Phantom

The absence of thick accents almost makes you miss the fact that Phantom is set in cold-war Russia. That, and the presentation of the characters as real people, not your mediocre Party worshipping, vodka glugging, every-sentence-with-comrade-ending Soviet stereotype.

That's just one factor which makes the movie worth watching. Ed Harris plays his role as epileptic submarine captain with a similar character profile to his Major Koenig in Enemy At The Gates, with a little more personality thrown in this time. His vulnerability adds shades of meaning to his grit and courage as he and his supporters stave off a mutiny. William Fichtner and Jason Beghe play their supporting roles admirably, while Johnathon Schaech plays nearly to perfection the indecisive political officer. However, David Duchovny fails to impress in his role as ideological antagonist, and seems to be the only poor casting choice.

The plot, by itself, does little to stand out. The combat sequences are adequately executed; I feel that the levels of suspense generated could have been taken up a notch or two. There are moments where the dialogue could have delved deeper; the debate between Harris and Duchovny over the necessity of a missile launch being a case in point. None of these failings, however, take away from the movie its human portrayal of the Russian submarine crew, and that alone makes this movie worth watching.

"There are only 2 reasons for a boat to go rogue. One is to defect and the other is to start a war and I don't think we're defecting." This movie is based on actual evens set during the Cold War between the US and the USSR. After returning home and excited about being on leave the A Russian sub captain (Harris) and crew are stunned when they are chosen to go on another mission right away. The mission is classified and the only one on the sub that knows the details is a KGB agent Duchovny). When certain details emerge the crew starts to rethink the orders they are given. I was looking forward to seeing this for really one reason. I am a huge Ed Harris fan. He did not disappoint in this movie. The movie itself is also really good and the best way to describe it is a mix of Hunt For Red Octber and Crimson Tide. The fact that the movie is true makes it even more interesting to watch. It is a little predictable but that does not take away from the enjoyment of the movie at all. If you are a fan of movies like Red October then this movie is for you. I recommend this. Overall, very tense and exciting. I give it a B+.

Inspired by actual events in 1968

In 1968, a Russian diesel submarine goes out for one last mission and then it will be given to the Chinese. Captain Demi (Ed Harris) believes Bruni (David Duchovny), a KGB operative, has plans to take over the ship and start a nuclear war. Bruni will use Phantom to accomplish his mission. How to stop him?

I may be dating myself, but I couldn't help thinking of Richard Widmark during this movie. This was his kind of movie and Ed Harris does an Oscar Worthy job filling in for our departed (2008) friend. Kudos.

The language was all in English, not English with broken Russian accents. That was a good move as nothing was lost in translation by doing this.

The acting by all was excellent. There was good suspense and tension with the music helping.

This was thoroughly enjoyable and the last scenes were heartfelt and very, very clever. Keep a box of Kleenex handy as you may need it. Did I mention that the last scenes were very clever?

There is a statement at the end that says in 1968 a Russian submarine went missing and all is still classified by both the Russian and American governments. (9/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, not much though.

First off, I am not a fan of Independent movies and find most boring or to artsy. I heard about Phantom for the first time when I watched a late night TV talk show. My interest was peaked so I went to see it an the local theater that shows this Independent movies. From the opening scene, I was hooked. My only issue was that unless you had seen other movies of this type, with the cast speaking English right from the beginning, you did not know that this was supposed to be Russian. But if you listened you could hear that they were talking about Russian locations, but the people that went with me had to ask me about 15 minutes into it if this was supposed to be Russian Navy. This movie hooks you and draws you into the life aboard a WW2 Era sub. Having actually been on this old sub as it sat in mothballs, I can tell you that there is no room for camera gear and how they filmed the inside with crew boggles me. Duchovny and Harris were spectacular in this movie and made the movie believable. The story line was very interesting and I was sad to see the movie end, but being based on a true story really peaked my interest and now I need more information. Please go see this movie, support this filmmaker, I am not associated with any of the movie or players, but for a Non Independent film watcher to love an Independent movie is really saying something.

Much is made of perceived weaknesses in "Phantom," most notably the absence of Russian accents. This doesn't bother me, certainly no more than watching anything by the BBC in which everyone, regardless of character nationality, has an accent found somewhere in the British Isles. I'm not familiar with the minutiae of Soviet era submariners, so I can't suitably critique the proper etiquette or uniform details. Looked accurate enough for me to accept it. If you're willing to look past that, you'll be able to enjoy a competent, if slightly derivative, submarine flick. Frankly, it's worth watching for the performances of Ed Harris (the sub captain) and William Fichtner (Harris's second in command) alone. They carry the movie, and, in my case at least, kept me watching through to the end. David Duchovny, as the rogue KGB agent is a little harder to accept, but I suspect that has less to do with his performance than my own inability to not think, "What the hell, Mulder?" every time I see him. The supporting characters do their best with what they have, and honestly, I admire anyone who can work in even a mock submarine's space. Ultimately, this movie is about sacrifice, whether on the part of the family separated by military service, or the things one is willing to do for the sake of one's nation. If you've actually read this far into the reviews, or even this far into this one review, I think you'll be engaged enough that it won't be a waste of your time to watch "Phantom," especially if you can see it via whatever instant service you use. Like it says above, it's not "Das Boot," but really, what else is?