Rating: 
Summary: A gripping true story captured on film!
Review: At the height of Cold War tension in 1961, the Russian government is in a hurry to deploy their brand new nuclear submarine, the K-19, with orders to test fire a nuclear missile in the north Atlantic. The hope is that such a show of power will discourage America from launching an attack on the motherland. When Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) argues that the ship is unready to begin sea trials as scheduled, he demoted to the position of executive officer and replaced by Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford). The barely seaworthy K-19 is sent out as initially planned.Vostrikov tests the crew's physical and mental limits with a series of intensive drills designed to determine what the men and the ship collectively can withstand, creating much tension between the men. After successfully firing the test missile, the K-19 is ordered to take up a position off the American coast, but then disaster strikes as the cooling system of one of the nuclear reactors on board fails. Repeated attempts to repair the leak are unsuccessful and radiation begins to spread through the ship, leaving Vostrikov in a precarious position - he can seek help from the nearby Americans and risk charges of treason at home, or he can wait for a Russian ship to find them and risk the life of every man on board. When I saw that this film was being done by National Geographic, it encouraged me to go see it in theaters. I'm glad I did, for it lived up to my expectations in almost every way. Ford, Neeson, and all the supporting actors turned in wonderful performances. They made their roles very believable. The cinematography was also extremely well done. The few on-shore scenes were shot in the actual locations in Russia where the original events occurred, giving the film an authentic feel. The scenes inside the submarine were shot in sets built to the scale of the actual K-19, helping the viewer comprehend the claustrophobic atmosphere. Both the actors and cameramen do a great job working within the confines of such small spaces. The reality of the radiation leak is dealt with superbly. It is hard to capture an invisible foe on film. Here, in fact, the depiction of men with radiation burns and sickness are so graphic and convincing that I'd warn those with weak stomachs to be careful with this movie. A few scenes are quite disturbing. I must admit that I was extremely dismayed, however (as almost every other reviewer has already mentioned), by the very fake-sounding Russian accents delivered by some of the American members of the cast, most notably Ford himself. But then I have to remind myself: even if the accents on film had been impeccable, the real men on the original K-19 wouldn't have been speaking English in the first place, accent or no. So how realistic can you be? Perhaps it would have been better to scrap the accents altogether and just have the actors use their natural voices. Regardless, I think the accent issue is a minor one. The rest of the acting is terrific and the film loses none of its intensity. The DVD includes a "making of" documentary, and three additional featurettes. It is interesting to see what went into this production - the history, the re-building of the ship, the approach director Kathryn Bigelow took to filming, etc. The actors also offer their insights into the film. All in all I found the movie highly enjoyable. Despite minor discrepancies which are all but inevitable in a successful life-to-film adaptation, it should appeal to Cold War buffs and action/drama fans alike.
Rating:
Summary: Grim tale of a Russian sub, wonderfully acted
Review: I had some problems with this film. Not the whines about historical inaccuracy (you are preaching to the choir since I love history), because I have long ago stopped expecting anything too accurate to come out of Hollywood. Not the American actors playing Russians - hey get real. Hollywood is going for BIG NAME to sell the tickets. Had they staffed the roles with lesser-known Russian actors would the film have even gotten more than passing notice? What I had problems with - I was unable to distance myself from the grim realities of the film by saying at the back of my head - it's only fiction. Accurate or not, this the depicts a tragic accident based on truth that was officially suppressed for 28 years. Set at the height of the Cold War Between Russian and US, Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson deliver intense performances as the command of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19. An exposed reactor core nearly resulted in a nuclear catastrophe for the men aboard the K-19 and the world around them. As the core is breached, the men must be sent in time and again - all knowing they are being sent to their deaths. Gradually, the struggle between Ford and Neeson sees the crew escalating to near-mutiny (can you blame them?), with Ford struggling to retain command. Kathryn Bigelow as director has a fine sense of pace and how to spiral the tension, proving she is able stand toe to toe with male directors of this genre. It's just not an easy film to watch, to see those poor lads going in to death, sacrificing themselves for the sake of other.
Rating:
Summary: Professional and provocative.
Review: The word that first came to mind when this movie was over was that this film was very "professional." Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson both give solid performances, subtle but filled with suppressed tension. What makes this movie all the more provocative is that it is based on actual events that took place in 1961, certainly at the very peak of the Cold War. The huge cast of character actors also come across well with admirable performances. The fact that the Cold War is over makes for a dated feel to the story. Also, the movie is about 15-20 minutes longer than my attention could handle, the pace being so deliberate. There were moments when I recalled the greatest Submarine film ever made, "Das Boot." That should be praise enough for all involved in the making of this strong, compelling film.
Rating:
Summary: It's A Movie, Not A Documentary
Review: I love reading reviews from people who complain about the historical inaccuracies in movies such as this. What were they expecting? Anything put out by Hollywood is meant to entertain, not educate. Movies such as this are BASED on true events, not actual retellings of the events. I thought both Harrison Form and Liam Neeson did outstanding acting jobs, and yes they even made believable Russians. I also thought the film did a good job of portraying the Russian military as human beings, rather than just the enemies we learned to despise during the Cold War. So see this movie and leave all expectations of a history lesson at home.
Rating: 
Summary: Tilts the scale towards a thumbs up...just
Review: In the end, there's somethign about this film that works. Ford and Neeson are surpringly good, and seem to have a chemistry that is at times perfectly tense. I'd even go so far to say that for the most part, Ford was acting so well I began to hate his character...which of course is his intent. That's saying a lot since I have a hard time buying him as a bad guy (What Lies Beneath was just abysmal). There is, of course, the hullabaloo about the accents. Are they bad? Yes. Ford's is at times too underdone, and at times way over the top. Neeson's is basically absent, and we get more Irish dialect than anything else. I get the feeling they needed a better voice coach...if they even used one. BUT! I found myself getting over it all after about fifteen minutes and following the story instead. It starts slow, but if you hang in there for about a half hour, the tension surfaces, and once it does it rarely lets up. There's genuine emotion and struggle when the reactor springs it leak, and the crew must enter the radiation filled room to fix it. It's just plain depressing and disturbing, and I completely identified wth the blistering men who suffered the effects. I bought Ford's concern over his crew while at the same time struggling with his allegiance to his homeland. I bought Neeson's love for his crew and disgust with Ford's reckless ways. I routed for the men to escape...Russian men at that, who chose to moon the American Destoryer that was offering them assistance. Naturally, there are some stretches that make you yawn, and there are some moments where you'll question the truth of this supposedly True Story. The only major thing that annoyed me was the Hollywood-ized ending. It was unecessary and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Americans playing Russians
Review: The "production values" certainly hold one's attention throughout the movie, but it borders on camp in its attempt to portray the events of the K-19 submarine. I benefited slightly by Russian voice-overs but still it is pretty hard to imagine Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson as Russian submarine commanders. I don't know why Hollywood felt compelled to portray this aspect of the Cold War when there were so many others they could have chosen, from an American point of view, that would have been just as telling. The scenes are often ludicrous, but then I had to check myself from laughing as this was the 1960's and neither the Soviet Union nor the United States had any idea of the destructive potential of nuclear weapons, in human terms. This movie does convey this to a certain degree, as the men don rubber suits to try to fix the nuclear reactor that powers the sub, with the inevitable results. The scene is very effective as the men suffer from radiation burns with the fallout soon spreading throughout the submarine. Ford, as the commander, tries to hold down the sub but one can imagine the near mutiny such a situation would inspire. The movie draws a bit too heavily on Hollywood cliches, such as "Mutiny on the Bounty," to tell its story on the most grandiose level. The better scenes are those where they try to capture some of the comraderie on board the ship and the ice soccer match on an Arctic ice flow. "Red October" was better.
Rating:
Summary: A Decent Movie
Review: K-19 The Widowmaker was kind of a disappointing movie to me. I set high expectations for it knowing I was going in to see a movie with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson two of the better actors of this modern generation. It's not that they disappoint, it's just a depressing story that really doesn't have a happy ending. K-19 The Widowmaker tells the story of a nuclear Soviet Submarine K-19. The sub is suppose to be the next great thing for the Union and they send one of there top naval officers(Ford) to lead the charge. He's in to replace the former captian(Neeson)who had been leading the seem what cursed ship from drydock. On there first mission out there is a problem with the reactor. It's overheating and they can't stop it. The race is then on to see if they can be saved before it's to late. The movie really shows the grusome reality that was the Soviet Union. They didn't care about any of the men on that boat. They just didn't want the incident leaked out. Harrison Ford's chatacter is the hard nose who wants to do the right thing but is afraid of what could happen to him. Liam Neeson just wants the right thing done and that is to let the Americans help them. He cares about the men and not to much about himself. I'm sorry I don't remember names, I do not own the movie. It is a decent movie and it should be seen by all, I just would never buy it. It's got some great acting, it just isn't a positive story. Like I said earlier, I'd watch again just would never buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Saved the world?
Review: I don't understand how they saved the world..? One thing the movie focused on that is just not true is the fact that if a meltdown were to occur, then all the nukes on board would blow up too. That's just wrong. So then how does preventing a reactor meltdown on a submarine suddenly save the world? It would have been an environmental disaster, but not so much worse than a bad oil spill. Other than that, the movie is so-so. It's one of those cookie cutter films, I guess. All movies like this have the same plot development and character development and everything else. You just take two big name actors, put one as the Captain and the other as the XO, have a little backround on them and a few other characters, let the shnit hit the fan, and go from there. Red October, Crimson Tide, U-571, this...all are variations on the same template. Ho hum.
Rating: 
Summary: failed to capture the theme
Review: the film is not good. the director says in dvd feature, that the sacrifice of the sailors who prevented the meltdown of nuclear reactor were the heros and saved actually the world. so, we don't see it in the movie. it's very boring with all kinds of already seen images and sequences of sub-marine-movies. harrison ford produced and has a leading role. this is another factor which destroyed the oppurtunity to tell a good story. the story becomes to an ego fight between the captains (actors) etc. Yes he needs a comeback and has to destroy the true theme of the story. sacrifice of the regular men who died. we don't see no real emphasis with those men, where they came from, their women and how was the life under this system. too much? no they just shouldn't focused on every screw of the sub but on the life of those sailors.
Rating:
Summary: Was a lot better than I though it would be
Review: A buddy of mine took me to see this and I though it was going to be some boring, paint-by-the-numbers, action film with Harrison Ford being the only saving grace. I was wrong. While not a complete historcial account, a good yarn none the less. The only problem was in the back of my mind I was waiting for a Wookie, an R2 astromech & C3 translator droid to pop up some where. Took a little while to get used to Ford not being the man that fixes the hyperdrive and all goes well.
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