Anna Blasco 11/10/06 “Crimson Tide” The 1995 movie “Crimson Tide” bears many similarities to the 1958 movie “Run Silent, Run Deep.” Many references are made to the older movie and the plots are very similar. Both deal with a high tension mutiny on a submarine and in each a young, by-the-book officer comes into conflict with the haphazard, eccentric captain. “Run Silent, Run Deep” was an example of how tightly controlled and well disciplined Submarines were in the US Navy, the movie being based on a book by the former Navy aid to Eisenhower and with much financial support from the Navy. “Crimson Tide” explores what might have happened had orders not been followed and a mutiny carried out on a nuclear submarine, because of this the Navy actually refused to aid in the making of the movie.

In my essay on “Run Silent, Run Deep,” I compared the crew members to the dehumanized workers in metropolis. The crew members in “Crimson Tide” do not act simply on orders and by the rule book, but on their conscious. To justify this uncharacteristic behavior of very highly trained men, “Crimson Tide” raises the steaks in a very Hollywood manner. Instead of simply the fate of the submarine to worry about, the crew of the “Alabama” could potentially start a nuclear war (or as Lt. Commander Hunter keeps reminding people, a nuclear holocaust). These crewmen have families, allegiances, old friends and other ties within and without the world of the submarine. They disobey orders, point guns at each other and their captains. This new portrayal of the crew mirrors the complexity of the nuclear era. “Run Silent, Run Deep’s” motto was obey orders above all else, but the navy submarine now in control of nuclear weapons must now have a brain, a conscious and more than just a gut instinct.

Although “Crimson Tide” shows the break down of all-knowing authority in the military, there is a definite awe and respect for the power and institution of the military. Many a patriotic speech is given to stiff, shoe-shinned soldiers in the rain and under intense pressure. The first dive of the submarine is accompanied by almost religious music as the ship dives majestically into the cathedral of the deep.

The submarine is shown as being a far more dangerous place than in submarine movies outside the context of war. Simple things become more dangerous in the enclosed underwater space, for example, a kitchen fire could have very damaging effects and one crew member ends up dying. In “Run Silent, Run Deep,” emptying the trash almost gets a man killed. Because of better technology and a high budget available, the fight scenes were very dramatic and felt realistic. One of my favorite effects was when the officers were shown walking on an incline across the submarine because it was in the process of diving.

The Chances of being hurt or killed in a submarine seem to be greatly increased the farther down on the chain of command and physically the lower you get in the submarine. No high ranking characters are injured or killed in “Crimson Tide,” neither are any very developed characters. The characters mainly hurt or killed are minor characters who work in the bottom of the submarine, which is also the first place to flood.

People in submarines walk a fine line between a safe depth and going dangerously deep. In “Incredible Petrified World,” the expedition of explores in their diving bell are violently severed from their connection with the world above, had they not landed on an underwater shelf, they would have died once they got too deep. In “Crimson Tide,” a torpedo blast renders the rudders useless and they sink slowly deeper with out the propulsion to go up. Tensely the crew wait for them to reach “hull crushing depth” as they wait for the repairmen to fix the problem.