Crimson Tide (feat. Tony Gilroy)
Unclear and Present Danger
Jamelle Bouie
4.7 • 660 Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2023
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger — the last episode of the year! — we watched Tony Scott’s 1995 submarine action thriller, “Crimson Tide,” starring Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Viggo Mortenson and James Gandolfini, among many others.
And to discuss “Crimson Tide,” we have an esteemed guest! Tony Gilroy, who you may know from his work on the Bourne films, political thrillers like “State of Play,” “Beirut,” legal thrillers like “Michael Clayton” or the recent Star Wars Disney Plus series “Andor.”
Now, if you haven’t watched “Crimson Tide” — and you should, stop this episode and go put it on — here’s the score. In “Crimson Tide,” the crew of the USS Alabama, a nuclear submarine, is put on high alert as civil war breaks out in post-Soviet Russia. Military units loyal to the ultra-nationalist rebel have taken control of a nuclear missile installation and have threatened nuclear war if threatened.
The USS Alabama is commanded by Captain Frank Ramsey, a career veteran of the submarine corps. He has chosen the cerebral and inexperienced Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter to serve as his new executive officer. The two clash, eventually coming to an impasse over an Emergency Action Message order a missile launch against the Russian base. Ramsey wants to move forward while Hunter wants to delay action until the USS Alabama can clarify a second message received but interrupted as the crew confronted an enemy submarine.
What follows is a confrontation, a mutiny, and a race to confirm the Alabama’s true orders lest they fire the shot that starts a nuclear conflagration.
The tagline for “Crimson Tide” was “Danger Runs Deep.”
You can find “Crimson Tide” for rent or purchase on iTunes and Amazon.
Our next episode will be on “Executive Decision,” directed by Stuart Baird and starring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and John Leguizamo.
Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.
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And join the Unclear and Present Patreon! For just $5 a month, patrons get access to a bonus show on the films of the Cold War, and much, much more. Our latest episode of the patreon is on the 1984 Robert Altman drama on Richard Nixon, “Secret Honor.”
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As you no doubt heard, my exo has penicitis. Your name was at the top of the list. |
| 0:07.0 | That's good to know, sir. |
| 0:09.0 | It was a short list. |
| 0:11.0 | There's trouble in Russia. So they called us. And we're going over there and bringing the most lethal killing machine ever devised. |
| 0:23.6 | The last time we hit this state of emergency was 32 and a half years ago during the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
| 0:28.6 | So this is what it's all about, gentlemen. It's what we trained for. |
| 0:31.6 | This emergency ship. |
| 0:33.6 | Diving officers, your murder ship make a depth 1-50 feet. |
| 0:36.6 | On the 1MC, dive, dive. This year, we have a properly formatted emergency action message from |
| 0:44.9 | the National Command Authority. What we've always known. Bravo, Echo, Echo, Charlie, Alpha, |
| 0:50.3 | becomes what we've always feared. Telling this to the captain, Russian rebels have threatened to launch against our country and are fueling right now. |
| 0:59.7 | This is not a drill. |
| 1:02.6 | Now... |
| 1:03.3 | Sir, we will possibly submerge someone. |
| 1:05.3 | You find out who that is. |
| 1:06.4 | Receiving emergency action message, recommend alert one. |
| 1:09.1 | The battle for survival begins. That's a message fragment. |
| 1:12.6 | So we don't know what this message means. |
| 1:14.6 | Our target package could have changed. |
| 1:16.6 | I've made a decision. |
| 1:17.6 | There's no place for fear. |
| 1:18.6 | He's lost his nerve. |
... |
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