantic but a bit daft (Strange Days). For my money, this is the first movie she's made that her fans don't have to apologise for. So who cares that the crew all have silly Russian accents? Like you'd prefer that Harrison Ford sounded American and Liam Neeson sounded like he was from Ballymena? The sadness and grimness of life in the USSR have not generally been paid attention to by US filmmakers, who for the most part portrayed Soviets as cannon fodder, but this is a brave effort and a gripping and affecting movie.
The important thing is not so much how doggedly authentic the story is. After all, Wolfgang Petersen's classic 'Das Boot', surely the ultimate sub movie ever in its original miniseries form, is fictional. What matters is the quality of the story, and the story told here in K-19 is profoundly touching. Harrison Ford seems really engaged for the first time in a long time, Liam Neeson is properly cast for a change as a slightly ambiguous figure (instead of just as a nice guy) and Peter Sarsgaard is heartbreaking as the head of the team that attempts to repair K-19's reactor.
Kathryn Bigelow's films have veered between genuinely eerie (Near Dark, The Loveless), silly (Point Break, Blue Steel) and romantic but a bit daft (Strange Days). For my money, this is the first movie she's made that her fans don't have to apologise for. So who cares that the crew all have silly Russian accents? Like you'd prefer that Harrison Ford sounded American and Liam Neeson sounded like he was from Ballymena? The sadness and grimness of life in the USSR have not generally been paid attention to by US filmmakers, who for the most part portrayed Soviets as cannon fodder, but this is a brave effort and a gripping and affecting movie.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
K19, the Widow Maker is a suspense full movie that keeps you guessing the outcome. Your emotions that calls for anger turns into applause and in the final outcome you realize that people, also people that are on the other side are worthy of their courage, their dedication, loyalty and honor to their Nation.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson wouldn't be the obvious first choices to play Soviet submariners, but despite this they both do a reasonable (but not great) job in this "inspired by a true story" movie about a nuclear submarine in trouble at the height of the cold war. I have no idea how close to the true story the film is, and it doesn't have the gritty, atmospheric quality of "Das Boot", but it is a watchable film. Is it the best cold-war related film I've seen even in the last few weeks? Is it the best submarine-related film I've seen? The answer to both is a definite no, but it's still worth a viewing. Just don't approach it with huge expectations - to me it felt like standard, run-of-the-mill stuff, lead actors doing adequate rather than great performances, made more obvious by unimaginative editing.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The film arrived promptly and in good order.I had not realised that it was based on a real event and as such it was made all the more interesting.
By Jim H
Format:DVD
The viewing experience was completely ruined due to the very poor quality of the recording.The DVD kept sticking every few minutes
By Ersel
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Films like this gives humans how dangerous is the Nuclear Power and if it falls in the hands of not qualified nations and organizations what a potential danger it becomes to the whole of the human race.
By AddyPadPad
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
K-19: The Widowmaker - What a film! If you want a film with a few half-decent actors and awful (but still pretty good) Russian accents, this is for you!
This was an absolute bargain and I couldn't pass the opportunity to buy this up.
This was an absolute bargain and I couldn't pass the opportunity to buy this up.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
that man is a hero
Harrison ford is one of the most excellent actors every to have graced my TV an cinema , none for Han solo in star wars he has a more of a action style in his other films a real... Read more
Published 3 months ago by E. Reay
5.0 out of 5 stars
k 19 the windowmaker
Have not watched it yet, but the ordering and postage, was good, came on time. have ordered more, which also came on time
Published 4 months ago by flower
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Bought this for a friend and they love this and it is an excellent true storey how ever there are some part that make you want to throw up!
Published 6 months ago by Matiec
2.0 out of 5 stars
Does not do the story justice
This is a fantastic story, but sadly very poorly brought to the screen.
While watching it, I wondered at some of the casting; other than the visible age difference, I'd... Read more
While watching it, I wondered at some of the casting; other than the visible age difference, I'd... Read more
Published 10 months ago by fat man on a bicycle
5.0 out of 5 stars
K 19
I have watched this film several times and still enjoy watching it, an excellent film with two great actors, well worth the money.
Published 14 months ago by cKingc
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Bigelow classic - recommended.
Starring Harrison Ford as Capt. Alexei Vostrikov and Liam Neeson as Capt. Mikhail Polenin, Kathryn Bigelow's film is an exciting and dramatic re-enactment of the events surrounding... Read more
Published 18 months ago by RR Waller
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fast moving fun formula
This is another caught in a leaky sub movie. You just have to enjoy this type of movie to watch it. No new revelations. Harrison Ford gets to play the misunderstood heavy Capt. Read more
Published 22 months ago by bernie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
I didn't know the story of K19 before seeing this film and was enthralled. Obviously the content is very disturbing as it's based on true facts. The acting is also superb. Read more
Published on 9 May 2011 by Susan A. Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars
True story
This is a true story and was of particular interest as I live in Helensburgh close to Faslane Cemetery, where all but one of the submariners are buried. Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by Mrs. S. Young
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