Crimson Tide (DVD)

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Again, what are the odds? In the absence of any further information, the captain orders the firing of the missiles. In the absence of any proof one way or the other that they should fire the missiles, Hunter refuses to go along with the captain's orders. According to naval regulations, both the Captain and his Executive Officer have to agree before launching nuclear weapons.

Yes, the movie lays it on pretty thick, and this is only the halfway point in the story; we've got over an hour to go! From then on, we get a back-and-forth chess match, a mutinous crew, and various deadly encounters before the story closes in exactly the manner we anticipate. Yet the thrills remain authentic, even though we know exactly how the plot is going to turn out.

Amazingly, despite the coincidences and the melodrama, especially in the second half, the stars manage to make it all seem fairly credible. There are other fine actors in the film--Matt Craven, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen, James Gandolfini, Danny Nucci, Jason Robards--but you hardly notice them, they are so overshadowed by Washington and Hackman. More important than the release of nuclear missiles and the impending prospect of World War III is the psychological struggle between the movie's two leads, with the ship's crew lining up behind one man or the other. Thanks to Washington and Hackman, the film holds us on the edge of our seat most of the way, aided and abetted by a heroic musical score by Hans Zimmer. You really can't ask much more of an action adventure.

True to its beginnings, the movie ends with a text epilogue: "As of January 1996, primary authority and ability to fire nuclear missiles will no longer rest with the U.S. submarine commander... Principal control will reside with the President of the United States." It's reassuring to see the filmmakers are never without an ellipsis.

Video:
Although I hadn't seen "Crimson Tide" on DVD for years, this new edition looked better to me than I remember the old one looking. It's probably because Buena Vista remastered the movie to disc this time in a high-bit-rate anamorphic transfer. The film's appearance is excellent in almost every way, the image dimensions measuring a very wide 2.18:1 across my television, very close to its theatrical-exhibition size of 2.35:1. The colors are realistically rendered, never too dark, never too light, very natural; and detail, while not in the high-definition class, is nevertheless quite good. The various hues are set off by deep black levels, yet the picture never gets too murky, even in the dim confines of the submarine.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is just as good as one would expect it to be from a Bruckheimer action movie made in the DD 5.1 era. The sound is extremely dynamic, with a high impact and a powerfully deep bass. Just as important, the audio engineers effectively capture the surround activity in the sounds of music, rain, thunder, torpedoes, and all the creaks and groans of a submerged submarine. The captain's voice on the ship's intercom sounds particularly realistic.

Extras:
In addition to the seven added minutes and a better video image than Buena Vista's earlier DVD release of the movie, this new edition contains several bonus items. To begin, there are three deleted scenes running between thirty seconds and a minute and a half. Then, there is a ten-minute "All Access" featurette, "On the Set of Crimson Tide." And there is a nineteen-minute featurette, "The Making of Crimson Tide." Both of these featurettes are pretty much just promotional segments hyping the film, but they contain a few items of interest.

The extras conclude with a mere ten scene selections; Sneak Peeks at five other Buena Vista titles; English as the only spoken language choice; and English captions for the hearing impaired. However, BV do provide a chapter insert and a handsomely embossed slipcover for the keep case.

Parting Thoughts:
"Crimson Tide" is as exaggerated as any action adventure around, yet it looks so good, it moves so fast, and its stars are so believable, I doubt that anyone will mind. Once underway, it's a genuine nail-biter. The ratings board originally gave the movie an R rating for strong language, which if the movie were resubmitted I'm sure would not change with the added footage. But additional footage or no, I'd say the improved picture quality is probably the new edition's greatest claim to fame.