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Harrison Ford
and Liam Neeson star in a thrilling drama about what many
believe to be the most dangerous time in global history. Not
unlike today, it was a time when the only mechanism for peace
was mutually assured destruction, and people around the world
felt tension on a daily basis.
The story is inspired by a chilling event
that happened in 1961 during the Cold War when the Soviet
Union had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world two
times over and the United States had the nuclear power to
destroy the world ten times over. As schoolchildren were taught
to “duck and cover” under their desks and parents
built bomb shelters in their backyards, each nation continued
to add to its nuclear stockpile…waiting for who would
strike first.
“K-19: The Widowmaker” is not
a film about war but about the courage it takes not to go
to war. It is about military muscle, mind and heart. It is
also about a world in which technology is king and sacrifice
in the name of national security is common. It exemplifies
the duty a soldier feels toward his nation and his countrymen,
and lays bare the burden of responsibility a leader feels
for those under his command. And finally, it is about how
easily tragedies can occur in wartime or anytime by accident,
by machine malfunction…or by human error.
Inspired by a true story, the film follows
the heroism of Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) who,
at the height of the Cold War, is ordered to take command
of the nuclear missile submarine K-19 away from its original
commander Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson). Vostrikov’s
mission is to quickly ready the ill-prepared sub for her maiden
voyage -- no matter what the cost.
But Vostrikov, Polenin and K-19’s loyal
crew can never imagine all that is expected of them. Neither
can they fathom what the price of failure might be for them
and for the world when a nuclear reactor malfunctions, threatening
a core meltdown and an explosion that will certainly kill
all aboard.
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