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Released by: Paramount
Released on: December 10, 2002.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard
Year: 2002
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The Movie:
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark) and starring the powerhouse combo of Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, K-19: The Widowmaker is the story of the USSR's first nuclear submarine and it's crew.
During the height of Cold War tensions in 1961, rushes it's latest and greatest nuclear powered submarine, the untested K-19, on it's maiden voyage to counteract some American activity of their shores in the North Atlantic ocean, helmed by Captain Vostrikov (Ford) who is taking over for Capt. Polenin (Neeson).
Soon after Polenin starts complaining about the condition of the submarine and how it is unfit for use, the ship suffers a major malfunction and its nuclear payload is now endangering not only its crew, but also the already shaky political relationship between the United States and the U.S.S.R.
K-19 is a well-directed and tense cold war thriller. The submarine scenes are wonderfully claustrophobic, in part because of the fact that the sub replica used was never cut away and the camera had to be placed inside with the actors. The result is that we find ourselves looking at things from some slightly different, and very cramped, angles.
The main flaw of the movie is that the actors all speak in English with Russian accents. Some of them do it better than others, and to be totally honest, it's odd seeing Neeson and Ford speaking with fake Russian accents after we've been watching them for years speaking in their natural voices. It might have been more effective if the two leads weren't quite as well known, but the way it turned out left me a little bewildered - I had trouble getting past being able to believe in Harrison Ford in the lead. I kept thinking to myself 'it's weird hearing Han Solo speak like this.'
Overall though, accent issues aside, the film is well acted, very well directed with some engrossing cinematography and a great story to tell.
Video/Audio/Extras:
K-19: The Widowmaker is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35.1 and is enhanced for anamorphic television sets. With the exception of some mild edge enhancement and a bit of a haloing effect in a few spots, this is an exceptional transfer. With so much red and black used in the film's color scheme there were plenty of opportunities for this transfer to derail itself with compression artifacts or shimmering issues but luckily that is not the case here. Flesh tones look natural, blacks are rich and deep with some nicely detailed shadows present during a lot of the action in the sub itself.
There is almost nothing to complain about with this Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix. Dialogue remains wonderfully clear throughout the film even when missiles are being fired (which zip past you from the front channels right over to the rears). When the sub emerges from the ocean it sounds great with plenty of opportunities for your receiver to put in some overtime. With all of the sound effects going off though, it's to the discs credit that it never feels phony or contrived. The surrounds are used when needed and it never sounds overdone.
First up is a scene specific audio commentary with director Kathryn Bigelow and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth. The two speak at length about preparing for the films shoot, how they spent time researching the background of the actual story at a Russian naval base and how the spent a lot of time on actual Russian submarines. It's a pretty interesting track, especially if you have even a fleeting interest in naval history of the Cold War.
Next up are four featurettes on the making of the film that have a combined running time of just over 42 minutes. The first part is entitled The Making of K-19 The Widowmaker which explains the real life history behind the events that inspired the film and also briefly delves into the effects and sets that were built for the film and how the filmmakers were able to work effectively in such a constrained and small environment. Next up is Exploring The Craft: Make-Up Technique that explains how the effects technicians handled the aging of the subs hull as well as the effects of the radiation on the exterior of the ship. Breaching the Hull is the third piece and it deals with on how miniatures were used by effects technicians to create the shot where the sub comes through the ice cap. The fourth and final featurette is called And It's In The Details that brings us up to speed on the amount of research that went into creating as authentic a recreation of the events that inspired the film as possible.
Also included are the films original theatrical trailer, scene selection, and some nice menus.
The Final Word:
Paramount has given the film an excellent treatment on DVD with some great supplements and wonderful audio and video.