K-19 For what it was a great movie.

Rating: 9/10 (8 March 2003)

Since the kick off of the cold war the Soviets were constantly depicted as evil, bumbling warmongers who were constantly looking for a reason to drop the "Big One" on us.
The truth is that like any war there are two sides to a conflict. Since the fall of the cold war we have had several movies that allows people to "look inside" the USSR and to see what it was like. This movie does a great job of letting Joe American see that the USSR were like us, afraid of war, not trusting of the other side and very patriotic. Replace the Red flags, the sickle and hammer and the stylish wool hats and place the stars and stripes and you could see the intensely paranoid Cold war US doing the same thing.
The movie also did a good job showing the differences between what our country was like and our standards for safety and technology vs. the Soviet work or die trying. Our history did contain that very mentality but we seemed to move past it sooner then the Soviets.
As for the plot.. to say that the story was based on an "interesting event" as was stated in other comments, is to prove that our current ADD mentality has gone to the next level. True, there was no gunshots, no high tech explosions and no atom bomb explosions.. but this was not a true action movie, it was a drama, a documovie with action overtones. IF you can believe that being stuck in a tin can about to explode in the largest explosion in human history and kick off a world conflict that would not only see you homeland be completely destroyed but most of the world is not exciting then go watch triple X.
The movie was also very accurate, the only other Soviet sub movie I can think of "The Hunt for Red October" was more fiction then accuracy. With sub interiors filled with pointless and way too futuristic fittings (Like neon missile tube markings) This movie accurately reproduced the sub and the operating climate in which lived. You see the technology and understand what it took to be a Soviet Submariner.
All in all even with some plot holes and some very exciting elements of the true story not appearing (Like a emergency surface in trials of the real boat which had is flip on its side and partially sink.) the story was good, and the characters were believable. If you like the navy, subs and are at all interested in seeing another good sub movie its worth it.