Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Admirable film.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

I can't be as critical of "Phantom" from 2013 the way some of the more knowledgeable people here are. I read with interest the comments from an actual Russian, and I do think had they hired a Russian consultant it would have been more accurate. However, since I wasn't aware of any of that while watching it, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film.Inspired by actual events, Ed Harris plays Demi, a Russian captain who, had he not been from a prominent family, would have been long gone after a major screw-up that lost lives. During the incident, he suffered an injury which has caused him to have seizures.In command of a submarine, he is approached by men, led by David Duchovny, who say they are on the submarine to carry out a secret mission. It turns out to be the testing of the 'Phantom' which cloaks the submarine and fools the enemy into thinking the sub is from another country.Demi knows that he's only commanding a sub because the Russians did not want his family shamed, so he also knows that no one in the KGB or anywhere else would choose his sub for a top secret mission. So who are these people, and what is their real purpose?Filmed in a submarine, while this film isn't as good as Das Boot or some other sub films, it's quite exciting, and Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fitchner, and Jonathan Schaech all are terrific.My only quibble is that I did pick up one thing the Russian reviewer did - there is a man with claustrophobia on the sub who refuses to do something he's asked to do. A claustrophobic wouldn't be in that job, and I don't even think would be on a submarine. I'm claustrophobic and you couldn't get me in one above water, let alone below.The subject of accents came up on the message board as these actors spoke without accents. Yes of course they did. They were not speaking English, but Russian -- not English with a Russian accent.This film is a good reason to read up on what went on during the Cold War, and a K-129 disappearance in the Pacific in 1968. There is a very scary scenario set up in this film which anecdotally appears to be true. It was a dangerous time.

I am amazed viewers give such attention to the protocol of the Soviet army and its incomplete coverage in the movie. I have served in an army, copying Soviet's and I'm quite aware of all the inconsistencies of the movie and Soviet reality.But this is not a documentary, and these inconsistencies do not make the movie fake! On the contrary, if all this was met, but the human touch and the clash of characters have been missing, it would be a boring citation of the army protocol, not a film! The action in the movie is slow but fascinating and tense. The acting of Ed Harris is great and David Duchovny maintains the high level.An interesting detail - at first I didn't recognize the time in which the action takes place and wrongly assumed it is present. Despite the many tips I realized it is about Cold War just at the end of the film. Obviously the policy of Russia, and our attitude to it have not changed very much for the past 50 years :(

Much is made of perceived weaknesses in "Phantom," most notably the absence of Russian accents. This doesn't bother me, certainly no more than watching anything by the BBC in which everyone, regardless of character nationality, has an accent found somewhere in the British Isles. I'm not familiar with the minutiae of Soviet era submariners, so I can't suitably critique the proper etiquette or uniform details. Looked accurate enough for me to accept it. If you're willing to look past that, you'll be able to enjoy a competent, if slightly derivative, submarine flick. Frankly, it's worth watching for the performances of Ed Harris (the sub captain) and William Fichtner (Harris's second in command) alone. They carry the movie, and, in my case at least, kept me watching through to the end. David Duchovny, as the rogue KGB agent is a little harder to accept, but I suspect that has less to do with his performance than my own inability to not think, "What the hell, Mulder?" every time I see him. The supporting characters do their best with what they have, and honestly, I admire anyone who can work in even a mock submarine's space. Ultimately, this movie is about sacrifice, whether on the part of the family separated by military service, or the things one is willing to do for the sake of one's nation. If you've actually read this far into the reviews, or even this far into this one review, I think you'll be engaged enough that it won't be a waste of your time to watch "Phantom," especially if you can see it via whatever instant service you use. Like it says above, it's not "Das Boot," but really, what else is?

Demi is about to retire, but the powers that be, through Markov, inform him that he has one more mission. The date is late spring, 1968. Demi will captain the B67 instead of his usual ship. His crew have had only three weeks shore leave instead of the expected three months. Several of them are on leave far away; he will have several unknown faces. The B67 will be decommissioned after this last cruise; Demi gets the call since the B67 was also his first assignment.Bruni and Pavlov come on at the last minute. Alex (first officer) notes that the old tub can barely accommodate the 86 men required to sail her. Bruni says it's good to see him again; Demi seems to only barely remember this. Pavlov and the captain go though the ceremony of the captain receiving the 'real' orders from the KGB.From the first dive, there are indications that he captain is having some problems: a phantom sound on the forward outside hull; the sight and sound of an angry dog. Where did these come from? The KGB representatives inform the captain that he is about to step into part of the ship where he is not allowed. Bruni suggests that the captain bothers to read his orders. Alex has a chat with the captain. Some of the newcomers are Oznas (radical KGB commandos); some of the new crew are dead; many of the new crew have no history, just name and rank.The KGB officers countermand practically everything the captain proposes. They force a collision with a civilian tanker. This will ensure that everyone in the area will know the submarine's location. Cleaver. Their orders were to observe the massing of American naval forces.Very unfortunately, the captain suffered a brain injury a few years back with triggered grand mal epileptic seizures about once or twice a year. It would seem that some of the newcomers on board know of this.When an American attack sub passes by, the old crew manage to evade. However, Bruni overrides this, has the B67 surface and turn on their diesel engines. The KGB officers turn on the 'Phantom' which effectively cloaks their position.When the captain arranges to get confirmation of orders from Fleet HQ, Bruni stages a mutiny. After some discussion with the old crew, Demi and company figure that Bruni and the Oznas are aiming to use the Phantom to start a war.Will the mutineers succeed? Will the captain and his allies neutralize them in order to save the world from a nuclear war?------Scores--------Cinematography: 9/10 Reasonably good, but some of the images suffer from low light.Sound: 10/10 No problems.Acting: 10/10 Fine jobs by William Fichtner, Ed Harris, Jonathan Schaech, Jason Beghe. The rest were at worst competent.Screenplay: 9/10 A bit slow going at first, but picks up to a fine conclusion.