Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious but lacking in depth
Review: The film is based on a story that actually took place during the Cold War in the early 1960s. The acting is uneven, and we don't fully understand how the situation in the submarine could possibly have an impact on Soviet-USA relations. We wonder what motivates these soviet soldiers to risk death, they just do it.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the "Sum of All Fears"
Review: "The Sum of All Fears" may prove to be the bigger blockbuster of the summer, but "K-19: The Widowmaker" proves to be the underdog with more bite. Harrison Ford plays the part of the captain of K-19 very well, when making decisions, giving looks that embody the staunch and unyielding character he plays so well. Liam Neeson does an admirable job supporting and undercutting Ford's character at the right times, to provide a limited but complex opposing force. Throughout the whole movie, the danger of nuclear power is shown more accurately and heart-wrenchingly than that in "The Sum of All Fears," where I failed to feel much pity for the city that had been hit. Instead, here, I watched the men exposed to the radiation suffer, causing the point to hit home. It is no small thing to be brushed off, and it is interesting to watch the chain of consequence lead to an inevitable conclusion. Lacking grand heroics or diabolical oppoenents, one might think that this movie is boring, with no real discernible plot, until you realize it is not the enemies in the outer world you fear, but the inner ones. The Americans are not so much of a threat as losing the respect and control of your own crew.
Rating:
Summary: ALMOST A UNDER WATER TITANIC
Review: K-19 IS A TRUE STORY OF RUSSIAN SUB (61)-THAT WAS CURSED @PORT WHEN THE CRISSEN BOTTLE DIDNOT BREAK.9 MEN DIE BEFORE LEAVING PORT,THEN ON A DRILL THE SUB BEGINS TOO LEAK RADIATION & OVER HEAT.DESPITE INJURIES AND RADITION,THE CAP-ACCEPTS ORDERS TOO SIT OFF THE COAST OF THE NE-U.S.A.WHILE CENTERED BETWEEN A NATO BASE AND A US-DESTROYER THE SUB ONCE AGAIN BEGINS TOO LEAK RADATION AND OVER HEAT.TOO AVIOD REPROCUTIONS AGAINST THE MOTHER LAND &SURRENDERING THE SUB IS TAKEN UNDER TOO ATTEMPT REPAIRS.THE SACRIFICE OF THE CREW SAVES THE SUB & WITH ABOUTTHE ONLY LUCK THE SHIP HAS IT IS RESCUED BY ANOTHER RUSSAIN SUB.
STAR WARS VETERNS FORD (CAP.VOSTRIKOV)& NEESON(CAP POLENIN) UNITE& BOTH DELIEVER A VERY GOOD PERFOMENCE.POLENEN SEEMS TO BE FOR THE CREW AND FAMILY ATTMOSPHER OF THE SUB. VOSTRIKOV-FOR THE
MOST PART SEEMS TOO LEAN TOWARD ABITION AND SERVICE TOO MOTHER RUSSIA.
I GIVE THIS MOVIE 3.5 STAR-ALTHOUGH GOOD DRAMA/SUSPENCE IT DOES START TOO FEEL LONG AFTER A 1.5HR.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected, but still half-way decent
Review: First of all, I'm really giving this movie 3.5 stars, and I decided to be generous in my rounding."K-19: The Widowmaker" is the fact-based story of the maiden voyage of a Soviet nuclear submarine in 1961. It begins with the testing of K-19 in dry-dock, under the command of Captain Polenin (Liam Neeson). When questions arise as to the readiness of the ship while the government presses for the sub to head to the East Coast, headstrong Captain Alexi Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) is brought in to take control. K-19 finally sets out, and its crew attempts to prove its prowess as the most powerful nuclear submarine in the world. Disaster ensues as the crew discovers that its government's haste may have started a chain reaction that will leave the very fate of the world in the balance. I found "K-19" to be a little different from what I was expecting. The previews led me to believe that the sub was stranded in an ice field, which was not the case. It wasn't necessarily a bad difference. I also found the cinematography to be very effective in conveying the claustrophobic living and working conditions on a submarine. The story that unfolded was a good one, not great but not half bad either. "K-19" was easily as good as "U-571," although not quite the caliber of "Crimson Tide." The main detraction from the movie (and the primary reason for my taking off 1.5 stars) was the appalling accents. None of the actors were even *close* to mastering a Russian accent. It was cumbersome and made me tire of the movie quicker than I might have had the actors just used their respective natural accents (as the main characters in "Enemy at the Gates" do). Bottom Line: A good submarine movie with plentiful action to keep the story moving, if, that is, you can move beyond the pathetic accents.
Rating: 
Summary: The best movies are really about something else...
Review: and this movie is no exception... Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson stars in the fascinating movie inspired by the events that really happened in 1961, when a nuclear submarine considered the pride of the Soviet Navy developed a leak in the coolant system for one of it's reactors. These reactors must be cooled, and when they are not they can turn into a runaway reaction, much like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. It's a great story, adapted into a really good film that will keep you interested. Once central theme of this movie is just how screwed up the Soviet Union was at this point. It was all about appearances and they did anything they could to look like the all-powerful kingdom that they wanted to be. They literally knew this sub was not ready to be put to sea, but a high placed official had made a promise to the deity-like ruler at the time and that meant anyone who voiced concerns would find their military career over. Characters on screen made references to failed Soviet space missions in which the history was completely covered over and hidden - men who gave their lives only to be completely forgotten and forbidden to mention. It makes you wonder how many people gave their lives for nothing more than to be considered an embarrassment. Ultimately, Harrison Ford presented to the audience what it was like to see the Soviets at there best - utilizing teamwork and self-sacrifice for the betterment of all people. This was manifested when he led the crew through a series of safety drills from a stumbling, ineffective beginning to a completely successful end that completed the original goals requested by Moscow. All of this in spite of the gross lack of quality control evident in the mechanical integrity of the sub. Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, so I usually see anything he is in, minus comedies and this movie reaffirmed that. He lends so much credibility to high drama scenes that you cannot imagine anyone else having the role. Ford should avoid comedies and interviews because he does not do well in them. The submarine dubbed the "widowmaker" claimed almost thirty lives as I counted them, from 1961 and up to twenty years later. The most inspiring deaths come from those who knew they were going to die - those comrades who gave all to save the ship and the crew.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!!!
Review: This is a great movie and is far superb to U-571. The story is exellent and just about everything is exellent. I recommend this to any submarine movie collector or just a person who likes a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Brave men, insane leaders
Review: The Widowmaker - even before it was launched, it killed ten of its own crew and construction crew. Under-built, under-supplied, under-staffed, the K-19 submarine hovered on the edge of disaster every minute it was afloat.
Then it fell over the edge.
This is a movie about soldiers fighting a Cold War that was very real to them, as real as the torpedo in the cradle they sat next to. Their mission was sabotaged from the start, by the very political leaders they served, by the belief that political purity would overcome any failure of physical resources. (An offhand joke partway through said it all - about a cosmonaut whose air supply failed, and who wasn't loyal enough to the party to hold his breath.) Still, they did their jobs as soldiers, even walking into sure and painful death to save the rest of their crew.
This movie is a remarkable contrast to actual Cold War movies. The submarine crew is drawn sympathetically. Harrison Ford's character is a little deeper than the others, poised between party loyalty, a military sense of honor and duty, and a fatherly view of his crew.
This isn't the most complex role Ford has ever played. Still, he plays it well, as one expects. There is a bit of a coincidence, though. Ford is well on his way to being a grand old man of movies, much as Sean Connery has. Connery did his Russian submarine movie (Hunt for Red October), now Ford has done his. Is there some kind of a checklist that I don't know about?
This is a good movie. It's a look from the post-Soviet era back into the Cold War - however little shooting there may have been, it was a war nonetheless and this is a war movie. It doesn't glorify war, quite the opposite, but it does honor the soldiers stuck with the job of fighting it.
//wiredweird
Rating: 
Summary: An experience
Review: This film is an experience, watching it thinking that its based on something that happened is impressive. It is also nice to have a movie that doesn't need standard-hollywoody violence and action sequences.
But why do I give only 3 stars to it? Its because afterwards I made some investigation, the movie made me curious, and so I found that the surviving crewmembers in russia are not pleased with it. K-19 navigator Valentin Shabanov, 62, said: "Only two things in the film are true: the bottle of champagne did not break when the submarine was launched and yes, there was an accident with the reactor. The rest are tales from Uncle Sam."
So when I see in the DVD specials Ms. director and her staff doing such detailed research and work, going to russia and practically rebuild a submarine in US, saying all the time how important it was to get everything as real as possible, how can they blow up all their efforts by not telling the real story. Now knowing that the story is not accurate, the movie is worthless to me.
Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Submarine Movie
Review: Veteran actors Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star in this thrilling film about a Russian nuclear submarine and its crew during the height of the cold war. Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a by-the-book, bend and no break commander of the Russian submarine K-19. Neeson stars as Captain Mikhail Polenin. Polenin is the exact opposite of Vostrikov. He is well liked by the crew and is willing to take advice from them. The K-19 is the newest is Russian submarine technology. Capable of firing missiles up and down the American coast, the submarine and its crew set off on their maiden training mission.
The crew successfully fires the test missile, but soon another problem develops. The crew soon realizes that their nuclear reactor which powers the ship has developed a severe leak which threatens to possibly destroy the ship. Volunteers are chosen to go inside the reactor area to try to fix the leak by welding pipes to bypass the leak, but these men soon are suffering from radiation exposure. Meanwhile, an American destroyer has come upon the crippled sub and has offered assistance. Vostrikov is determined not to seek help from the "enemy" Americans, and the K-19 does manage to contact another Russian sub and the crew is transferred. I thought this was a very good movie. Neeson and Ford do very good jobs as the Russian captains, although I didn't care too much for the fake Russian accents. The special effects, especially the underwater shots of the K-19 are excellent. I've been a fan of submarine movies for a long time, and I rate this movie alongside others such as "U-574", "Crimson Tide", and "The Hunt for Red October". It is full of excitement and will definitely captivate you throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, really enjoyed it !!!
Review: Compared to sub stories before it like Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, K19 comes up a little short. Still its an interesting, if somber outing, with Harrison Ford struggling through a pseudo-Russian accent and Liam along for the ride. An average telling of the 1961 core meltdown accident aboard the K19 there are some compelling moments when the 7 crewmembers sign their death warrants by going into the core to repair a leak. It's depressing watching them go to their demise and the talk of duty and heroism rings hollow based on the context of the time and actions taken by Ford. Ah the ultimate futility of the conflict, it leaves one feeling emotionally blank.
| 
