Phantom

I was attracted to the movie by watching the trailer. But the real movie offers no explanation why a few people can overtake the entire sub without resistance from the crew. Very confusing storyline.

I was very impressed with this movie.

This was a terrible movie. Ed Harris deserves much better roles.

"Phantom" has a promising deep sea premise that just so happens to be "inspired by true events," but this waterlogged Cold War submarine thriller isn't as engaging as it appears to be. It fictionalizes the real-life drama aboard a Soviet vessel with a covert mission and a captain (Ed Harris) who's haunted by past secrets on his last voyage before retirement. But when a rogue KGB agent (David Duchovny) violently takes over the submarine in an attempt to fulfill a hidden agenda to ignite nuclear war, it's up to the captain and his few loyal crew members to put a stop to the evil plans before it's too late. The film's claustrophobic setting does garner some real suspense at times, and the cast is well-assembled, but there's simply no saving the tired, lackluster script, which is filled with flat characters, wooden dialogue, and a ton of clumsy twists that leave little to the imagination. The few scenes that actually do carry some high-stakes tension are almost immediately overshadowed by endless amounts of repetitive melodrama that do nothing to pick up the movie's already dreary pace. Had it been given better direction and a more focused screenplay, "Phantom" certainly could've turned out to be a riveting historical drama, but as it stands, it's a bland and mostly forgettable suspense-thriller that hardly makes the most of its big premise and talented set of actors. If you're a fan of submarine flicks, you might enjoy it, but for everyone else, it's probably just best to steer clear of this one.