'PHANTOM': Three Stars (Out of Five)
Cold War submarine thriller starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. It was written and directed by Todd Robinson, who's also directed multiple documentaries (on subjects ranging from rock music to Billy the Kid) and wrote the 1996 Ridley Scott directed sailing thriller 'WHITE SQUALL'. The film is about the captain of a Soviet missile submarine, during the Cold War, who must stop a rogue KGB agent from taking over his ship and seizing the nuclear missile onboard. It's loosely based on actual events of a missile crisis in 1968 involving the K-129 sub. It sort of plays out like a second rate 'THE HUNT FOR RED October'. It had a very limited theatrical release (in which it made about one eighteenth of it's $18 million budget back) and the film has received harsh criticism for it's inaccurate depiction of a Soviet sub (and no attempt was made to have the actors speak Slavic at all, with subtitles, or speak with accents). The film is definitely cheesy at times but for the most part it's intense and amusing. The acting is great as well.
Harris plays a Soviet Navy captain named Demi, in the 1960s, who's set to retire when he's asked to go on one last mission with his old crew on his old ship. Demi feels his career has been a disappointment and is still haunted by mistakes he made in his past, which cost the lives of several of his men (he also suffers from seizures at times, due to a past injury). So he jumps at the chance to command his ship on one last mission, and possibly redeem himself, even if it's a mysterious classified one. He's joined on the mission by a KGB group, lead by a man named Bruni (Duchovny), who obviously have ulterior motives. It soon becomes apparent that Bruni and his men have went rogue as they seize control of the ship and the missile on board. It's up to Demi and his loyal men to stop them before they start a nuclear war.
The film co-stars the likes of Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech and Sean Patrick Flanery. Like I said the acting is all more than decent. Harris is always a pleasure to watch and Fichtner is a likable and interesting actor as well. Duchovny is kind of just menacing and mysterious in this but he fits the part. The directing I'd say is adequate; the mood and atmosphere are decent. It's the script that could have used some more work, I especially didn't like the ending (which is by far the most cheesy part of the whole movie). Up until the ending I was into it though. It's not nearly as good as something like 'THE HUNT FOR RED October' but it was fun and suspenseful enough to keep my interest. Movies like this aren't a bad way to pass the time, in my opinion, at least.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_1fzjYYyuk
Cold War submarine thriller starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. It was written and directed by Todd Robinson, who's also directed multiple documentaries (on subjects ranging from rock music to Billy the Kid) and wrote the 1996 Ridley Scott directed sailing thriller 'WHITE SQUALL'. The film is about the captain of a Soviet missile submarine, during the Cold War, who must stop a rogue KGB agent from taking over his ship and seizing the nuclear missile onboard. It's loosely based on actual events of a missile crisis in 1968 involving the K-129 sub. It sort of plays out like a second rate 'THE HUNT FOR RED October'. It had a very limited theatrical release (in which it made about one eighteenth of it's $18 million budget back) and the film has received harsh criticism for it's inaccurate depiction of a Soviet sub (and no attempt was made to have the actors speak Slavic at all, with subtitles, or speak with accents). The film is definitely cheesy at times but for the most part it's intense and amusing. The acting is great as well.
Harris plays a Soviet Navy captain named Demi, in the 1960s, who's set to retire when he's asked to go on one last mission with his old crew on his old ship. Demi feels his career has been a disappointment and is still haunted by mistakes he made in his past, which cost the lives of several of his men (he also suffers from seizures at times, due to a past injury). So he jumps at the chance to command his ship on one last mission, and possibly redeem himself, even if it's a mysterious classified one. He's joined on the mission by a KGB group, lead by a man named Bruni (Duchovny), who obviously have ulterior motives. It soon becomes apparent that Bruni and his men have went rogue as they seize control of the ship and the missile on board. It's up to Demi and his loyal men to stop them before they start a nuclear war.
The film co-stars the likes of Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech and Sean Patrick Flanery. Like I said the acting is all more than decent. Harris is always a pleasure to watch and Fichtner is a likable and interesting actor as well. Duchovny is kind of just menacing and mysterious in this but he fits the part. The directing I'd say is adequate; the mood and atmosphere are decent. It's the script that could have used some more work, I especially didn't like the ending (which is by far the most cheesy part of the whole movie). Up until the ending I was into it though. It's not nearly as good as something like 'THE HUNT FOR RED October' but it was fun and suspenseful enough to keep my interest. Movies like this aren't a bad way to pass the time, in my opinion, at least.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_1fzjYYyuk