‘Phantom’ Vs. ‘K-19: The Widowmaker’: The Battle Of The Cold War Soviet Sub Flicks

The Style

The major differentiation between these two films on a production basis comes down to budget. At $100 million, K-19 is one of the most expensive films not produced by a major film studio while Phantom‘s budget came just under $20 million.

While both films portray the Soviet Union as a slipshod government that had little idea what it was doing, they both tackle the issue of being Soviet crews differently. Russell – I think it was Russell – once made a point that it was silly for Americans portraying foreign nationals to speak English with an accent. Imagine actors in, say, a German film telling an American story like The Great Gatsby in German, but with American accents. I agree with the notion, but this is one moment where the differences are truly felt. While Neeson, Ford and the rest of the crew don Russian accents, just like Connery, Neill, et al did in The Hunt For Red October, Harris and Duchovny speak in unaffected tongues. The difference is striking and it wasn’t long before I wondered if the budget prevented the Phantom cast from receiving vocal lessons, not because it would’ve necessarily made the film better, but because the whole production feels like a made-for-TV movie with them speaking as if they were shooting just outside Vancouver.

The direction also steers the ships to different plots. From the frantic first moments of K-19’s fire drill as we watch Polenin’s coddled crew repeatedly fail to extinguish fires both real and imagined, nuclear and otherwise, there’s a sense of tension throughout. Bigelow would wind up winning an Oscar for The Hurt Locker and several more noms for Zero Dark Thirty. Phantom takes another tack by dragging its feet throughout, leaving Bruni’s coup to look like Duchovny is just pushing old man Harris out of the way for a section of the movie.

Both flicks effectively provide two sniveling political officers, though. Phantom gets a point here for casting Johnathon “I Quit! I Quit! I Quit!” Schaech in the role.

One Ping Only

In the end, while tackling similar subjects, only one film could wind up on top. K-19: The Widowmaker may not be a masterwork, but in the realm of Americans Giving A Shit About Soviet Submarine Stories, it may be the closest we ever get. Meanwhile, you can skip out on Phantom: it’s a leaky ship.