Hunter Killer DVD 2018

     The American submarine USS Tampa Bay vanishes while shadowing a Russian Akula-class submarine in the Artic.  Rear Admiral John Fisk sends a Virginia-class submarine, the USS Arkansas to find out what is going on.  The Commander is Joe Glass and he has been newly promoted to this rank.  A Navy SEAL team is also sent to discreetly observe a Russian Naval base.  The SEALS are under the command of Lieutenant Bill Beaman.  Soon after their arrival, they witness defense minister Dmitri Durov conduct a coup d’etat and take Russian President Zakarin as a prisoner.  The SEALS quickly realize the Durov intends to go to war.

     The characters don’t have much depth and it seems like several plots were just tossed into the air?  I had a difficult time following the events and also wanting to follow them??  There is just too many uninteresting people and events to follow?  1 ½* (I really didn’t like this movie)

115 min Drama directed by Thomas Vinterberg with Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini, Michael Nyqvist, Corey

Johnson, Toby Stephens, Ryan McPartin, Ethan Baird, Jacob Scipio, Dempsey Bovell, Henry Goodman, Collin Stinton, Adam James.

Note:  Imdb 8.3 out of 10, 36% critic 72% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Metacritic 43 out of 100 with 28 critics 6.2 out of 10 with 60 user scores, EmpireOnline 3* out of 5* Chris Hewitt, Amazon Video 4.2* out of 5* with 707 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, London, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  The is one of Michael Nyqvist last films before his death in 2017.  The filming and production team partnered with the US Navy on almost every aspect of Hunter Killer’s design.  A former trainee of Russian Captain Andropov mentions Alexei Vostrikov.  This is Harrison Ford’s character from K-19: The Widowmaker 2002.  Gerard Butler sailed aboard the USS Houston SSN 713 from May 6 to 9 with director Donovan Marsh for research.  Originally, the setting was to be Alaska with the seaport town of Whittier as the Russian naval base.  There was a lack of housing for the crew and Alaska Governor Bill Walker signed legislation ending the state’s film subsidy program.