Crimson Tide

Back before Islamic terrorists and drug lords became the standard Hollywood villains, Russians were the go to bad guys. Even after the Soviet Union fell apart they were “the source of troubles.” So in 1995 (or, probably more accurately given studio approval and production schedules, 1993) renegade Russian nationalists were an excellent choice to set off a nuclear conflagration.

Crimson Tide follows the crew of an American nuclear sub on what they thought was a reasonably normal patrol assignment only to have the aforementioned Russian baddies attempt a coup and capture a missile and sub base about ten days in. The American Navy of course has well-established principles for controlling the launch of missiles on our subs; at the time of this (fictional) incident the Captain and his XO had to agree that the received orders were authentic. If the two didn’t agree the missiles weren’t launched.

In Michael Schiffer‘s screenplay, the Executive Action Message with final instructions is cut off, and the USS Alabama’s Captain (Gene Hackman) and First Officer (Denzel Washington) disagree that the missiles should be launched anyway (an earlier EAM did call for this). And this is the pair’s first mission together. Uh oh!

Both men attempt to take control of the sub through regulation, force and rhetoric. Complicating matters, a Russian sub is in the same stretch of ocean and tears off the Alabama’s radio antenna so they must surface to receive the update orders.

Frankly, its hard to think of two actors at the time better suited to face off against each other, both strong but the strengths coming from rigidly contrasting aspects. White v. black is the most obvious, superficial difference but Washington is education, smooth, the Modern Navy Man while Hackman is grizzled, up from the engine room, the stereotypical hard-ass but lovable skipper.

Tide also is smack in director Tony Scott’s wheelhouse: big budget action but forced within strict boundaries; almost the entire movie, except the prologue, a few TV clips and the epilogue, happens inside the submarine and surounding waters. Other Scott films I’d put up as fitting in his sweet spot are Enemy of the State (another Hackman flick, with Will Smith taking the Denzel/partner role, that I meant to write up), Top Gun and Spy Game. When he tries to make movies that sprawl, literally or figuratively, they just don’t turn out as well: Days of Thunder (he and Cruise attempt to do for auto racing what Top Gun did for Navy jets, blah), Domino, and especially the horrid Man on Fire (Scott and Washington’s second collaboration).

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