K19: THE WIDOWMAKER

This could've easily turned into The Hunt for Red October, but instead was a good telling of a story that has been secret for almost 30 years.

K-19: The Widowmaker is based on actual events that took place in 1961, at the height of the Cold War: In an effort stay ahead in the nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States, and to make a point to the U.S. that they are capable of retaliation, the Soviets rush the completion of their new flag ship, K-19. In doing so, they have not installed some back-up systems or fully tested the sea worthiness of the vessel. In their haste to get the ship underway, the Russians have not fully obtained the confidence of the crew and continually call on their duty and honor, as citizens of the state, to put their heads down and get the job done.

As captain of K-19, Captain Polenin (Liam Neeson) is very concerned that things are not being done properly and calls for more time and caution, but is overruled at every turn. His concern is construed as difficult and is eventually replaced by Captain Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) who is a very ambitious and hard-nosed officer. His main goal is to get K-19 out to sea on time and as efficiently as possible. He constantly tests the crew with complicated drills and relentless scrutiny. He seems to ignore that fact that 10 men have died before the ship ever leaves dry dock.

Upon completion of construction, the K-19 is christened, but the champagne bottle doesn't break, causing the crew to dub K-19 "The Widowmaker." The words "We are doomed" come out of one sailor's mouth at the sight of the intact bottle swinging from rope, where a shattered bottle should've fallen. Superstition dictates that such an event would bring nothing but bad luck to the ship and her crew. Maybe there is some truth to this...

After the ship is under way, Vostrikov continues to drill the crew and, at points, seems to put them in unnecessary danger, just to see if they will pull together as a team. Captain Polenin is quick to question Vostrikov, but, as executive officer, he is immediately overruled and almost dismissed. It is clear that some of the officers are loyal to Polenin and would be willing to follow his orders, rather than Vostrikov. This adds tension in an already tense situation.

Knowing that this mission is to show the Americans that the Soviet Union is strong and ready to defend itself, they set course to cruise the eastern seaboard of the United States. Along the way, and not too far from a NATO base, a leak in the cooling system for one of the warheads is detected and the core temperature starts to rise. If the temperature reaches above 1000 degrees, the core will melt through the housing and start a thermonuclear explosion. Normally, this would not be so critical, but in order to speed up the construction, the back-up cooling system was not installed. This left no other choice but to go in there themselves and fix the problem....

K-19: The Widowmaker is told solely in the Russian perspective and it is better because of it. This could've easily turned into The Hunt for Red October, but instead was a good telling of a story that has been secret for almost 30 years. The eventual break-up of the Soviet state made it possible for this story to come to light, sharing with the world the story of heroism to prevent a nuclear war. The wince-factor is pretty high throughout the movie, since the audience is seeing the obvious mistakes that the crew makes in their attempt to stop this catastrophe from happening. This makes the movie all the more intense, and even claustrophobic. There are a couple of situations that come out of the blue and take you by surprise. I think you'll enjoy it.