Phantom

Allegedly inspired by true events, filmmaker Todd Robinson's submarine thriller revolves around a Russian sub that mysteriously sank and was later discovered on the ocean floor. In a preamble, real-life Cold War historian/author Kenneth Sewell describes a skirmish in May of 1968 that posed an even more terrifying threat than the Cuban Missile Crisis that occurred six years earlier. About-to-be-retired Russian Captain Dmitri Zubov (Ed Harris) is assigned one last mission aboard the B67, a battered, old ballistic-missile sub that is about to be sold as scrap to the Chinese navy. Gruff, grizzled Dmitri not only drinks too much but also suffers from debilitating epileptic seizures; plus, his credentials are tarnished because of a previous maritime mishap for which he was partly responsible. In addition to the crew, a mysterious group of “technicians,” headed by Bruni (David Duchovny), are aboard on a secret KGB mission. Zubov's suspicions are aroused because they have no military records. It soon becomes apparent that Bruni is determined to utilize a new Phantom cloaking device to ignite WWIII by firing a nuclear warhead on the U.S. Pacific fleet, making it look like a preemptive attack by China. It's not easy to cinematically torpedo a submarine thriller—thanks to the inherent claustrophobia of the setting, an aura of suspense is not difficult to evoke—but Phantom suffers from stereotypical casting, cliché-riddled dialogue, and inept filmmaking, which combine to produce yawning boredom. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Todd Robinson and costar Ed Harris, a “Facing the Apocalypse” behind-the-scenes featurette (13 min.), “The Real Phantom” on the true story inspiration (6 min.), a “Scoring Phantom” segment with composer Jeff Rona (3 min.), “An Ocean Away” music video featuring Rachel Fannan, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)