Barnes & Noble

An extraordinarily tense Cold War drama based on real-life events, K-19 gives aging but still formidable leading man Harrison Ford one of his most challenging roles in years. He plays tight-lipped Russian naval officer Alexei Vostrikov, who assumes command of the Soviet Union’s newest nuclear submarine, the K-19, and heads for American territorial waters. When the nuclear reactor begins leaking, Vostrikov refuses the entreaties of junior officer Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) to seek help from the Americans, opting instead to make repairs that definitely will claim the lives of many crewmen and possibly prove fruitless in the end. Ford has been more of a crowd-pleaser as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, but this role tests his mettle in a way few others have done. Grim and taciturn, his Vostrikov places duty and honor above safety, even as he privately agonizes over the human cost of his decisions. He’s perfectly matched by Neeson, portraying a voluble and more pragmatic seaman unwilling to consign his shipmates to a watery grave to satisfy the captain’s lofty ideals. Director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break) skillfully captures the claustrophobic terror that seizes men trapped in a steel coffin below the sea, and she holds her actors on short leashes to restrain their melodramatic impulses. The script offers plausible explanations for the calamities that befall K-19: shoddy construction, insufficient supplies, and human error. Hyper-realistic and unrelentingly suspenseful, K-19 is one of 2002’s most absorbing dramas. Bigelow supplies an incisive commentary for the DVD, which also includes a making-of documentary, and three behind-the-scenes featurettes. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A real-life historical incident becomes the basis for this military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow that's reminiscent of such submarine dramas as Das Boot (1981), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), and U-571 (2000). Harrison Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a Russian naval officer who's being given command of the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, K-19, at the height of the Cold War in 1961. The vessel's previous commander, Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) has been demoted to executive officer following a botched test and his outspoken assertions that the flagship is not yet ready for deployment, but he curbs his resentment and resolves to serve his new superior well. Polenin's concerns are well founded: parts are not yet installed, equipment is missing, and the ship's doctor is killed in an auto mishap. Political pressure forces Vostrikov to sail his crew into the North Atlantic anyway, for a missile fire test that serves as a warning to the U.S. that its enemy is now its technological equal. The test is a success, but a disastrous leak in the K-19's reactor cooling system soon threatens to create enough heat to detonate the craft's nuclear payload -- which would certainly be mistaken for the first salvo in a worldwide atomic exchange and spark the beginning of World War III. With no other option, Vostrikov orders his men to repair the damage in ten-minute shifts, irradiating them hopelessly. The conflict between the seemingly bureaucratic Communist Vostrikov and the more humane Polenin escalates, until a surprising twist reveals where both officers' loyalties truly lie. Karl Williams

Village Voice

Bigelow hits all her marks and more within the narrow parameters. Dennis Lim

New York Times

A tense, swift drama of mechanical catastrophe and dueling egos. A.O. Scott

Chicago Sun-Times

[Bigelow] is an expert technician who never steps wrong and is skilled at exploiting the personal qualities of Ford and Neeson to add another level of uncertainty. Roger Ebert

Hollywood Reporter

This submarine drama earns the right to be favorably compared to Das Boot. Kirk Honeycutt

Product Details

• UPC: 097363402145
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 2:17:00
• Sales Rank: 25,635

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Hunt for Red October / K-19: The Widowmaker

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