Review - Phantom (2013)

On DVD and BLU RAY - "Phantom" - Although this "inspired by actual events" cold war thriller boasts an impressive cast and serviceable production values, it's about as mundane a film experience as it gets. Loosely based on the final, mysterious voyage of the Soviet Submarine K-129, which sank under most curious circumstances in 1968, Phantom fails to capitalize on any of the inherent intrigue of that little-known moment in history with a relatively dull execution by Writer/Director Todd Robinson (Lonely Hearts). It's the cinematic equivalent of chicken broth as a main course...

Ed Harris (The Rock) stars as Russian submarine Captain "Demi"- a reasonable sort tormented by past events and secretly plagued by seizures. Given his final assignment aboard an outdated vessel, Demi and his crew are joined shortly before departure by a trio of shady KGB agents, led by a cryptic David Duchovny (The X Files), with Top Secret orders.  Once revealed, the the true nature of the mission doesn't sit well with the Captain and his crew and tensions escalate between the two factions.

Harris never fails to give his best and he's fine here, though ultimately undermined by lackluster material.  David Duchovy, as one of the more miscast main villains in recent memory, portrays KGB Agent "Bruni".  William Fichtner (The Lone Ranger) is the vessel's First Mate, "Alex", while Johnathan Schaech (That Thing You Do!) is "Pavlov", the mission's Political Officer. Lance Henrikson (Aliens) has a brief scene in the film's opening segment as Admiral "Markov".  There's a handful of other notable faces, though each is given very little to do and even less dialogue.

There's nothing really awful here, though most will probably roll their eyes with a hokey, ill-advised conclusion and forget the rest in mere moments.  It's a dark, drab affair that isn't all that interesting and damned-near completely devoid of tension.  I did have a bit of an issue with so many Americans playing Russians and not even bothering with accents- yes, it's been done before (and rather well), but rarely this distractingly blunt.  By all means, skip it and watch other Submarine-set thrillers like The Hunt For Red October, Das Boot, Crimson Tide, The Enemy Below, The Bedford Incident, Torpedo Run, Run Silent, Run Deep, Destination Tokyo, the Disney adventure film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or even the supernaturally slanted Below instead. 

5.0 out of 10

Director: Todd Robinson
Starring: Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Lance Henrikson, Johnathan Schaech, Jason Beghe, Derek Magyar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Kip Pardue and Jason Gray-Stanford.
Running Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for violence