Crimson Tide by Michael Schiffer Eight out of 10

Crimson Tide by Michael Schiffer

Eight out of 10

The debut of this captivating motion picture is more than sobering; it is terrifying, for it states the people who have access to the launching button of the nuclear weapons, the trident missiles in the case of the western allies that could start Armageddon and the Doomsday Machine from the famous

Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

The first is the American president, the second the soviet leader – then the Russian commander in chief – and the third is a surprise, which might be true;

The captain of a nuclear submarine!

In this scary film that deals with what could be the last moments of life on earth, the captain of the USS Alabama is the experienced Ramsey, portrayed by a giant of the big screen, Gene Hackman.

To begin with, he welcomes on board his vessel a new X.O., Commander Hunter aka the fabulous Denzel Washington.

This acceptance would not come before the towering captain asks about hobbies, horses – they would have a dispute later on the color and the origin of the Lipitan horses that seem to come from Spain.

In one of the first talks around a meal, Captain Ramsey concludes that his new second in command is…

Complicated

He thinks the Navy means for him to be simple, to obey orders and know where the button for the missiles is.

For his new officer, he has a different theory; he thinks they want him more complex to supplement him somehow.

However, he disagrees with the idea of “philosophy” and mentions with pride – it appears – the fact that he and others like him have learned metals and solid things and not to doubt over military decisions.

He challenges Commander Hunter on the issues of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs and wants to know:

Do you agree with the bombing?

I would not be here if I thought otherwise

You think your answers thorough

Yes

I would say…hell…bomb them twice

We have the profiles of the two main officers on board the submarine and the older man is gung ho.

When asked about the enemy, Commander Hunter is of the opinion that the most serious threat, enemy is…war itself.

The situation becomes dramatic when a rebel general takes control of part of Russia and might attack the US.

A climax or a nadir is reached when the submarine Alabama gets the order to launch the nuclear missiles.

These do not eject in seconds, as we find out, and take minutes to be prepared and they have the estimation for the Russian launch

As they are in the process of launching the apocalypse, nuclear holocaust – in the words of the cerebral Hunter, there is another order.

Alas, it is listed as urgent, of extreme importance and refers to the launch of the missiles, but it is interrupted.

This is where an enormous conflict ensues between the captain, who wants to go ahead with the initial command and Hunter.

The latter thinks it could be a message that cancels the launch and has pertinent arguments for that.

A rebellion is needed however, for the stubborn Ramsey would not budge and rather destroy the world than wait.

One side has the upper hand, then the other and we do not know what will happen next, especially after they encounter a Russian submarine and they launch missiles, the vessel is hit…

Crimson Tide is a film with a tremendous subject, there could be none other more relevant than what could happen to the earth…one sunny day, it could go poof and humanity could extinguished.