Hostile Waters (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

David Drury

Writer (WGA):

Troy Kennedy-Martin (written by)

Release Date:

26 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

In October 1986, a Russian submarine carrying nuclear missles collides with an American nuclear submarine off the coast of Bermuda.

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | Ship Wreck | Accident | Cold War

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Rutger Hauer	...	Capt. Britanov
Martin Sheen	...	Aurora Skipper
Max von Sydow	...	Admiral Chernavin
Colm Feore	...	Pshenishny
Rob Campbell	...	Sergei Preminin
Harris Yulin	...	Admiral Quinn
Regina Taylor	...	Lieutenant Curtis
John Rothman	...	Aurora Exec. Officer
Michael Attwell	...	Kuzmenko
Dominic Monaghan	...	Sasha
Peter Guinness	...	Vladimirov
James E. Kerr	...	Aznabaev
Alexis Denisof	...	John Baker
Seamus McQuade	...	Helmsman
Paul Birchard	...	Torpedo Chief

Also Known As:

Hostile Waters - Fahrwasser des Todes (Germany) (rerun title)
Im Fahrwasser des Todes (Germany)
Péril en mer (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and peril.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France | Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:L | France:U | Germany:12 (video rating) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

John Rothman, who plays the Aurora Executive Officer, wears a name badge marked "J.J. Gordon". This is the name of the film's dialog coach, who also played the bearded "Officer Four" seen in the Russian naval headquarters sequences.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Los Angeles-class sub in the movie with designation SNN 710 was called the "Aurora". Its actually name is the "Augusta".

Quotes:

Capt. Britanov: Good Morning Pshenishny. You smell wonderful today. Are you wearing aftershave?
[as he walks away]
Capt. Britanov: How are things in Moscow?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

I wouldn't go in... no matter how long it had been since I'd eaten

Let me not mince words... that's a rather silly thing to mince, anyway, why not mince meat, instead, unless you were a vegetarian, or didn't want to be asked the relatively appropriate question "have you been mincing?"(credit for that joke goes to "'Allo 'Allo")...but I digress. What I wanted to get out of the way up front, as opposed to down below(Seagal, you might wanna see a doctor about that Fire...), is that I did not set out to watch this anticipating a u-boat flick... the title had me thinking it'd be about sharks(not that I'm really that much more into that, really...); my fiancée said it made sense to think that aforementioned sea-creature would somehow be involved, which made me feel better. Anyway, me viewing this and now writing this review is basically me making lemonade. It was an enjoyable enough 90 minutes or so. The plot isn't bad and develops fine. Pacing is satisfactory. There is an OK amount of suspense. I wouldn't advise someone looking for a terribly action-packed picture to choose this. The cast boasts some good names, and the acting, all the way, is at a decent enough standard. Writing is adequate. I can't claim that this had me spellbound, but I never really felt that what was on the screen was downright poor(and again, this is not the type of film I normally go for). It's a cold war piece of overall reasonable quality, so if you dig those, or cannot live without having had everything that features underwater stuff and/or submarines, hey, knock yourself out. I recommend this to anyone found in aforementioned groups. Fans of the people who helped make this may want to give it a torpedo launch, too. 7/10