PHANTOM is a Cold War submarine thriller with a B-movie feel. I found it a worthwhile watch despite some deficiencies in terms of scripting and the like; the efforts of a stalwart cast help to make this an engaging and occasionally suspenseful viewing experience. Ed Harris, ever excellent, plays the captain of a Russian submarine who finds himself at odds with the strange orders he receives from the secret service men on board. David Duchovny relishes the opportunity to play a sinister character while the likes of William Fichtner and Lance Henriksen bring solid support. The film keeps you guessing at times and has the right kind of claustrophobic atmosphere you expect from a submarine flick; at times, it's also unexpectedly moving.

It's May 1968. Demi (Ed Harris) is a captain of a Soviet missile submarine. He's just back from 76 days at sea and about to retire. He is forced to captain the obsolete B-67 which was actually his first boat. There're a couple of technicians (David Duchovny) from the Special Projects Institute who are testing a prototype equipment called Phantom. Phantom masks the sonar signature of the sub with another signature. It's soon obvious that the technicians are from OZNAZ, a radical section of the KGB. They want to use the Phantom to masquerade as a Chinese sub to start a war between China and the US. Demi and his men have to stop the mad plot.

The biggest problem is that the movie tells us the story before it starts. And the 'real' story doesn't stop this from being completely fictionalized. They are better off not leading off with the 'real' story. The action is functional. The acting is good. Ed Harris always brings out the best. It's a functional if not memorable thriller. It doesn't help that all the characters are Soviets. It's harder to empathize without an American character.

***PLOT SPOILER REVIEW***

As a former submariner who rode these old vessels I found this film fascinating. One story was that the US sunk this ship. This movie presents a different version.

The story is simple. The KGB goes rogue with a submarine with the intent of launching a first strike at the US, making it look like China did it. The film creates characters and internal conflicts to make the story interesting.

Kudos to the film for getting the submarine terminology and capability correct. This aspect was more realistic than most sub films.

There are some problems with the basic scenario. First off in 1968, China had only one Golf style submarine operational. It did NOT have launch capabilities. They wouldn't develop that until 1970. The second problem is that nuclear bombs have signature. We could figure out the difference between a crude Chinese graphite reactor bomb and a slightly more sophisticated Russian bomb. So the premise of the film while interesting, doesn't seem plausible.

Another film goof was when they encountered the USS Skipjack. The Skipjack was stationed out of Norfolk and operated in that area in 1968. The submarine in the Pacific was the USS Swordfish, i.e. a Skipjack class sub, but not the Skipjack itself.

The actors did what they could with a dry script. Landlubbers may find this film a complete bore and rightly so. We already know they fail. Extras include a talk about the real incident on which the film was based.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.