Crimson Tide

War

Denzel Washington	Lt. Commander Ron Hunter
Gene Hackman	Capt. Frank Ramsey
Matt Craven	Lt. Roy Zimmer
George Dzundza	Chief of the Boat
Viggo Mortensen	Lt. Peter Ince
Rocky Carroll	Lt. Darik Westergard
James Gandolfini	Lt. Bobby Dougherty

Director	Tony Scott
Producer	Jerry Bruckheimer; Don Simpson
Writer	Michael Schiffer; Richard P. Henrick
Cinematography	Dariusz Wolski
Musician	Hans Zimmer

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