The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Submarine drama adapted from a Tom Clancy novel and starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. Connery is a Russian naval captain who wants to defect to the USA, but his actions threaten to bring about full-scale war. Baldwin is the CIA intelligence analyst who has to save the world.

The performances are reasonable (James Earl Jones and Joss Ackland also have roles), but there’s something missing. It’s probably unfair to compare this film to Das Boot or K-19: The Widowmaker, but I never once felt I was aboard an actual submarine. It’s oddly lifeless, with a lack of atmosphere and a certain stilted quality. This isn’t helped by Connery, whose “calm” manner is taken to extremes, resulting in merely an expressionless mask.

Motivations stay mysterious: we don’t learn why Connery wants to defect or how his staff feel about it. Nor do we discover why one of the sub’s cooks wants to sabotage the mission.

Another oddity is the use of subtitles in the early stages of the film. Once it has been established that these are Russians speaking, the subtitles cease and their dialogue reverts to English. That creates confusion later when subtitles return and it’s actually unclear which language Baldwin and Connery are meant to be speaking in. It would have been better to use the standard film trope of a non-English language simply being spoken in English – but with accents.

While there’s nothing really wrong with the film, and you could argue that it ticks all the right boxes for a Cold War thriller, ultimately it falls flat. But a more inspired director than John McTiernan could probably have made it work.

U-571 (2000)

A damaged German submarine in World War II is captured by Americans in a special operation. On board is the Enigma cipher machine used to transmit code. The Americans attempt to save it and themselves while coming continually under fire from the enemy.      

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it’s a fast-paced wartime thriller that’s full of action. Matthew McConaughey is excellent as the man who unexpectedly finds himself as captain after his boss, played by Bill Paxton, is killed. Harvey Keitel does his usual thing (as the Chief Gunner's Mate) and has some presence. In an odd casting decision, Jon Bon Jovi portrays Lieutenant Pete Emmett, but brings nothing special to a minor role that could have been played by anyone. The other major failing is that the music is loud enough to obscure the dialogue at a couple of points. 

At times you can clearly see the influence of the submarine masterpiece that is Das Boot. But where that film had long, brooding scenes that built up a claustrophobic tension, this one races from one dramatic moment to another. It does that very well, but ironically – given the subject matter – there’s a lack of depth.

Das Boot (1981)

This masterpiece, written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, details the experiences of the captain and crew of a German U-boat in 1941. 

Hugely atmospheric, it perfectly captures the claustrophobia of being on a submarine for weeks on end. It’s incredibly tense, too. Interludes of boredom for the crew alternative with highly charged action sequences. The seemingly endless moments in which the sub prowls the sea listening for movement and avoiding enemy depth charges are quite terrifying. 

The interior set is entirely convincing, and the scenes in which they run the length of the submarine are brilliantly shot. The external shots are noticeably less “real”-looking, but they still work.

Jürgen Prochnow is superb as the captain, bringing out a multi-dimensional aspect to his character. Herbert Grönemeyer as great as Werner, who has been sent to observe and document the mission. Klaus Wennemann is perfectly cast as the chief engineer – a sympathetic character, whose relationship with the captain is explored with sensitivity. Their understated performances make them easy to believe in and relate to. 

There are poignant moments, too. It’s heartbreaking when you see how many letters one of the crew has written to his sweetheart and not been able to send.

This director’s cut runs to over 200 minutes and is probably the best war film I have seen.

Submarine (2010)

Comedy-drama about Oliver Tate, a 15-year-old boy (played by Craig Roberts), his life at home and school, and his relationship with his classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige). In parallel, the film examines his parents’ failing marriage and his mother’s relationship with “mystic” Graham. 

It’s quirky and unusual. Some of the narrative is handled in a slightly tricksy manner, but it works because it’s from Oliver’s perspective. 

There’s a huge emotional range. It’s funny and sad. It’s realist and also fantastic. Not really like anything else I've seen.

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

It’s 1961 and the Soviet Union sends a new nuclear submarine on a test mission. Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) has been demoted from the role of captain and replaced by Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), who seems unreasonable and needlessly reckless, so tensions are running high from the outset. When a reactor coolant pipe bursts, the sub is in danger of blowing up – and destroying everything around it, including a US destroyer – risking dangerous military escalation and potentially World War III. 

As the drama unfolds and the crisis rapidly accelerates within the claustrophobic interiors of the craft, the two captains have to navigate their own prickly relationship as well as the relationships they have with their men, who clearly favour Polenin’s way of doing things. 

It’s an intelligent film that continually surprises. There are disturbing scenes that change the dynamic from intense Cold War thriller to compassionate human drama. 

The two leads are excellent and exude charisma, even if their Russian accents sometimes come and go.