“If the Cuban Missile Crisis put the United States and Soviet Union within yards of nuclear war…then the sudden disappearance of a Soviet ballistic missile submarine in May of 1968 brought the world within inches.”
     Kenneth Sewell — Cold War historian, author

It is 1968, and the world is in the midst of the Cold War. The Russian B-67, one of the nation’s last diesel submarines, is being sent back out on one final mission before it is decommissioned and sold to the Chinese. Captain Demi (Ed Harris) and his crew have just returned from a 76-day mission when they are informed that they are immediately being sent back out to sea. Bruni (David Duchovney) and his partner—two technicians from the Special Projects Institute,—join the mission to test some mysterious prototype equipment. Demi’s first officer Kozlov (William Fichtner) suspects that these men are actually are OSNAZ commandos—KGB radicals and trained assassins. While Demi initially follows Bruni’s orders, it becomes clear that his goals are too extreme. And so begins a cat-and-mouse power struggle aboard the submarine, and it is unclear where the loyalties of certain crew members lie.

“There are only two reasons why a boat would go rogue. One is to defect and the other is to start a war. And I don’t think we’re defecting.”

While the film has a really great premise, and the trailer makes it look exciting, it is not until about two-thirds through the film before the thriller really kicks in, which is far too late. While the acting is great, the film gets too bogged down in providing Demi with a deep backstory. Not only is he epileptic, but he is also haunted by a past accident where he lost some of his crew. The first half of the film has Demi having flashbacks to the disaster. The end of the film also includes more of these metaphysical aspects.

The film also throws a lot of submarine jargon at the viewer. While I assume all of this is real, sometimes I found it difficult to follow exactly what was going on. I just knew the situation wasn’t good based on the reactions of the characters and the cadence of their dialogue.

Another major thing that didn’t work for me is the complete lack of Russian accents or dialogue. This is a film about a Soviet submarine crew, but the cast is comprised of recognizable, very American-looking faces, all talking in perfect English—other actors playing crew members include Jason Gray-Stanford (Monk), Kip Pardue, Jordan Bridges (Rizzoli & Isles), Sean Patrick Flanery (Young Indiana Jones Chronicles), and Johnathon Schaech (The Client List). They try to slap some mustaches on some of the actors but they come off looking more ridiculous than Russian. In the audio commentary the director says he made a conscious choice not to use accents, but I think this was a poor decision. At times you forget these men are supposed to be Soviets—until you see some cut shot of a panel or gauge containing some Cyrillic characters.

I found it impressive that the film was shot almost entirely on an actual submarine. The setting and look of the film is quite nice. The film also sets up an interesting mystery at the beginning as to what exactly Bruni’s mission is. Once the film finally gets into the cat-and-mouse game between Demi and Bruni, it has some really great, tense action scenes. However, this ends up being such a small part of the film—I wanted the film to be more thrilling throughout.

For the most part the film looks quite good, which is really impressive given the cramped set. At times the picture looks a bit grainy, but this kind of fits with the setting of the film. The audio is really great, capturing the creaking and sounds of the submarine, missiles and sonar pulses.

The Blu-ray contains a few interesting behind-the-scenes featurettes and audio commentary, plus a DigitalHD copy of the film. While the cast gives great performances, and the film has an interesting premise, I would recommend a rental before purchasing.

What’s Included:

Film (1:38:28):

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy: (Redemption Deadline 6/25/2015)

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Vudu or Flixster

Extras:

• Audio Commentary (1:38:28)
  Writer/director Todd Robinson and star Ed Harris provide an interesting feature commentary. They discuss some of the technical challenges of shooting in a confined submarine and on such a small budget. They also talk about the film’s effects, the events the film was based on, and give viewers a lot of other behind-the-scenes information.
• Facing the Apocalypse: Making Phantom (12:58)
  The cast and crew discuss the film’s plot and the challenges of shooting the entire film on an actual submarine. The director talks about working with Ed Harris and David Duchovney. Includes lots of behind-the-scenes footage.
• The Real Phantom (6:03)
  Writer/director Todd Robinson and technical advisor Kenneth Swell discuss the events on which the film’s plot is loosely based on.
• Jeff Roma: Scoring Phantom (3:00)
  The film’s composer talks about how the submarine itself became the instrument he used to create the score for the film.
• “An Ocean Away” Music Video (2:54)
  Music video for the film’s haunting theme song performed by Rachel Fannan.
• Sneak Peek (6:45)
  Play All or select from trailers for Broken City, The Americans Season 1, Stoker, and Killing Lincoln.

Final Thoughts:

While Phantom has a really interesting premise, and some great performances, it takes too long to become the thriller the trailer suggests it is. The film looks and sounds really good on this Blu-ray, though at times the picture gets a bit grainy. The Blu-ray contains an interesting look behind-the-scenes of the film through featurettes and an audio commentary. A DigitalHD copy of the film is also included. Those unfamiliar with the film may want to rent it first before making a blind buy.