K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) Movie Review

A badly constructed Russian nuclear submarine runs into mechanical trouble and the result may be World War 3 in the drama K19: The Widowmaker.

Inspired by true events, the story takes place in 1961 during the Cold War when the Russians had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth twice over and the U.S. had enough nuclear bombs to destroy the world ten times over.

Supposedly at that time, the Russian government was scared the U.S. might obliterate their country so they decide the only way to deter the Americans was to show them they have a submarine with nuclear missiles that can sneak up near the U.S. coast and strike back if needed.

They build a new nuclear submarine called K-19 and put Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), one of their most experienced officers, as captain. When he complains to his superiors about the terrible problems the sub is experiencing and that the sub won’t be sea -worthy by the scheduled mission date, he is relieved of his command.

In his place, Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) is put in charge with Mikhail as second in command. To say that the two officers don’t get along or see eye to eye is an understatement. They disagree on everything.

Alexei is harsh and believes everybody on board is expendable while Mikhail is close to his crew and does not want to risk their lives unless absolutely necessary.

Drill after dangerous drill, Alexei runs his crew ragged and forces the sub into very hazardous and taxing conditions but still is able to conduct a successful launch of a test missile.

Soon the sub is sent on patrol 400 kilometers off the U.S. coastline between Washington D.C. and New York.

Everything is going ok until a leak is found in the cooling system of one of the reactors and its core starts to heat up to very precarious levels. In fact, if not fixed rapidly, the reactor can melt and lead to catastrophic results.

The captain orders the men to fix the problem exposing them to tremendous levels of life threatening radiation. Even though they can get help from the Americans close by they refuse as a matter of honor and to save face.

It’s not a pretty site but the cooling problem is fixed temporarily and before the crew can relax the reactor heats up again and this time there is no way they can make it back to Russia on their own.

Full of riveting anxiety at times, K-19 shows how different personalities can come together as a courageous team when their lives are on the line.

Director Kathryn Bigelow marvelously brings together moments of tension providing some edge of your seats surprises not to mention disgusting radiation poisoning effects.

If you are claustrophobic you might want to sit near the exit of the theatre just in case or wear a t-shirt that says, “I love open spaces”.

The problem with this film is not those exciting instances but the repetitiveness and the slow pacing of the scenes in between that take away from the thrill of this saga.

Somebody in Hollywood should tell these filmmakers that a longer film is not necessarily a better film and in fact can be counterproductive.

K-19: The Widowmaker has a lot going for it in the form of chilling suspense that at times is dragged down to treacherous Mikhail depths by melodramatic acting and unnecessary sluggishness.