RKorday Overall, this was a good movie. The only real problem I had was that this was a Russian submarine with dozens of Russian crew members and not one of them had a Russian accent. For me, that took away a substantial amount of credibility in the movie. I found myself frequently wondering what was going on here. Were these Americans that hi- jacked a Russian sub? But, no, they were supposed to be Russian's. Took a lot of the believability out of the movie.

brchthethird PHANTOM is a solidly entertaining, if unspectacular submarine thriller in a tradition of, but not quite reaching the level of better films such as THE HUNT FOR RED October (a clear inspiration, as Tony Scott was memorialized in the end credits). The cast is headed by Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner, all of whom give respectable performances. Another plus is that the subject matter is never treated in a melodramatic way. Everyone plays it cool as they can given the circumstances of the story, but never descends into hysterical shouting matches. That being said, the movie is about a submarine captain, soon to retire, who is taking an old sub out for its last mission. During the course of the movie, he has to deal with hallucinatory episodes (brought on by epilepsy) and rogue KGB agents who have been implanted to carry out a covert mission. Dramatically, there are no surprises and the mechanics of the story are dealt with in a rather straightforward manner, but the actors help to elevate the material somewhat beyond its made-for-cable trappings. The camera-work and cinematography is OK. The action is mostly confined to a submarine, so the shots are mostly close-quarters, but there isn't any shaky-cam and geography is defined adequately. Also worth mentioning is the score, which reminded me at times of the Robert Downey Jr Sherlock Holmes movies. On the downside, one element which is hinted at and developed early on is that Ed Harris' character suffers from occasional hallucinations. This potentially could have added an extra layer of drama and suspense to the movie if they'd have stuck with it. However, after a few of these episodes, he explains why he's been having them and then it's dropped. Definitely a missed opportunity there. Also, despite the story being adequate, it's almost too mundane. These types of movies have been done many times before, and even though PHANTOM functions like a well-oiled machine, it could have done with a few extra flourishes to make it stand out some more. That being said, it's a perfectly serviceable thriller with decent performances and enough conflict/action to keep you interested.

lewaynelwhite 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?

suite92 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.