Product Description

When Russian rebels gain control of nuclear weapons in the USSR, the United States retaliates by deploying the USS Alabama, a nuclear submarine commanded by Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman). Veteran soldier and Naval legend Ramsey selects Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington)--a Harvard graduate who prefers using brains over weapons--as his Executive Officer. While submerged, the Alabama is attacked by a Russian sub and loses radio contact just as an order is being transmitted from headquarters. Old Navy dog Ramsey firmly believes that the interrupted transmission ends with an order to fire their nuclear missiles at the Russian rebels. Hunter, desperate to avoid starting World War III, is determined to re-establish radio contact and act only after complete orders are received.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5279 in DVD
• Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 116 minutes

Features

• You can almost hear the studio pitch meeting echoing throughout Crimson Tide like the sonar on the soundtrack: "It's The Cain Mutiny on a nuclear submarine!" When radio communications problems aboard the USS Alabama prevent the sub from receiving its orders clearly during a tense confrontation with Russian warships, Navy officer Denzel Washington faces a huge ethical dilemma: counterma

Amazon.com essential video
In the typical Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer mold (the partnership yielded Top Gun and Days of Thunder, among many other films), this 1995 drama is a combination of one-dimensional but enjoyable performances, lots of high-tech nonsense taking place onscreen, and mechanistic movie-making at its loudest and most seizure-inducing. Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington play nuclear submarine officers squaring off over the former's apparent intention to do some unauthorized damage to an enemy. Tony Scott (Top Gun) directed, bringing his luster and pop commercial sense to go with all that Simpson-Bruckheimer eye candy. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com
You can almost hear the studio pitch meeting echoing throughout Crimson Tide like the sonar on the soundtrack: "It's The Cain Mutiny on a nuclear submarine!" When radio communications problems aboard the USS Alabama prevent the sub from receiving its orders clearly during a tense confrontation with Russian warships, Navy officer Denzel Washington faces a huge ethical dilemma: countermand the orders of legendary Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman) to fire nuclear missiles, or follow his command and risk launching an unprovoked nuclear war. It's really an actors' picture, and the fun is in the fireworks between Washington and Hackman, each of whose characters articulates solid reasoning behind his decision. There are no easy villains, and there's no easy way to tell right from wrong--that's what makes the nuclear stakes so terrifying. Director Tony Scott (who directed Quentin Tarantino's True Romance script) called in Tarantino to punch up the dialogue, which is why, for example, the sailors talk about Silver Surfer comic books. The digital video disc is in anamorphic widescreen; the sonorous underwater rumblings on the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack will provide you with a good opportunity to show off your system's bass response. --Jim Emerson

From The New Yorker
A doomsday thriller that reunites the infamous "Top Gun" team: producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott. It's a movie for people who really miss the Cold War. Russkies are on the rampage again, and the fate of the world hangs by its customary thread. Aboard the nuclear sub U.S.S. Alabama, the captain (Gene Hackman) and the executive officer (Denzel Washington) bicker and take turns relieving each other of command, and-just to reassure us that old movie devices never die, and rarely even fade away-the communications officer tries frantically to fix a pesky radio. The action is loud and flashy, but there isn't really much suspense. The movie operates in such well-charted waters that it feels less like a dangerous naval mission than like a luxury cruise: the accommodations are cozy and the activities carefully planned. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker