I'm a sucker for submarine movies, so even this low-budget TV thriller works for me. Good-looking nonactor Casper Van Dien plays a nuclear sub commander whose vehicle is taken over by elements of the crew, the leader of whom is intent on starting World War III against North Korea. He convinces a few people that Korea has attacked the U.S. Nothing out of the ordinary here, and Van Dien quickly regains control, but the suspense builds nicely. The best part of the flick is a tense chase when another American sub closes in on Van Dien's with orders to destroy it. Gerald McRaney from SIMON AND SIMON plays Van Dien's boss, an admiral, but the real standout among the supporting cast is Ron White as the sub's chief petty officer. I don't know White, but I bought his act as a tough, loyal-to-the-death chief to Van Dien's commander.

Yes, I agree it was very predictable, no major surprises anywhere. Pretty sad acting by the majority, very stiff. A few of the good screen shots that I liked had nothing to do with the crew, that is, the submarine underway.Why the Navy would even allow this to be filmed is beyond me. It portrays nothing positive about either side here. The fact that they thought that this was a plausible scenario amazes me. The number of flashing lights I saw remind me of the old Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea stories.If you need a military flik to pass a boring Saturday, watch this... at least you don't have to pay attention to it to get the story.

Now and again you run across a movie that is so completely unremarkable, that it's hard to find anything to say about it. This is such a movie. An absolutely run of the mill telemovie which tries to tread the same path as 'Crimson Tide', and of course falls ridiculously short, but is still watchable.A US submarine is cut off from communication with the outside world, when a North Korean nuclear test goes wrong, blanking out most of East Asia because of the electro magnetic pulse. The Executive Officer decides they're at nuclear war (with who is anyone's guess), and takes over the ship, determined to launch their nukes (at who is anyone's guess, as well). The captain and the other good guys have to stop him. It's about as basic as that.The acting and production values are pretty decent, but it is marred by some pretty silly concepts - such as an officer on board a nuclear submarine in 2001 believing that the USSR still exists. Some of the crews' reactions also seem a bit too undisciplined and far-fetched as well.I sat through it, whereas I've switched off more illustrious blockbusters ('Blackhawk Down' for instance). I was expecting that it might be rubbish, but it was just plain old ordinary. If it had been a cinema release I might have bagged it, but for a telemovie it's excusable. This one is nudging 5 out of 10.

A sorry copy of "Crimson Tide" in my opinion. As each part of the film developed I just new what was going to happen next. Casper Van Dein has not been in anything nearly as good as "Starship Troopers" and it pains me to see him in this. The acting is wooden, the story predicable, give it a miss.Dave