Black Sea

Three reasons to watch Black Sea:

1) if you are interested in U-Boats this works for you 100%.

2) if you are a Jude Law fan then you will see one of his best performances so far. In fact he played the role as a hungry captain brilliantly and credibly.

It could have been honored even for an Oscar worthy role.

3) it offers entertaining value mixed with drama, adventure and submarine details.

I liked this movie cause it's damn dramatic with a touch of adventure.

The running time is okay and the special effects in the submarine are well done. The director Kevin Macdonald made a good a job with this story based on true events.

It merits a solid 6.5/10 that matches nearly the rating of 6.4 of IMDb.

If you like U-Boat movies don't miss K-19 with Harrison Ford, Killer Hunter with Gerard Butler or Red October with Sean Connery.

Ignore of some the bad reviews, just saw this for the first time and really enjoyed it. Too many people looking for perfection in a movie, no it is not fast paced action but does you keep you into the story. Stop looking for perfect and just enjoy!

Greetings again from the darkness. One of my first favorite TV shows as a little kid was "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea". Each week I sat wide-eyed in front of the tube (yes, it was actually a cathode ray tube back then) anxiously awaiting underwater adventure. It wasn't until later that I discovered Irwin Allen's 1961 movie of the same name, and more importantly, Jules Verne's novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", which featured the wild exploits of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. Since then, count me in for just about any movie based aboard a submarine (Down Periscope being a rare exception).

Director Kevin MacDonald is best known for his excellent 2006 film The Last King of Scotland (with Forest Whitaker's Oscar winning performance as Idi Amin). This time he works with a script from playwright Dennis Kelly to deliver a gritty, tense thriller that is lacking any traditional Hollywood fluff … it's a down and dirty look at greed, desperation and the survival instinct.

Inherent to a story based aboard a submarine is the immediate and constant threat of claustrophobia and death. This one adds another element of danger by blending a crew of Russians and Brits with the goal of bringing back millions of dollars in gold locked away on a sunken German U-Boat in the Black Sea waters. Lest you think the Russians are just another group of southern California actors faking the accent, director MacDonald confirmed that he cast actual Russian actors – including Grigoriy Dobrygin (A Most Wanted Man), Konstantin Khabenskiy (one of the most popular actors in Russia), and three others named Sergey, which MacDonald acknowledged contributed to on-set confusion. This decision elevates the onboard tension between adversarial characters to an armrest-gripping level. Yet another slightly psychotic Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom) role doesn't hurt, either.

Jude Law continues the second phase of his career – far removed from his pretty boy early films – as a tough, revenge-seeking sub captain fired by his long-time employer. Should you doubt Law's acting range, I would recommend not just this film, but also last year's Dom Hemingway (a wild ride). Law's performance here is very strong as he transforms from a p.o.'d former employee to an eye-on-the-prize, win-at-all-cost treasure seeker. The onboard tension mounts every time there is interaction between the Russians and Brits, and Law's character attempts to mediate. The progression of this three-way dynamic is fascinating to watch as it unfolds.

To provide that true underwater feeling, MacDonald filmed some scenes onboard an old Soviet submarine that is moored in the River Medway in Kent (UK). We never have that feeling of Hollywood soundstage; instead we as viewers share in the tight space and constant dread. This combination of characters, setting and mission deliver an intense thriller that is sure to please, and feels uncommonly welcome this early in the year.

The pinnacle of submarine movies is Das Boot (1981), a must-see for any movie lover. Other popular sub films include Crimson Tide (1995), The Hunt for Red October (1990), and K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), and for those of us who are fascinated by life (and possible death) under the sea, we gladly welcome a new entry to the sub-genre, especially one as well made and tension-packed as Black Sea.

This film is about a submarine captain who is fired because of downsizing. He decides to form his own submarine team to hunt for the gold that Nazi Germany is rumoured to have left in a sunken submarine at the bottom of the Black Sea.

I was initially put off by "Black Sea" because of the heavy accent, which made it hard for me to understand the dialog. Fortunately, the film is thrilling and captivating, so I was drawn by the film again. The plot keeps me on the edge because there is something happening in rapid succession. The divide between the British and the Russian crew is well portrayed. There are even mind games which is probably unexpected in a submarine thriller. The claustrophobic environment of the submarine, and also the constant fear of catastrophic events happening keep the adrenaline pumping. The ending is unexpectedly moving, I was very sympathetic towards the characters. It even gave me tingles down my body. I enjoyed watching "Black Sea".

As submarine movies go, Black Sea is probably the best one this year. That it may be the only one certainly helps. Kevin McDonald (The Eagle, The Last King of Scotland) has delivered a Boy's Own adventure under the sea that is part thriller, part drama and could easily have been a Desmond Bagley novel forty years ago. And that's no bad thing.

When submarine pilot Captain Robinson (Jude Law) is made redundant, he seeks solace in the company of a pint and some former colleagues. One of them mentions a missing German U-boat that was lost in the Second World War, laden with gold bullion from Russia, Robinson sets a plan in motion to seize the gold and end their financial woes. With an investor in place, a rusted submarine and a motley crew comprised equally of Brits and Russians, Robinson heads into the depths of the Black Sea for a deep water heist, but a tin can filled with greedy, desperate, jealous men doesn't bode well…

There is nothing remarkable about Black Sea. It lacks the tension of Das Boot, doesn't rewrite history quite as horribly as U571 and doesn't quite hit the (dated) adventure of The Hunt for Red October, but it is an enjoyable romp of angst, betrayal and underhand tactics that fills an evening quite adequately.

Screenwriter Dennis Kelly (Utopia) either doesn't understand the law of physics or has decided to bend them anyway but the screenplay rattles along quite nicely, building the drama, adding the odd explosive scene and even managing one or two very funny quips. He establishes a crew of embittered men on opposing sides without making any of them too much of a caricature. There are a few missing beats and some clunks as logic and reason tumble down the gangway but, for the most part, Black Sea holds the attention and entertains. There is little to surprise but, as long as the viewer isn't too bothered by historical or scientific accuracy, there is nothing to really disappoint.

Jude Law makes for an enjoyable, grizzled hero though he isn't given enough to add depth to his character. The soft flashbacks and memories of his estranged wife and son are intended to add meat to his bones but there isn't enough in them to make us really care and they are more distracting than affecting. We understand and care more about Tobin's (Bobby Schofield) emotional predicament through a brief exchange between captain and junior than the entirety of flashbacks from Robinson.

Black Sea has the feel of a movie dumped on the world because it is too light to feature in the summer blockbusters, too small (of budget) to compete against Hollywood's big studio flicks and doesn't even pretend to have any merit when it comes to awards season. For a low budget British adventure thriller it serves perfectly well on a cold, damp, winter's evening for a certain type of cinemagoer who is already sick of the barrage of Christmas schmaltz and family fare at the multiplex.

If you want entertainment with a smidgen of mystery, a dollop of action and a hint of thrills, Black Sea does the job adequately.

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