K-19: The WidowmakerMovie Reviews

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 58 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 OK for kids 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    The New York Times | Dana Stevens

    (Director Bigelow) piles up one nerve-racking crisis after another, interspersed with moments of ethereal, almost otherworldly beauty. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The movie gradually works its way, with quiet intelligence and apparent conviction, until there's no turning from it. An hour in, and we're on that boat. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    There is one surprise in the movie, a decision having nothing to do with the reactor, that depends entirely on the ability of the characters to act convincingly under enormous pressure; casting stars of roughly equal weight helps it to work. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    It's a pretty good sub movie, with some pretty good performances, that, alas, somewhat disintegrates in the last half-hour. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    Obediently follows the verities of the submarine movie and its true story origins but without the imagination needed to refresh the genre. Read full review

  • 60
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    K-19's determination to push hard for self-congratulatory morals and convenient resolutions undercut the film's strengths and make it more conventional. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Despite drawing from one of the most powerful and true stories from the Cold War, K-19 is only moderately moving. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    What's really needed is a story with some sizzle, but Bigelow, in K-19, can't seem to decide whether she's making a shoot-the-works underwater rouser, like ''U-571'' or ''Crimson Tide,'' or a lofty historical message movie that hits us with the breaking news that the arms race was, in every sense, a poisonous game. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Though this saga would be terrific to read about, it is dicey screen material that only a genius should touch. With no genius in sight, K-19 might be headed for meltdown. Read full review

  • 20
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Rarely has a major motion picture -- and this one is major by virtue of its misplaced ambition as well as its budget -- been afflicted by such flagrant dissonance between subject and style. Read full review

View more reviews for K-19: The Widowmaker on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 15+ Intense wartime submarine movie celebrates heroism.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this serious Cold War-era submarine thriller directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow is loosely based on true events that theoretically could have sparked another world war. Though the movie has very little language, nudity, or drinking, it's a frightening and intense experience. The violence is realistic and makes a definite impact, mostly in the scenes of men entering the radioactive chamber and emerging, burned and sick. But for those with strong stomachs, it's a gripping, powerful, and inspiring experience.
  • Families can talk about the movie's radiation-related imagery. Is it frightening? Is it more or less scary than "bigger" violence/action? Why?
  • Given that the situation was an accident, are the men on the K-19 heroes? What does it mean to be a hero?
  • Do you feel the Russians were accurately portrayed? How might the film have been different if the characters were Americans, or if the movie had been released during the time it takes place?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: This movie depicts a crew of Russian seamen -- who were the enemies of the United States at the time the movie takes place (1961) -- not as enemies but as living, feeling people just like anyone else. The men learn to work together and overcome their fears, acting selflessly and heroically in the face of a potential worldwide disaster.
  • rolemodels true4 Positive role models: The crew's divided loyalty between captains creates serious friction on board. But over the course of the movie, they all learn to trust one another and to work together. Captain Polenin learns to let the men trust him rather than bullying them into respecting him. Some characters, notably Lieutenant Radtchinko, are given chances to overcome their fears.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: The movie has relatively few violent/frightening images, but they're all extremely powerful. Several men who enter a radioactive chamber are exposed to heavy doses of radiation and emerge with burning skin (sometimes vomiting, too). Later they're shown bandaged, shaking, and suffering. There's an overall atmosphere of fear and despair. In addition, one character pulls a gun, and another character is struck and killed by a truck. A man gets his hand stuck in a moving chain, another hits his head in the same accident, and there's some blood. Scenes from a violent propaganda film shown within the movie include images of the KKK.
  • sex false2 Sex: There are some "d--k" jokes, and several men drop their pants to "moon" for a photograph. One passionate kissing scene as a man says goodbye to his girlfriend.
  • language false2 Language: Infrequent use of words like "d--k," "bulls--t," and "jackass."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: The main character smokes in one scene. A seaman shows up to his post drunk. The men drink toasts of vodka before shipping out, and on the submarine they occasionally drink red wine (which is said to slow the effects of the radiation).
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

K-19: The Widowmaker Movie Ratings + Reviews

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